File uploads

The E-Commerce API supports file uploads for product images and user profile photos using Multer. This guide explains how to configure and use file uploads.

Overview

File uploads are handled by the multer middleware, which:

Stores files on disk in organized directories
Validates file types (images only)
Enforces file size limits (5MB maximum)
Generates unique filenames to prevent conflicts

Upload configuration

The upload middleware is configured in middlewares/fileUpload.mjs:

middlewares/fileUpload.mjs

import multer from 'multer';
import path from 'path';
import fs from 'fs';

const createDirectory = (dir) => {
  if (!fs.existsSync(dir)) {
    fs.mkdirSync(dir, { recursive: true });
  }
};

const storage = multer.diskStorage({
  destination: (req, file, cb) => {
    const currentUrl = req.originalUrl;
    const route = currentUrl.split('/')[3];
    const uploadPath = path.join('uploads', route);

    createDirectory(uploadPath);

    cb(null, uploadPath);
  },
  filename: (req, file, cb) => {
    const uniqueSuffix = Date.now() + '-' + Math.round(Math.random() * 1e9);
    cb(null, uniqueSuffix + path.extname(file.originalname));
  },
});

const fileFilter = (req, file, cb) => {
  const allowedTypes = ['image/jpeg', 'image/png', 'image/gif', 'image/jpg', 'image/bmp', 'image/webp'];
  if (allowedTypes.includes(file.mimetype)) {
    cb(null, true);
  } else {
    cb(new Error('Invalid file type. Only JPEG, PNG, GIF, JPG, BMP, and WEBP files are allowed.'), false);
  }
};

export const upload = multer({
  storage,
  fileFilter,
  limits: { fileSize: 1024 * 1024 * 5 }, // 5MB limit
});

Supported file types

The API accepts the following image formats:

JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg)
PNG (.png)
GIF (.gif)
BMP (.bmp)
WebP (.webp)

Attempting to upload other file types will result in an error: “Invalid file type. Only JPEG, PNG, GIF, JPG, BMP, and WEBP files are allowed.”

File size limits

Maximum file size: 5MB (5,242,880 bytes) Files exceeding this limit will be rejected with a size limit error.

Storage structure

Files are automatically organized by route:

uploads/
├── profile-photo/       # User profile photos
│   ├── 1678901234567-123456789.jpg
│   └── 1678901234568-987654321.png
└── product/             # Product images
    ├── 1678901234569-111111111.jpg
    ├── 1678901234570-222222222.jpg
    └── 1678901234571-333333333.png

The middleware extracts the route name from the URL path and creates subdirectories automatically.

Accessing uploaded files

Uploaded files are served statically and accessible via URL:

app.mjs

app.use("/uploads", express.static("uploads"));

Files can be accessed at:

http://localhost:5000/uploads/profile-photo/1678901234567-123456789.jpg
http://localhost:5000/uploads/product/1678901234569-111111111.jpg

Upload examples

Single file upload - Profile photo

Update a user’s profile photo: Route configuration:

routes/authenticateRoutes.mjs

import { upload } from "../middlewares/fileUpload.mjs";
import { updateProfilePhoto } from "../controllers/userController.mjs";
import { uploadErrorHandler } from "../handler/responseHandler.mjs";

router.post("/user/profile-photo", 
  upload.single("photo"), 
  updateProfilePhoto, 
  uploadErrorHandler
);

Controller implementation:

controllers/userController.mjs

export const updateProfilePhoto = async (req, res) => {
  const userId = req.user.id;

  if (!req.file) {
    return errorResponse({
      res,
      statusCode: 400,
      message: "photo is required",
    });
  }

  try {
    const imgUrl = `${req.file.destination}/${req.file.filename}`.replaceAll('\\', '/');

    const [existingUser] = await db.execute(
      "SELECT * FROM users WHERE id = ?",
      [userId]
    );
    
    if (existingUser.length === 0) {
      return errorResponse({
        res,
        statusCode: 404,
        message: "User not found",
      });
    }

    const [result] = await db.execute(
      "UPDATE users SET profile_photo = ? WHERE id = ?",
      [imgUrl, userId]
    );

    successResponse({
      res,
      statusCode: 200,
      message: "Profile photo updated successfully",
      data: result,
    });
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(error);
    errorResponse({
      res,
      statusCode: 500,
      message: "Internal Server Error",
    });
  }
};

cURL example:

curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/api/user/profile-photo \
  -H "x-api-key: your-api-key" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer your-jwt-token" \
  -F "photo=@/path/to/photo.jpg"

JavaScript fetch example:

const formData = new FormData();
formData.append('photo', fileInput.files[0]);

const response = await fetch('http://localhost:5000/api/user/profile-photo', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'x-api-key': 'your-api-key',
    'Authorization': 'Bearer your-jwt-token'
  },
  body: formData
});

const result = await response.json();

Multiple file upload - Product images

Add a product with multiple images: Route configuration:

routes/adminRoutes.mjs

import { upload } from "../middlewares/fileUpload.mjs";
import { addProduct } from "../controllers/productController.mjs";
import { uploadErrorHandler } from "../handler/responseHandler.mjs";

router.post("/product", 
  upload.array("images"), 
  addProduct, 
  uploadErrorHandler
);

