> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.stackshift.cloud/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# S2 object storage overview

> Understand the S3-compatible S2 surface, its bucket model, security boundaries, data controls, and application workflows.

<Tip>
  **Live.** This area is documented as current, user-reliable behavior.
</Tip>

## Goal

Choose S2 for general-purpose application storage and understand the controls available beyond basic upload and download.

## Prerequisites

* A StackShift account and API token
* An S3-compatible client for object operations

## Workflow

<Steps>
  <Step>
    Create a logical S2 bucket through the StackShift control plane.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    Save the bucket-scoped access key and one-time secret securely.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    Point an S3-compatible client at the endpoint and region returned by the API.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    Use object keys and prefixes to organize content inside the bucket.
  </Step>

  <Step>
    Monitor usage against the storage quota included in the customer plan.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What S2 provides today

* Multiple tenant-isolated logical buckets with private visibility by default.
* S3 Signature Version 4 authentication with bucket-scoped access keys.
* PUT, GET, HEAD, DELETE, copy, bulk delete, prefix listing, delimiter-based folder views, object tags, and byte-range downloads.
* Multipart upload initiation, part upload, completion, and abort for larger objects.
* Presigned GET, PUT, HEAD, and DELETE URLs plus expiring prefix-scoped credentials.
* Version restore, lifecycle rules, retention rules, CORS, and static website settings.
* Managed object events, access logs, usage analytics, inventory exports, and object catalogs.
* Bucket-level server-side encryption defaults: `none`, StackShift-managed `sse-s2`, or platform-managed `sse-kms`.
* Per-plan storage and object quotas plus gateway request-rate limiting.

## Buckets, prefixes, and objects

A bucket is the isolation and credential boundary. Inside it, every object has one string key such as `customers/42/avatar.webp`. The slash has no filesystem meaning; clients show folders by listing with a prefix and `/` delimiter.

Bucket names use lowercase S3-style naming. Choose a stable globally unique name because the current management API does not rename a bucket in place.

## Two compatible interfaces

Use the S3 endpoint for object traffic from applications and standard S3 clients. Use the StackShift control-plane API, dashboard, CLI, or Terraform provider to manage buckets, credentials, policies, events, analytics, and other S2 platform features.

The endpoint and signing region returned with a bucket are the source of truth for client configuration. S2 keeps the customer contract stable while StackShift manages the storage service behind it.

## Not the Assets product

Use S2 when software needs a general S3-compatible object store. Use Assets when you need the account-scoped media workflow: upload sessions, transformations, moderation, DAM metadata, collections, delivery policy, and asset-specific lifecycle controls.

## Expected result

<Check>
  You can choose the right S2 features for application files, generated artifacts, static content, protected downloads, and data workflows.
</Check>

## Common failures

<Warning>
  * Using an Assets API bucket as an S2 bucket. Assets and S2 have separate APIs, credentials, and lifecycle models.
  * Treating prefixes as real directories. S3-compatible object stores keep flat keys and derive folder views from delimiters.
  * Calling AWS-specific extensions outside the documented S2 compatibility surface. Use StackShift management APIs for S2 platform features.
</Warning>

## Related guides

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Create a bucket and connect an S3 client" href="/object-storage/create-and-connect">
    Create an S2 bucket, capture its one-time credentials, and verify object operations with the AWS CLI.
  </Card>

  <Card title="S3 operations and presigned access" href="/object-storage/s3-operations-and-presigned-access">
    Use the supported S3 operations, conditional requests, object metadata, tags, multipart uploads, and presigned URLs.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Access keys, encryption, isolation, and quotas" href="/object-storage/access-and-security">
    Operate S2 credentials, encryption, visibility, tenant isolation, request limits, and customer-plan quotas safely.
  </Card>

  <Card title="StackShift Assets" href="/assets/overview">
    A grounded guide to Assets storage, uploads, delivery, imports, BYOB and S2, transformations, OCR, media processing, AI jobs, and DAM controls.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>