Skip to content
This repository


Subversion checkout URL

You can clone with HTTPS or Subversion.

Download ZIP

Process your uploads in the background by uploading directly to S3

tag: v0.0.1

Fetching latest commit…


Cannot retrieve the latest commit at this time

Octocat-spinner-32 lib
Octocat-spinner-32 spec
Octocat-spinner-32 .gitignore
Octocat-spinner-32 Gemfile
Octocat-spinner-32 LICENSE
Octocat-spinner-32 Rakefile
Octocat-spinner-32 carrierwave_direct.gemspec


CarrierWave is a great way to upload files from Ruby applications, but since processing and saving is done in-process, it doesn't scale well. A better way is to upload your files directly then handle the processing and saving in a background process.

CarrierWaveDirect works on top of CarrierWave and provides a simple way to achieve this.


Right now, CarrierWaveDirect works with Amazon S3. Adding support for Google Storage for Developers should be fairly straight forward since the direct upload form is essentially the same. Please see the contributing section if you would like support for Google Storage for Developers or any other service that provides direct upload capabilities.


More information, and how-tos available on the wiki


Install the latest release:

gem install carrierwave_direct

In Rails, add it to your Gemfile:

gem 'carrierwave_direct'

Note that CarrierWaveDirect is not compatible with Rails 2.

Getting Started

Please read the CarrierWave readme first

CarrierWaveDirect works with fog so make sure you have CarrierWave set up and initialized with your fog credentials, for example:

CarrierWave.configure do |config|
  config.fog_credentials = {
    :provider               => 'AWS',       # required
    :aws_access_key_id      => 'xxx',       # required
    :aws_secret_access_key  => 'yyy',       # required
  config.fog_directory  = 'name_of_directory'                     # required
  config.fog_host       = ''            # optional, defaults to nil
  config.fog_public     = false                                   # optional, defaults to true

If you haven't already done so generate an uploader

rails generate uploader Avatar

this should give you a file in:


Check out this file for some hints on how you can customize your uploader. It should look something like this:

class AvatarUploader < CarrierWave::Uploader::Base
  storage :file

Remove the line storage :file and replace it with include CarrierWaveDirect::Uploader so it should look something like:

class AvatarUploader < CarrierWave::Uploader::Base
  include CarrierWaveDirect::Uploader

This adds the extra functionality for direct uploading.

If you're not using Rails you can generate a direct upload form to S3 similar to this:

  <input type="submit" value="Upload to S3">

by making use of the following methods in your uploader:

uploader =

uploader.direct_fog_url           # return the url to post to based off your bucket name
uploader.key                      # returns a key based off your store_dir
uploader.aws_access_key_id        # returns your aws_access_key_id from your fog configuration
uploader.acl                      # returns your acl from your fog configuration
uploader.success_action_redirect= # sets the success action redirect url
uploader.success_action_redirect  # gets the success action redirect url
uploader.policy                   # a base 64 encoded policy document
uploader.signature                # your signature

If you are using Rails and you've mounted your uploader like this:

class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  mount_uploader :avatar, AvatarUploader

things just got a whole lot easier. You can generate a direct upload form like this:

class AvatarController < ApplicationController
  def new
    @uploader =
    @uploader.success_action_redirect = new_user_url

<%= direct_upload_form_for @uploader do |f| %>
  <%= f.file_field :avatar %>
  <%= f.submit %>
<% end %>

Note if User is not an ActiveRecord object e.g.

class User
  mount_uploader :avatar, AvatarUploader

you can still use the form helper by including the ActiveModel modules your uploader:

class AvatarUploader < CarrierWave::Uploader::Base
  include CarrierWaveDirect::Uploader

  include ActiveModel::Conversion
  extend ActiveModel::Naming

Once you've uploaded your file directly to the cloud you'll probably need a way to reference it with an ORM and process it.

Processing and referencing files in a background process

Processing and saving file uploads are typically long running tasks and should be done in a background process. CarrierWaveDirect gives you a few methods to help you do this with your favorite background processor such as DelayedJob or Resque.

If your upload was successful then you will be redirected to the success_action_redirect url you specified in your uploader. S3 replies with a redirect like this:

The key is the most important piece of information as we can use it for validating the file extension, downloading the file from S3, processing it and re-uploading it.

If you're using ActiveRecord, CarrierWaveDirect will by default validate the file extension based off your extension_white_list in your uploader. See the CarrierWave readme for more info. You can then use the helper filename_valid? to check if the filename is valid. e.g.

class UsersController < ApplicationController
  def new
    @user =
    unless @user.filename_valid?
      flash[:error] = @user.errors.full_messages.to_sentence
      redirect_to new_avatar_path

CarrierWaveDirect automatically gives you an accessible key attribute in your mounted model when using ActiveRecord. You can use this to put a hidden field for the key into your model's form.

<%= form_for @user do |f| %>
  <%= f.hidden_field :key %>
  <%= f.label :email %>
  <%= f.text_field :email %>
  <%= f.submit %>
<% end %>

then in your controller you can do something like this:

def create
  @user =[:user])
  if @user.save_and_process_avatar
    flash[:notice] = "User being created"
    redirect_to :action => :index
    render :new

Background processing

Now that the basic building blocks are in place you can process and save your avatar in the background. This example uses Resque but the same logic could be applied to DelayedJob or any other background processor.

class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  def save_and_process_avatar(options = {})
    if options[:now]
      self.remote_avatar_url = avatar.direct_fog_url(:with_path => true)
      Resque.enqueue(AvatarProcessor, attributes)

class AvatarProcessor
  @queue = :avatar_processor_queue

  def self.perform(attributes)
    user =
    user.save_and_process_avatar(:now => true)

The method self.remote_avatar_url= from CarrierWave downloads the avatar from S3 and processes it. save then re-uploads the processed avatar to to S3

Uploading from a remote location

Your users may find it convenient to upload a file from a location on the Internet via a URL. CarrierWaveDirect gives you another accessor to achieve this.