Controller implementation:

controllers/productController.mjs

export const addProduct = async (req, res) => {
  const { name, description, variant, price, stock, categoryId } = req.body;

  if (!name || !description || !price || !stock || !categoryId) {
    return errorResponse({
      res,
      statusCode: 400,
      message: "All fields are required",
    });
  }

  if (!req.files || req.files.length === 0) {
    return errorResponse({
      res,
      statusCode: 400,
      message: "At least one image file is required",
    });
  }

  try {
    const imgUrls = req.files.map((file) => file.path.replaceAll("\\", "/"));
    const slug = name
      .toLowerCase()
      .replace(/\s+/g, "-")
      .replace(/&/g, "and")
      .replace(/[^\w-]/g, "");
      
    const [result] = await db.execute(
      "INSERT INTO products (name, slug, description, variant, price, stock, category_id, img_urls) VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)",
      [
        name,
        slug,
        description,
        JSON.stringify(parsedVariant),
        price,
        stock,
        categoryId,
        JSON.stringify(imgUrls),
      ]
    );

    const [product] = await db.execute("SELECT * FROM products WHERE id = ?", [
      result.insertId,
    ]);

    successResponse({
      res,
      statusCode: 201,
      message: "Product added successfully",
      data: {
        ...product[0],
        variant: JSON.parse(product[0].variant),
        img_urls: JSON.parse(product[0].img_urls),
      },
    });
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(error);
    errorResponse({ res, statusCode: 500, message: "Internal Server Error" });
  }
};

cURL example:

curl -X POST http://localhost:5000/api/admin/product \
  -H "x-api-key: your-admin-api-key" \
  -F "name=Premium Laptop" \
  -F "description=High-performance laptop" \
  -F "price=999.99" \
  -F "stock=50" \
  -F "categoryId=1" \
  -F "images=@/path/to/image1.jpg" \
  -F "images=@/path/to/image2.jpg" \
  -F "images=@/path/to/image3.jpg"

JavaScript fetch example:

const formData = new FormData();
formData.append('name', 'Premium Laptop');
formData.append('description', 'High-performance laptop');
formData.append('price', '999.99');
formData.append('stock', '50');
formData.append('categoryId', '1');

// Add multiple images
for (let i = 0; i < imageFiles.length; i++) {
  formData.append('images', imageFiles[i]);
}

const response = await fetch('http://localhost:5000/api/admin/product', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'x-api-key': 'your-admin-api-key'
  },
  body: formData
});

const result = await response.json();

File object properties

When a file is successfully uploaded, the req.file (single) or req.files (multiple) object contains:

{
  fieldname: 'photo',
  originalname: 'profile.jpg',
  encoding: '7bit',
  mimetype: 'image/jpeg',
  destination: 'uploads/profile-photo',
  filename: '1678901234567-123456789.jpg',
  path: 'uploads/profile-photo/1678901234567-123456789.jpg',
  size: 245678
}

Error handling

The API includes an upload error handler middleware:

router.post("/user/profile-photo", 
  upload.single("photo"), 
  updateProfilePhoto, 
  uploadErrorHandler  // Catches upload errors
);

Common errors:

{
  "error": "Invalid file type. Only JPEG, PNG, GIF, JPG, BMP, and WEBP files are allowed.",
  "statusCode": 400
}

Best practices

Validate on client side

Check file type and size before uploading to improve user experience:

const file = input.files[0];
const maxSize = 5 * 1024 * 1024; // 5MB
const allowedTypes = ['image/jpeg', 'image/png', 'image/gif', 'image/webp'];

if (file.size > maxSize) {
  alert('File too large. Maximum size is 5MB.');
  return;
}

if (!allowedTypes.includes(file.type)) {
  alert('Invalid file type. Please upload an image.');
  return;
}

Optimize images

Compress images before upload to reduce bandwidth and storage:

import imageCompression from 'browser-image-compression';

const options = {
  maxSizeMB: 1,
  maxWidthOrHeight: 1920,
  useWebWorker: true
};

const compressedFile = await imageCompression(file, options);

Show upload progress

Provide feedback during upload:

const xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();

xhr.upload.addEventListener('progress', (e) => {
  if (e.lengthComputable) {
    const percentComplete = (e.loaded / e.total) * 100;
    console.log(`Upload progress: ${percentComplete}%`);
  }
});

Clean up old files

Implement a cleanup strategy to remove old or unused files to save storage space.

Consider cloud storage

For production, consider using cloud storage services like AWS S3, Google Cloud Storage, or Cloudinary for better scalability and CDN support.

Troubleshooting

Upload directory permissions

Ensure the application has write permissions for the uploads directory:

chmod -R 755 uploads/

Path separator issues

The code handles Windows path separators:

const imgUrl = `${req.file.destination}/${req.file.filename}`.replaceAll('\\', '/');

This ensures consistent forward slashes in URLs across all platforms.

Missing files in response

If uploaded files aren’t accessible, verify the static file serving is configured:

app.mjs

app.use("/uploads", express.static("uploads"));

Get Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Overview

Upload configuration

Supported file types

File size limits

Storage structure

Accessing uploaded files

Upload examples

Single file upload - Profile photo

Multiple file upload - Product images

File object properties

Error handling

Best practices

Troubleshooting

Upload directory permissions

Path separator issues

Missing files in response

Next steps

Products API

User API

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Core Concepts

Guides

​Overview

​Upload configuration

​Supported file types

​File size limits

​Storage structure

​Accessing uploaded files

​Upload examples

​Single file upload - Profile photo

​Multiple file upload - Product images

​File object properties

​Error handling

​Best practices

​Troubleshooting

​Upload directory permissions

​Path separator issues

​Missing files in response

​Next steps

Products API

User API

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Upload configuration

Supported file types

File size limits

Storage structure

Accessing uploaded files

Upload examples

Single file upload - Profile photo

Multiple file upload - Product images

File object properties

Error handling

Best practices

Troubleshooting

Upload directory permissions

Path separator issues

Missing files in response

Next steps