ADR-0001. S3/Minio is the only live object-storage backend

Field	Value
Status	Accepted
Date	2026-03-01
Deciders	platform
Supersedes	—

Context

• Earlier wiki drafts described a "dual storage" model (S3 and local disk) with a presigned-URL StaticAssetComponent.
• That StaticAssetComponent wiring (presigned URLs, MetaLink-backed static-asset options) is present in application-asset.component.ts but commented out — it is not bound at runtime.
• A local-disk backend would diverge across replicas (no shared volume in K8s) and break horizontal scaling.
• The only active code path constructs a single BunS3Helper from APP_ENV_S3_* and hardcodes storageType: 's3' on every MetaLink.

Decision

We will support only S3/Minio object storage via BunS3Helper, bound under APPLICATION_S3_STORAGE_HELPER. The local-disk / presigned-URL StaticAssetComponent path stays commented out and is not documented as live.

Consequences

Pros	Cons
One storage path → simpler reasoning, fewer env vars	No offline/dev-disk fallback — dev needs Minio
Stateless replicas — any pod serves any object	Coupled to an S3-compatible endpoint being available
storageType is effectively constant s3	Re-enabling presigned URLs requires uncommenting + an ADR

Alternatives Considered

Option	Pros	Cons	Why rejected
Dual S3 + local-disk backend	Dev simplicity	Replica divergence, no shared volume, more config	Operationally fragile in K8s
Presigned-URL StaticAssetComponent now	Offloads streaming from app	Extra wiring + MetaLink coupling not yet needed	Deferred — keep code commented until required

References

• packages/asset/src/components/application-asset.component.ts (active BunS3Helper; commented StaticAssetComponent)
• packages/asset/src/controllers/asset/asset.controller.ts (storageType: 's3')
• packages/core/src/common/environments.ts (APP_ENV_S3_*)