---
title: Media storage with Uploadcare
subtitle: Store files via Uploadcare and track metadata in Neon
summary: >-
  How to integrate Uploadcare with Neon for storing file metadata while
  utilizing Uploadcare's cloud platform for file uploads and storage management.
enableTableOfContents: true
updatedOn: '2026-02-06T22:07:33.062Z'
---

[Uploadcare](https://uploadcare.com/) provides an cloud platform designed to simplify file uploading, processing, storage, and delivery via a fast CDN. It offers tools that manage and optimize media like images, videos, and documents for your applications.

This guide demonstrates how to integrate Uploadcare with Neon by storing file metadata in your Neon database while using Uploadcare for file uploads and storage.

## Setup steps

<Steps>

## Create a Neon project

1. Navigate to [pg.new](https://pg.new) to create a new Neon project.
2. Copy the connection string by clicking the **Connect** button on your **Project Dashboard**. For more information, see [Connect from any application](/docs/connect/connect-from-any-app).

## Create an Uploadcare account and project

1.  Sign up for an account at [Uploadcare.com](https://uploadcare.com/).
2.  Create a new project within your Uploadcare dashboard.
3.  Navigate to your project's **API Keys** section.
4.  Note your **Public Key** and **Secret Key**. They are needed to interact with the Uploadcare API and widgets.
    ![Uploadcare API Keys](/docs/guides/uploadcare-api-keys.png)

## Create a table in Neon for file metadata

We need to create a table in Neon to store metadata about the files uploaded to Uploadcare. This table will include fields for the file's unique identifier, URL, upload timestamp, and any other relevant metadata you want to track.

1. You can run the create table statement using the [Neon SQL Editor](/docs/get-started/query-with-neon-sql-editor) or from a client such as [psql](/docs/connect/query-with-psql-editor) that is connected to your Neon database. Here is an example SQL statement to create a simple table for file metadata which includes a file ID, URL, user ID, and upload timestamp:

   ```sql
   CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS uploadcare_files (
       id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
       file_id TEXT NOT NULL UNIQUE,
       file_url TEXT NOT NULL,
       user_id TEXT NOT NULL,
       upload_timestamp TIMESTAMPTZ DEFAULT NOW()
   );
   ```

2. Run the SQL statement. You can add other relevant columns (file size, content type, etc.) depending on your application needs.

<Admonition type="note" title="Securing metadata with RLS">
If you use [Neon's Row Level Security (RLS)](/blog/introducing-neon-authorize), remember to apply appropriate access policies to the `uploadcare_files` table. This controls who can view or modify the object references stored in Neon based on your RLS rules.

Note that these policies apply _only_ to the metadata stored in Neon. Access to the actual files is managed by Uploadcare's access controls and settings.
</Admonition>

## Upload files to Uploadcare and store metadata in Neon

You can integrate file uploads using any of Uploadcare's [many options](https://uploadcare.com/docs/integrations/), which include UI widgets and SDKs tailored for specific languages and frameworks. For the examples in this guide, we will use the Uploadcare API directly. Feel free to choose the integration method that best fits your project; the fundamental approach of storing metadata in Neon remains the same.

<Tabs labels={["JavaScript", "Python"]}>

<TabItem>

For this example, we'll build a simple Node.js server using [Hono](https://hono.dev/) to handle file uploads. It will use the [`@uploadcare/upload-client`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@uploadcare/upload-client) package to upload files to Uploadcare and [`@neondatabase/serverless`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@neondatabase/serverless) package to save metadata into your Neon database.

First, install the necessary dependencies:

```bash
npm install @uploadcare/upload-client @neondatabase/serverless @hono/node-server hono
```

Create a `.env` file in your project root and add your Uploadcare and Neon connection details which you obtained in the previous steps:

```env
UPLOADCARE_PUBLIC_KEY=your_uploadcare_public_key
DATABASE_URL=your_neon_database_connection_string
```

