The File Uploader is an optional widget that lets someone select a file. The hosted Uploadcare service receives it, stores it and can serve processed copies through its delivery network. Use the current File Uploader or an API client.

Record the original file ID in your own app so you can find it again. Confirm whether the upload is marked as stored. Temporary files are deleted after 24 hours. Check your project’s auto-store setting, especially if an older integration relies on defaults.

Why are signed uploads and signed downloads separate?

Signed uploads let the server grant permission to send a file. The browser’s public project key identifies the project. Keep signing secrets on the server and only give the browser a short-lived credential for the allowed upload. Prepare the uploader to send that credential, then enable Signed Uploads in your isolated project. Until you turn it on, Uploadcare can accept uploads without a credential.

Signed delivery controls who can read files and is listed on Pro and above. It needs a secure delivery domain. Your app should check who can read the individual file’s record before its server signs the link. Set it up and verify it before closing unsigned access on the public domains. Disabling a legacy public domain cannot be reversed. A valid signed link can be forwarded.

Which usage counts separately on the bill?

Estimate operations, traffic in GB and average stored GB. Uploads and transformations can use different operation counts. Traffic includes delivery to users and traffic between Uploadcare’s delivery network and its servers.

Free is for personal use and lists 1,000 operations and 5 GB traffic per month with 1 GB storage. Pro lists 5,000 operations, 25 GB traffic and 10 GB storage included. Check overage rates and billing interval. A trial with a card on file moves to Pro when it ends.

How would you plan a photo upload without sending a file?

Draw a fictional workspace where one person can attach a photo to one record. Keep the exercise on paper, with no integration or real photo. Sketch the upload authorization, read authorization and export separately.

Mark what the uploader may do
Only the intended account gets a short-lived upload credential. On paper, mark the uploader as ready first, then Signed Uploads as enabled. In a future isolated test with a fictional file, verify the upload without a credential is rejected and an authorized upload succeeds. Write how you would save the file ID and confirm the original is stored.
Check every delivery address on your diagram
Mark which host requires a signed link and which would still be public. Keep real photos out until you can verify every active host. An unrelated account should be refused a link by the app. A link past its expiry should be refused by the delivery host.
Plan how to take the original out
List the file ID and its owner and note which copies are only resized delivery versions. The CLI documents downloading stored files in bulk. Check private download access first. If you want managed S3 copies, check the plan and setup separately.