FileFleet
A full-stack cloud storage platform built to make file management seamless, secure, and personal
What is it?
FileFleet is a full-stack cloud storage application I designed and built from scratch. It lets users securely upload, organize, preview, and manage files from any device — with a clean, category-driven interface that keeps everything accessible. Think a lightweight, developer-crafted alternative to Google Drive, with full control over every layer of the stack.
What I Did
I was the sole developer on this project — from system design to deployment. I architected the full backend API, designed the database schema, implemented the entire authentication system, built the file management engine, and crafted the responsive frontend UI. Every product decision, every technical tradeoff, and every line of code was mine.
Tech Stack & Tools
- MERN Stack
- Full-Stack
- SaaS
- JWT Auth
- Cloudinary
- REST API
- MongoDB
- Personal Project
Auth System Design
Built a complete authentication flow from scratch — email OTP verification on signup, JWT-based session management for protected routes, and a secure password reset system using short-lived JWT tokens with expiry enforcement. No third-party auth libraries.
File Upload Engine
Engineered a file upload pipeline with real-time progress tracking using Axios upload events. Enforced hard limits at both the per-file level (100 MB) and per-account level (1 GB) with server-side validation before any bytes hit Cloudinary.
Storage & Categorization
Integrated Cloudinary as the storage backend and MongoDB for metadata persistence. Files are automatically categorized into Documents, Images, Videos/Audio, and Others — making browsing fast and intuitive without manual sorting.
In-Browser File Preview
Implemented native in-browser preview for PDFs and images using direct Cloudinary URLs. For Office formats (DOCX, XLSX, PPTX), integrated Google Docs Viewer to render files without any download required.
Download Proxy & File Ops
Solved a tricky browser limitation by routing all downloads through a server-side proxy that sets correct Content-Disposition headers — ensuring every file type downloads with the right filename and format instead of opening in the browser tab.
Cleanup & Data Integrity
Built automatic Cloudinary cleanup triggered on file deletion — so removing a file from the DB also destroys the asset in storage, preventing orphaned files and wasted storage. Ownership checks are enforced server-side on every mutation.
- Per-Account Storage
- 1 GB
- With enforced server-side limits and real-time usage tracking
- Per-File Upload Limit
- 100 MB
- Validated on both client and server before Cloudinary upload
- File Categories
- 4
- Documents, Images, Videos/Audio, Others — auto-sorted on upload
- Orphaned Storage
- 0
- Automatic Cloudinary cleanup on every file deletion
- Email OTP verification on signup
- Secure password reset via short-lived JWT tokens
- Real-time file upload progress tracking
- 100 MB per-file & 1 GB per-account storage limits
- Auto-categorized file browsing (Docs, Images, Video, Others)
- In-browser PDF & image preview
- Google Docs Viewer for Office formats (DOCX, XLSX, PPTX)
- Server-proxied downloads with correct Content-Disposition headers
- File renaming & deletion with ownership enforcement
- Automatic Cloudinary cleanup on file deletion
- Dashboard with storage usage broken down by category
- Protected routes with JWT session management
- Fully responsive across all devices
Built auth from scratch with OTP + short-lived JWT — no Clerk, no Firebase Auth
Server-side download proxy to fix Content-Disposition across all file types
Dual-layer storage enforcement (client + server) before any Cloudinary call
Atomic delete: DB record + Cloudinary asset destroyed together to prevent orphans
Google Docs Viewer integration for Office file preview without downloading
Ready to build something amazing?
Interested in learning more about this project or starting a new full-stack development journey? Let's talk.