nestjs-file-uploads

name	nestjs-file-uploads
description	Validate and stream file uploads securely with Validation and S3 streaming in NestJS. Use when implementing secure file uploads, validation, or S3 streaming in NestJS.
license	MIT
version	1.0.0
author	[Filippo De Silva](https://github.com/FilippoDeSilva)
tags	["nestjs","file-uploads","validation","s3","streaming"]
metadata	{"triggers":{"files":["**/*.controller.ts"],"keywords":["FileInterceptor","Multer","S3","UploadedFile"]}}

File Upload Patterns

Priority: P0 (FOUNDATIONAL)

• Magic Bytes: NEVER trust content-type header or file extension.
• Tool: Use file-type or mmmagic to verify actual buffer signature.
• Limits: Set strict limits: { fileSize: 5000000 } (5MB) in Multer config to prevent DoS.

Streaming (Scalability)

• Memory Warning: Default Multer MemoryStorage crashes servers with large files.
• Pattern: Use Streaming for any file > 10MB.
• Library: multer-s3 (direct upload to bucket) or busboy (raw stream processing).
• Architecture:

1. Client requests Signed URL from API.
2. Client uploads directly to S3/GCS (Bypassing API server completely).
3. Pro Tip: Only approach to scale file uploads infinitely.

Processing

• Async: Don't process images/videos in HTTP Request.
• Flow:

1. Upload file.
2. Push FileUploadedEvent to Queue (BullMQ).
3. Worker downloads, resizes/converts, and re-uploads.

Anti-Patterns

• No content-type trust: Always verify file magic bytes; MIME header can spoofed.
• No MemoryStorage for large files: Use streaming or signed URL pattern for files > 10MB.
• No synchronous file processing: Offload image/video work to BullMQ workers via FileUploadedEvent.

References