The following code snippet demonstrates this workflow:

```javascript
import { serve } from '@hono/node-server';
import { Hono } from 'hono';
import { uploadFile } from '@uploadcare/upload-client';
import { neon } from '@neondatabase/serverless';
import 'dotenv/config';

const sql = neon(process.env.DATABASE_URL);
const app = new Hono();

// Replace this with your actual user authentication logic, by validating JWTs/Headers, etc.
const authMiddleware = async (c, next) => {
  c.set('userId', 'user_123'); // Example: Get user ID after validation
  await next();
};

app.post('/upload', authMiddleware, async (c) => {
  try {
    // 1. Get User ID and File Data
    const userId = c.get('userId');
    const formData = await c.req.formData();
    const file = formData.get('file');
    const fileName = formData.get('fileName') || file.name;
    const buffer = Buffer.from(await file.arrayBuffer());

    // 2. Upload to Uploadcare
    const result = await uploadFile(buffer, {
      publicKey: process.env.UPLOADCARE_PUBLIC_KEY,
      fileName: fileName,
      contentType: file.type,
    });

    // 3. Save Metadata to Neon
    // Uses file_id (Uploadcare UUID), file_url (CDN URL), and user_id
    await sql`
            INSERT INTO uploadcare_files (file_id, file_url, user_id)
            VALUES (${result.uuid}, ${result.cdnUrl}, ${userId})
        `;

    console.log(`Uploaded ${result.uuid} for user ${userId} to ${result.cdnUrl}`);

    return c.json({ success: true, fileUrl: result.cdnUrl });
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Upload Error:', error);
    return c.json({ success: false, error: 'Upload failed' }, 500);
  }
});

const port = 3000;
serve({ fetch: app.fetch, port }, (info) => {
  console.log(`Server running at http://localhost:${info.port}`);
});
```

**Explanation**

1.  **Setup:** It initializes the Neon database client and the Hono web framework. It relies on environment variables (`DATABASE_URL`, `UPLOADCARE_PUBLIC_KEY`) being set, via a `.env` file.
2.  **Authentication:** A placeholder `authMiddleware` is included. **Crucially**, this needs to be replaced with real authentication logic. It currently just sets a static `userId` for demonstration.
3.  **Upload Endpoint (`/upload`):**
    - It expects a `POST` request with `multipart/form-data`.
    - It retrieves the user ID set by the middleware.
    - It extracts the `file` data and `fileName` from the form data.
    - It uploads the file content directly to Uploadcare.
    - Upon successful upload, Uploadcare returns details including a unique `uuid` and a `cdnUrl`.
    - It executes an `INSERT` statement using the Neon serverless driver to save the `uuid`, `cdnUrl`, and the `userId` into a `uploadcare_files` table in your database.
    - It sends a JSON response back to the client containing the `fileUrl` from Uploadcare.

</TabItem>

<TabItem>

For this example, we'll build a simple [Flask](https://flask.palletsprojects.com/en/stable/) server to handle file uploads. It will use the [`pyuploadcare`](https://pypi.org/project/pyuploadcare/) package to upload files to Uploadcare and [`psycopg2`](https://pypi.org/project/psycopg2/) to save metadata into your Neon database.

First, install the necessary dependencies:

```bash
pip install Flask pyuploadcare psycopg2-binary python-dotenv
```

Create a `.env` file in your project root and add your Uploadcare and Neon connection details which you obtained in the previous steps:

```env
UPLOADCARE_PUBLIC_KEY=your_uploadcare_public_key
UPLOADCARE_SECRET_KEY=your_uploadcare_secret_key
DATABASE_URL=your_neon_database_connection_string
```

The following code snippet demonstrates this workflow:

```python
import os

import psycopg2
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from flask import Flask, jsonify, request
from pyuploadcare import Uploadcare

load_dotenv()


# Use a global PostgreSQL connection instead of creating a new one for each request in production
def get_database():
    return psycopg2.connect(os.getenv("DATABASE_URL"))


# Replace this with your actual user authentication logic, by validating JWTs/Headers, etc.
def get_authenticated_user_id(request):
    return "user_123"  # Example: Get user ID after validation


uploadcare = Uploadcare(
    public_key=os.getenv("UPLOADCARE_PUBLIC_KEY"),
    secret_key=os.getenv("UPLOADCARE_SECRET_KEY"),
)

app = Flask(__name__)


@app.route("/upload", methods=["POST"])
def upload_file():
    try:
        # 1. Get User ID and File from the request
        user_id = get_authenticated_user_id(request)
        file = request.files["file"]

        if file:
            # 2. Upload the file to Uploadcare
            response = uploadcare.upload(file)
            file_url = response.cdn_url

            # 3. Save Metadata to Neon
            # Uses file_id (Uploadcare UUID), file_url (CDN URL), and user_id
            conn = get_database()
            cursor = conn.cursor()
            cursor.execute(
                "INSERT INTO uploadcare_files (file_id, file_url, user_id) VALUES (%s, %s, %s)",
                (response.uuid, file_url, user_id),
            )
            conn.commit()
            cursor.close()
            conn.close()

            return jsonify({"success": True, "fileUrl": response.cdn_url})
        else:
            return jsonify({"success": False, "error": "No file provided"})
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Upload Error: {e}")
        return jsonify({"success": False, "error": "File upload failed"}), 500


if __name__ == "__main__":
    app.run(port=3000, debug=True)
```

