Use when an Axum handler must accept a file upload or any multipart/form-data request: a browser form with an input type=file, an image or document upload, or a mixed form that carries text fields and a file together. Prevents the upload that works for tiny test files and then returns 413 on a real file, prevents a second body extractor placed after Multipart, prevents buffering a huge file into RAM, prevents a path-traversal hole from trusting the client-supplied file name, and prevents an unbounded request body DoS after calling disable(). Covers the multipart Cargo feature, the Multipart extractor and its FromRequest "must be last" rule, the next_field loop, Field metadata and body methods, buffering with bytes or text versus streaming with chunk to a tokio::fs::File, and the DefaultBodyLimit and RequestBodyLimitLayer body size ceiling. The Multipart API is identical in Axum 0.7 and 0.8. Keywords: axum file upload, Multipart, multipart form-data, next_field, Field, bytes, text, chunk, DefaultBodyLimit, Req
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Use when an Axum handler must accept a file upload or any multipart/form-data request: a browser form with an input type=file, an image or document upload, or a mixed form that carries text fields and a file together. Prevents the upload that works for tiny test files and then returns 413 on a real file, prevents a second body extractor placed after Multipart, prevents buffering a huge file into RAM, prevents a path-traversal hole from trusting the client-supplied file name, and prevents an unbounded request body DoS after calling disable(). Covers the multipart Cargo feature, the Multipart extractor and its FromRequest "must be last" rule, the next_field loop, Field metadata and body methods, buffering with bytes or text versus streaming with chunk to a tokio::fs::File, and the DefaultBodyLimit and RequestBodyLimitLayer body size ceiling. The Multipart API is identical in Axum 0.7 and 0.8. Keywords: axum file upload, Multipart, multipart form-data, next_field, Field, bytes, text, chunk, DefaultBodyLimit, RequestBodyLimitLayer, multipart feature, tower-http limit feature, 413 Payload Too Large, body too large, upload fails on large file, upload works for small files only, 413 instead of 200, unresolved import Multipart, cannot find Multipart in axum, out of memory on upload, second body extractor compile error, path traversal upload, how do I accept a file upload, how do I handle a form with a file, how do I stream a file to disk, why is my upload rejected.
license
MIT
compatibility
Designed for Claude Code. Requires Axum 0.7,0.8.
metadata
{"author":"OpenAEC-Foundation","version":"1.0"}
axum-impl-file-upload
Overview
Axum receives file uploads through axum::extract::Multipart, the extractor
for multipart/form-data request bodies. It is feature-gated behind the
multipart Cargo feature and does not exist without it.
Two facts govern every upload handler:
Multipart consumes the request body, so it is a FromRequest extractor
and MUST be the last argument of the handler. Only one body-consuming
extractor is allowed per handler.
Axum caps request bodies at 2 MB by default through DefaultBodyLimit. An
upload endpoint therefore works for small test files and then rejects real
files with a 413-class response until that ceiling is raised.
The Multipart API is identical in Axum 0.7 and 0.8. The struct,
next_field(), and every Field method are the same in both lines, so this
skill contains no version-divergent snippets.
Quick Reference
Cargo features:
[dependencies]axum = { version = "0.8", features = ["multipart"] }
tokio = { version = "1", features = ["full"] } # streaming to disktower-http = { version = "0.6", features = ["limit"] } # only for RequestBodyLimitLayer
ALWAYS add features = ["multipart"] to the axum dependency before
importing Multipart. Without it the import fails to resolve.
ALWAYS place Multipart as the last argument of the handler.
NEVER put a second body-consuming extractor (Json, Form, String,
Bytes, another Multipart) in the same handler.
ALWAYS drive next_field() in a while let Some(field) = ... loop until
it returns Ok(None).
ALWAYS read Field metadata (name, file_name, content_type) BEFORE
calling bytes(), text(), or chunk(), because bytes() and text()
consume the Field.
ALWAYS stream large or unbounded files with chunk(); NEVER buffer them
with bytes().
ALWAYS keep a hard body ceiling. NEVER call DefaultBodyLimit::disable()
without a following RequestBodyLimitLayer::new(n).
