Payload CMS Media Library Setup

Payload CMS Media Library

Payload manages media files through a dedicated collection with the upload type. Files can be stored locally or in the cloud (S3, Cloudflare R2, GCS) through official adapter plugins.

Basic Media Collection

// collections/Media.ts
import type { CollectionConfig } from 'payload/types'

const Media: CollectionConfig = {
  slug: 'media',
  upload: {
    staticURL: '/media',
    staticDir: 'public/media',     // local storage
    imageSizes: [
      { name: 'thumbnail', width: 400, height: 300, crop: 'center' },
      { name: 'card', width: 768, height: 512, crop: 'center' },
      { name: 'tablet', width: 1024, withoutEnlargement: true },
    ],
    adminThumbnail: 'thumbnail',
    mimeTypes: ['image/*', 'application/pdf'],
    // maximum file size (bytes)
    limits: { fileSize: 10 * 1024 * 1024 },
  },
  fields: [
    {
      name: 'alt',
      type: 'text',
      required: true,
    },
    {
      name: 'caption',
      type: 'text',
    },
  ],
}

export default Media

S3 Storage via Plugin

npm install @payloadcms/storage-s3

// payload.config.ts
import { s3Storage } from '@payloadcms/storage-s3'

export default buildConfig({
  plugins: [
    s3Storage({
      collections: {
        media: {
          prefix: 'media',
          generateFileURL: ({ filename, prefix }) =>
            `${process.env.CDN_URL}/${prefix}/${filename}`,
        },
      },
      bucket: process.env.S3_BUCKET!,
      config: {
        region: process.env.S3_REGION || 'eu-west-1',
        credentials: {
          accessKeyId: process.env.S3_ACCESS_KEY!,
          secretAccessKey: process.env.S3_SECRET_KEY!,
        },
        endpoint: process.env.S3_ENDPOINT,  // for Cloudflare R2 or MinIO
      },
    }),
  ],
})

For Cloudflare R2, set endpoint = https://<account-id>.r2.cloudflarestorage.com and region = auto.

Cloudflare R2 + Image Transforms

// collections/Media.ts — URL transformation via Cloudflare Images
upload: {
  imageSizes: [
    {
      name: 'thumbnail',
      generateImageName: ({ height, sizeName, extension, width }) =>
        `${sizeName}_${width}x${height}.${extension}`,
    },
  ],
  // For R2 — don't generate server-side resizes, use CF Image Resizing
  disableLocalStorage: true,
}

File Upload via API

// Upload via REST API
const formData = new FormData()
formData.append('file', fileBlob, 'image.jpg')
formData.append('alt', 'Image description')

const response = await fetch('/api/media', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${token}` },
  body: formData,
})

const media = await response.json()
// media.url — file URL
// media.sizes.thumbnail.url — resized URL

Usage in Other Collections

// Upload field in collection
{
  name: 'featuredImage',
  type: 'upload',
  relationTo: 'media',
  required: true,
}

// In Next.js component
import Image from 'next/image'

const PostCard = ({ post }: { post: Post }) => {
  const image = post.featuredImage
  if (typeof image === 'string') return null  // not populated

  return (
    <Image
      src={image.sizes?.card?.url || image.url!}
      alt={image.alt}
      width={768}
      height={512}
    />
  )
}

Timeline

Setting up a media library with S3/R2 storage, resizing, and collection integration takes 0.5–1 day.