S3 Media Storage

The S3 integration plugin automatically uploads WhatsApp media to an S3-compatible storage service. This is useful for compliance, CRM access, and backup.

What Is the S3 Integration

The @open-wa/integration-s3 plugin intercepts media messages and uploads the files to an S3 bucket before they are processed by your automation.

Configuration

Add the S3 plugin to your config:

// wa.config.js
export default {
  plugins: [
    '@open-wa/integration-s3',
  ],
  pluginConfig: {
    's3': {
      bucket: 'your-bucket-name',
      region: 'us-east-1',
      accessKeyId: process.env.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID,
      secretAccessKey: process.env.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY,
      // Optional: custom endpoint for S3-compatible services
      endpoint: 'https://s3-compatible.example.com',
    },
  },
};

How It Works

Auto Upload

When a media message arrives:

1. The plugin intercepts the message
2. Decrypts the media data
3. Uploads to the configured S3 bucket
4. Replaces the media reference with the S3 URL

URL Replacement

After upload, the message object includes the S3 URL instead of the raw media data. Your automation can access the media via the URL without needing to decrypt it.

Retrieval

Access uploaded media via the S3 URL:

client.onMessage(async (message) => {
  if (message.type === 'image') {
    // The mediaUrl field contains the S3 URL
    console.log('Media URL:', message.mediaUrl);
  }
});

Use Cases

Compliance

Store all WhatsApp media for regulatory compliance:

• Financial services record keeping
• Healthcare communication archives
• Legal discovery preparation

CRM Access

Give your CRM system access to media without running open-wa:

• Customer support agents view attachments directly from S3
• Sales teams access shared documents
• Analytics pipelines process media from S3

Backup

Maintain a backup copy of all media:

• Disaster recovery
• Historical analysis
• Audit trails

S3-Compatible Services

The integration works with any S3-compatible service:

• Amazon S3: The reference implementation
• Cloudflare R2: No egress fees
• MinIO: Self-hosted S3
• DigitalOcean Spaces: Simple object storage
• Backblaze B2: Low-cost storage

Configure the endpoint field for non-Amazon services:

pluginConfig: {
  's3': {
    bucket: 'your-bucket',
    endpoint: 'https://your-account.r2.cloudflarestorage.com',
    accessKeyId: process.env.R2_ACCESS_KEY_ID,
    secretAccessKey: process.env.R2_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY,
  },
},

Related

• Plugin getting started - Build your first plugin
• Integrations overview - Choose the right integration

Was this helpful?

Wally and his cute companion coffee mug are coding day and night to keep this up-to-date!

YesNo