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Buckets

Buckets are containers for your objects. Every object in Fil One lives inside a bucket.

Bucket naming rules​

Bucket names must be:

  • Between 3 and 63 characters
  • Lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens only (no dots)
  • Must start and end with a letter or number
  • Unique within Fil One

These rules are close to AWS S3's but not identical: in particular Fil One does not allow dots (.) in bucket names, which AWS S3 permits. If you are migrating a bucket whose name contains a dot, you will need to rename it.

Creating a bucket​

note

Whether you can create a bucket through the S3 API depends on the region. CreateBucket and DeleteBucket are supported in us-east-1, but not in eu-west-1 — in that region buckets must be created through the Fil One dashboard. All other S3 operations (uploading, downloading, listing objects, etc.) work normally via the API in every region.

To use CreateBucket or DeleteBucket with an access key, grant the key that permission when you create it. See API Keys.

  1. From the dashboard, click New bucket (or open Buckets in the left menu), then click Create bucket.
  2. Enter a bucket name.
  3. Choose a region — eu-west-1 Europe (France, the default) or us-east-1 US East (Michigan).
  4. Optionally enable Versioning. Leave it off and the bucket keeps only the current copy of each object.
  5. Optionally enable Object Lock, then Retention. Each requires the one before it, so Object Lock only becomes available once versioning is on, and retention only once Object Lock is on. Retention takes a mode (Governance, the default, or Compliance) and a duration from 1 day up to 100 years.
  6. Optionally create or configure an API key in the API key section. A key belongs to a single region and must match the bucket's region.
  7. Click Create bucket (the button reads Create bucket and API key if you expanded the key section).

Every bucket is created with encryption enabled automatically.

Creation-time settings are permanent

Region, versioning, Object Lock, and retention cannot be changed after the bucket exists — there is no update-bucket operation, and a bucket cannot be moved between regions. To change any of them you have to create a new bucket and copy the data across. Enable versioning and Object Lock now if you are likely to want them.

Listing buckets​

aws s3 ls --endpoint-url https://eu-west-1.s3.filonecontent.com

Deleting a bucket​

note

Deleting a bucket from the dashboard is not yet available. The delete button is visible but disabled while the underlying storage layer completes support for this operation, and it will be enabled in a future release.

In the meantime you can delete a bucket through the S3 API in us-east-1, using a key that has the DeleteBucket permission. The bucket must be empty. DeleteBucket is not available in eu-west-1.

Logical deletion and Filecoin storage

When you delete a bucket and its objects, the data is immediately removed from your Fil One account and is no longer accessible via the API or dashboard. Because Filecoin stores data in sealed sectors, the underlying storage may persist for a bounded period after deletion before it naturally expires. That residual data stays encrypted, and key custody sits with the regional storage operator rather than with you or Fil One — see Encryption. The exact duration is set by the storage layer rather than measured by Fil One, and it does not affect your ability to manage your data in Fil One.