<%= form_for @user do |f| %>
  <%= f.hidden_field :key %>
  <% unless @hangover.has_avatar_upload? %>
    <%= f.label :remote_avatar_net_url %>
    <%= f.text_field :remote_avatar_net_url %>
  <%= f.submit %>
<% end %>

class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  def save_and_process_avatar(options = {})
    if options[:now]
      self.remote_avatar_url = has_remote_avatar_net_url? ? remote_avatar_net_url : avatar.direct_fog_url(:with_path => true)
      Resque.enqueue(AvatarProcessor, attributes)

The methods has_avatar_upload?, remote_avatar_net_url and has_remote_avatar_net_url? are automatically added to your mounted model


Along with validating the extension of the filename, CarrierWaveDirect also gives you some other validations:

  validates :avatar :is_uploaded => true

Validates that your mounted model has an avatar uploaded from file or specified by remote url. It does not check that an your mounted model actually has a valid avatar after the download has taken place. Turned off by default

  validates :avatar, :is_attached => true

Validates that your mounted model has an avatar attached. This checks whether there is an actual avatar attached to the mounted model after downloading. Turned off by default

  validates :avatar, :filename_uniqueness => true

Validates that the filename in the database is unique. Turned on by default

  validates :avatar :filename_format => true

Validates that the uploaded filename is valid. As well as validating the extension against the extension_white_list it also validates that the upload_dir is correct. Turned on by default

  validates :avatar :remote_net_url_format => true

Validates that the remote net url is valid. As well as validating the extension against the extension_white_list it also validates that url is valid and has only the schemes specified in the url_scheme_whitelist. Turned on by default


As well as the built in validations CarrierWaveDirect provides, some validations, such as max file size and upload expiration can be performed on the S3 side.

CarrierWave.configure do |config|
  config.validate_is_attached = true             # defaults to false
  config.validate_is_uploaded = true             # defaults to false
  config.validate_unique_filename = false        # defaults to true
  config.validate_filename_format = false        # defaults to true
  config.validate_remote_net_url_format = false  # defaults to true

  config.max_file_size     = 10.megabytes        # defaults to 5.megabytes
  config.upload_expiration = 1.hour              # defaults to 10.hours

Testing with CarrierWaveDirect

CarrierWaveDirect provides a couple of helpers to help with integration and unit testing. You don't want to contact the Internet during your tests as this is slow, expensive and unreliable. You should first put fog into mock mode by doing something like this.


def fog_directory

connection =
  :aws_access_key_id      => ENV['AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID'],
  :aws_secret_access_key  => ENV['AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY'],
  :provider               => 'AWS'

connection.directories.create(:key => fog_directory)

Using Capybara

If your using Capybara with Cucumber or RSpec, CarrierWaveDirect gives you a few useful helpers. To get the Capybara helpers, include the module into your test file or helper

describe AvatarUploadSpec
  include CarrierWaveDirect::Test::CapybaraHelpers

To attach a file to the direct upload form you can use


To simulate a successful upload and redirect to S3 you can use

upload_directly(AvatarUploader, "Upload to S3")

This will click the Upload to S3 button on the form and redirect you to the success_action_redirect url (in the form) with a sample response from S3

To simulate an unsuccessful upload you can pass :success => false and you'll remain on the upload page e.g.

upload_directly(AvatarUploader, "Upload to S3", :success => false)

You can also use find_key and find_upload_path to get the key and upload path from the form

Unit tests

If your mounted model validates a file is uploaded you might want to make use of the sample_key method

include CarrierWaveDirect::Test::Helpers

Factory.define :user |f| ""
  f.key { sample_key( }

This will return a valid key based off your upload_dir and your extension_white_list

Faking a background download

If you wanted to fake a download in the background you could do something like this

  uploader =

  upload_path = find_upload_path
  redirect_key = sample_key(:base => find_key, :filename => File.basename(upload_path))

  uploader.key = redirect_key
  download_url = uploader.direct_fog_url(:with_path => true)

  # Register the download url and return the uploaded file in the body
  FakeWeb.register_uri(:get, download_url, :body =>


The Active Record validations use the Rails i18n framework. Add these keys to your translations file:

      carrierwave_direct_filename_taken: filename was already taken
      carrierwave_direct_upload_missing: upload is missing
      carrierwave_direct_attachment_missing: attachment is missing
      carrierwave_direct_filename_invalid: is invalid. Allowed file types are ${extension_white_list}
      carrierwave_direct_remote_net_url_invalid: is invalid. Allowed file types are ${extension_white_list}. Allowed url schemes are ${url_scheme_white_list}

Contributing to CarrierWaveDirect

Pull requests are very welcome. Before submitting a pull request, please make sure that your changes are well tested.

gem install bundler
bundle install

You should now be able to run the tests

bundle exec rake
Something went wrong with that request. Please try again.