NEVER trust file_name() or content_type() for security decisions. Both
are client-controlled.
Decision Trees
Buffer the field or stream it
How large is the field being read?
small and bounded (text input, caption, thumbnail well under ~1 MB)
-> buffer it: field.text() for text, field.bytes() for binary
large or unbounded (a user-supplied file of unknown size)
-> stream it: while let Some(chunk) = field.chunk().await? { write to
a tokio::fs::File }, and enforce a hard body ceiling
Which body-size ceiling to apply
What ceiling does the upload endpoint need?
a fixed, known maximum (for example 10 MB)
-> .layer(DefaultBodyLimit::max(10 * 1024 * 1024)) one layer, no extra crate
the default must be removed for a separate limiter
-> .layer(DefaultBodyLimit::disable())
.layer(RequestBodyLimitLayer::new(n)) NEVER disable alone
uploads always stay under 2 MB
-> do nothing: the 2 MB DefaultBodyLimit already applies
Handler argument order
Does the handler also need State, Path, or headers?
yes -> write those FromRequestParts extractors first, Multipart LAST
no -> Multipart is the only argument
NEVER add Json, Form, String, Bytes, or a second Multipart to the handler.
Patterns
Pattern: minimal upload handler
Read each field fully before advancing the loop. This is the verbatim
official example.
.unwrap() here is fine only for a throwaway example. Production handlers
map MultipartError to a 400 response (see the error pattern below).
Pattern: Multipart last with other extractors
FromRequestParts extractors (State, Path, HeaderMap) do not touch the
body and SHOULD be written before Multipart.
use axum::extract::{Multipart, State};
// CORRECT: parts extractor first, the body extractor last.asyncfnupload(
State(state): State<AppState>,
mut multipart: Multipart,
) {
whileletSome(field) = multipart.next_field().await.unwrap() {
// ... use state and field ...
}
}
Placing State after Multipart would not compile cleanly, and adding a
second body extractor such as Json is always a compile error.
Pattern: stream a large file to disk
bytes() holds the whole field in memory. For files, stream chunk by chunk
so peak memory stays at one chunk. tokio::fs::File with AsyncWriteExt
provides the async writer.
Pattern: disable the default and set a hard ceiling
DefaultBodyLimit::disable() removes the limit entirely. An unlimited body is
a memory-exhaustion and disk-exhaustion DoS vector, so it MUST be paired with
RequestBodyLimitLayer, which converts oversized bodies into
413 Payload Too Large.
Prefer DefaultBodyLimit::max(n) for most cases. Reach for disable() plus
RequestBodyLimitLayer only when the tower-http limiter is specifically
needed.
Pattern: handle MultipartError instead of unwrap
next_field() and chunk() return Result. A malformed body surfaces as
Err(MultipartError). .unwrap() panics the handler into a 500; mapping
the error yields a correct 400-class response.
use axum::{extract::Multipart, http::StatusCode, response::IntoResponse};
asyncfnupload(mut multipart: Multipart) ->Result<implIntoResponse, (StatusCode, String)> {
whileletSome(field) = multipart
.next_field()
.await
.map_err(|e| (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, e.to_string()))?
{
letdata = field
.bytes()
.await
.map_err(|e| (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, e.to_string()))?;
// ... process data ...let_ = data;
}
Ok(StatusCode::OK)
}
MultipartError also implements IntoResponse directly; see
references/methods.md.
Reference Links
references/methods.md: complete signatures for Multipart, Field,
MultipartError, DefaultBodyLimit, and RequestBodyLimitLayer, plus the
FromRequest and Stream trait notes.
references/examples.md: full working programs, a sanitized destination
helper, a mixed text-and-file form handler, and body-limit configurations.
references/anti-patterns.md: the six recurring file-upload mistakes with
the root cause of each and the fix.
Related skills:
axum-impl-tower-stack: layer ordering, where DefaultBodyLimit and
RequestBodyLimitLayer sit in the middleware stack.
axum-core-async-performance: why streaming to disk matters under
concurrent load.
axum-syntax-extractors: extractor ordering and FromRequest versus
FromRequestParts.