**Explanation**

1.  **Setup:** Initializes the Flask web framework, Uploadcare client, and the PostgreSQL client (`psycopg2`) using environment variables.
2.  **Authentication:** A placeholder `get_authenticated_user_id` function is included. **Replace this with real authentication logic.**
3.  **Upload Endpoint (`/upload`):**
    - It expects a `POST` request with `multipart/form-data`.
    - It retrieves the user ID set by the authentication function.
    - It extracts the `file` data from the form data.
    - It uploads the file content directly to Uploadcare.
    - Upon successful upload, Uploadcare returns details including a unique `uuid` and a `cdnUrl`.
    - It executes an `INSERT` statement using `psycopg2` to save the `uuid`, `cdnUrl`, and the `userId` into a `uploadcare_files` table in your database.
    - It sends a JSON response back to the client containing the `fileUrl` from Uploadcare.
4.  In production, you should use a global PostgreSQL connection instead of creating a new one for each request. This is important for performance and resource management.

</TabItem>

</Tabs>

## Testing the upload endpoint

Once your server (Node.js or Python example) is running, you can test the `/upload` endpoint to ensure files are correctly sent to Uploadcare and their metadata is stored in Neon.

You'll need to send a `POST` request with `multipart/form-data` containing a field named `file`.

Open your terminal and run a command similar to this, replacing `/path/to/your/image.jpg` with the actual path to a file you want to upload:

```bash
curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/upload \
    -F "file=@/path/to/your/image.jpg" \
    -F "fileName=my-test-image.jpg"
```

- `-X POST`: Specifies the HTTP method.
- `http://localhost:3000/upload`: The URL of your running server's endpoint.
- `-F "file=@/path/to/your/image.jpg"`: Specifies a form field named `file`. The `@` symbol tells cURL to read the content from the specified file path.
- `-F "fileName=my-test-image.jpg"`: Sends an additional form field `fileName`.

**Expected outcome:**

- You should receive a JSON response similar to:
  ```json
  {
    "success": true,
    "fileUrl": "https://ucarecdn.com/xxxxxx-xxxxxx-xxxxx/"
  }
  ```

You can now integrate calls to this `/upload` endpoint from various parts of your application (e.g., web clients, mobile apps, backend services) to handle file uploads.

## Accessing file metadata and files

Storing metadata in Neon allows your application to easily retrieve references to the files uploaded to Uploadcare.

Query the `uploadcare_files` table from your application's backend when needed.

**Example SQL query:**

Retrieve files for user 'user_123':

```sql
SELECT
    id,              -- Your database primary key
    file_id,         -- Uploadcare UUID
    file_url,        -- Uploadcare CDN URL
    user_id,         -- The user associated with the file
    upload_timestamp
FROM
    uploadcare_files
WHERE
    user_id = 'user_123'; -- Use actual authenticated user ID
```

**Using the data:**

- The query returns rows containing the file metadata stored in Neon.
- The crucial piece of information is the `file_url`. This is the direct link (CDN URL) to the file stored on Uploadcare.
- You can use this `file_url` in your application (e.g., in frontend `<img>` tags, API responses, download links) wherever you need to display or provide access to the file.

This pattern separates file storage and delivery (handled by Uploadcare) from structured metadata management (handled by Neon).

</Steps>

## Resources

- [Uploadcare documentation](https://uploadcare.com/docs/)
- [Uploadcare access control with signed URLs](https://uploadcare.com/docs/security/secure-delivery/)
- [Neon RLS](/docs/guides/neon-rls)

<NeedHelp/>
