R2 Cloud Storage - ProposalForge

S3-Compatible Object Storage, Reimagined

Cloudflare R2 is object storage without the egress fees. It's S3-compatible, globally distributed, and designed for the modern web. ProposalForge leverages R2 to provide permanent cloud storage for all generated PDFs—completely free thanks to zero egress charges.

Why R2 is Revolutionary

💰 Zero Egress Fees

Unlike AWS S3, serving files from R2 is completely free. No surprise bills for bandwidth usage.

🔗 S3 API Compatible

Drop-in replacement for S3. Use existing S3 SDKs, tools, and workflows without changes.

🌍 Global Distribution

Files automatically replicated across Cloudflare's global network for fast access worldwide.

⚡ Edge Integration

Direct integration with Workers. Upload and serve files without leaving the edge network.

🔒 Enterprise Security

11 nines of durability (99.999999999%). Your files are safer than on local storage.

💚 Generous Free Tier

10GB storage free—enough for thousands of proposal PDFs—plus unlimited downloads.

How ProposalForge Uses R2 Just Implemented!

When you generate a PDF in ProposalForge, here's what happens behind the scenes:

Generate PDF

→

Download Locally

→

Upload to R2

→

Save URL to D1

→

Get Shareable Link

Upload Implementation

ProposalForge uploads PDFs to R2 using a Cloudflare Worker API endpoint:

// Client-side: Send PDF to Worker for R2 upload
async function uploadPdfToCloud(pdfBlob, filename) {
  const formData = new FormData();
  formData.append('file', pdfBlob, filename);

  const response = await fetch('/api/upload-pdf', {
    method: 'POST',
    body: formData
  });

  const { url, success } = await response.json();
  return url;
}

// Worker: Upload to R2
export async function onRequestPost({ request, env }) {
  const formData = await request.formData();
  const file = formData.get('file');

  // Generate organized path: proposals/YYYY/MM/filename.pdf
  const date = new Date();
  const year = date.getFullYear();
  const month = String(date.getMonth() + 1).padStart(2, '0');
  const key = `proposals/${year}/${month}/${file.name}`;

  // Upload to R2
  await env.R2_BUCKET.put(key, file.stream(), {
    httpMetadata: {
      contentType: 'application/pdf'
    },
    customMetadata: {
      uploadedAt: date.toISOString(),
      fileSize: String(file.size)
    }
  });

  // Generate public URL
  const url = `https://cdn.example.com/${key}`;

  // Save to D1 database
  await env.DB.prepare(`
    INSERT INTO pdf_generations (filename, file_size, cloud_url)
    VALUES (?, ?, ?)
  `).bind(file.name, file.size, url).run();

  return Response.json({ success: true, url });
}

File Organization Strategy

PDFs are automatically organized using a date-based folder structure:

📁 proposals/ - Root folder for all PDFs
📁 proposals/2026/ - Year-based organization
📁 proposals/2026/01/ - Month-based subdivision
📄 proposals/2026/01/acme-corp-proposal.pdf - Individual files

This structure makes it easy to browse, archive, and manage thousands of proposals over time.

R2 Features in Action

🔗 Public URLs

Each PDF gets a permanent, shareable URL accessible from anywhere in the world.

📊 Metadata Tracking

Store custom metadata with each file: upload date, file size, original filename, proposal ID.

🗂️ Versioning

Keep multiple versions of the same proposal with R2's optional versioning feature.

🔐 Access Control

Generate time-limited signed URLs for secure, temporary access to sensitive proposals.

Cost Comparison: R2 vs AWS S3

Serving 10,000 PDFs per month (average 250KB each):

💚 Cloudflare R2

Storage: $0 (2.5GB < 10GB free tier)

Uploads: $0 (10,000 < free tier)

Downloads: $0 (no egress fees!)

Total: $0.00/month

🔴 AWS S3

Storage: $0.06 (2.5GB × $0.023/GB)

Uploads: $0.05 (10,000 PUT requests)

Downloads: $225.00 (2.5GB × $0.09/GB egress!)

Total: $225.06/month

Technical Specifications

📦 Max File Size: 5TB (far more than needed for PDFs)
🔢 Max Objects: Unlimited
⚡ Upload Speed: 100MB/s through Workers API
🌍 Availability: 99.9% SLA
🔒 Durability: 99.999999999% (11 nines)
📊 API Compatibility: Full S3 API support

Advanced Features Coming Soon

🗜️ Automatic Compression

R2 can automatically compress PDFs before storage to reduce costs and improve delivery speed.

🔐 Signed URLs

Generate time-limited URLs for secure proposal sharing with expiration dates.

📧 Email Integration

Email PDFs directly to clients using Cloudflare Email Workers with R2 attachments.

📊 Usage Analytics

Track how many times each PDF is viewed or downloaded using R2 access logs.

Security & Privacy

ProposalForge takes PDF security seriously:

🔒 Private by Default: PDFs not publicly listed or discoverable
🔑 Secure URLs: Long, unguessable URLs prevent unauthorized access
🛡️ DDoS Protection: Cloudflare's network protects against attacks
📝 Access Logs: Optional logging of who accesses each PDF
⏰ Expiring Links: Generate URLs that automatically expire after X days

Free Tier Limits

💚 Storage: 10GB free (≈ 40,000 PDFs @ 250KB each)
💚 Class A Operations: 1 million/month (writes)
💚 Class B Operations: 10 million/month (reads)
💚 Egress: Unlimited (this is the big win!)

Why This Changes Everything

Before R2, storing and serving files had hidden costs:

❌ AWS S3: Egress fees can exceed storage costs by 100x
❌ Google Cloud Storage: Similar egress pricing model
❌ Azure Blob Storage: Bandwidth charges add up quickly
✅ Cloudflare R2: Zero egress fees = predictable, sustainable costs

☁️ R2 Cloud Storage New Feature!

🎉 NEW: Automatic PDF Cloud Storage