Relay Blob Library Laravel Package

Product Decisions This Supports

• File Storage & Media Management:

  • Accelerate development of a self-hosted blob storage solution (e.g., for user uploads, media libraries, or document repositories) by abstracting low-level API interactions with dbp/relay-blob-bundle.
  • Enable secure, scalable file handling (e.g., signed URLs, OAuth2/OIDC auth) without reinventing the wheel, reducing backend complexity.

• Roadmap Prioritization:

  • Build vs. Buy: Justify adopting this library over custom development if the team lacks expertise in blob storage APIs, OAuth2/OIDC flows, or signed URL generation.
  • Phase 1 MVP: Use this to quickly implement core file upload/download/delete functionality, then extend with custom logic (e.g., metadata indexing, CDN integration) later.
  • Compliance/Privacy: Leverage built-in AGPL-3.0 (open-source) alignment for projects requiring transparency or avoiding proprietary dependencies.

• Use Cases:

  • User-Generated Content: Profile pictures, avatars, or resumes in a SaaS platform.
  • Document Collaboration: Secure file sharing with versioning (e.g., legal contracts, medical records).
  • Media Workflows: Video/audio processing pipelines (e.g., signed URLs for direct client uploads to reduce server load).
  • Legacy System Migration: Replace S3/AWS dependencies with self-hosted alternatives while maintaining similar APIs.

When to Consider This Package

Adopt This Package If:

• Your team is building a Laravel/Symfony app and needs a self-hosted blob storage layer (not S3/DigitalOcean Spaces).
• You require OIDC/OAuth2 authentication for blob access (e.g., integrating with Keycloak, Azure AD).
• You need signed URLs for secure, temporary file access (e.g., sharing links without exposing raw endpoints).
• Your use case aligns with the example workflows (HTTP mode, file uploads/downloads/deletes, metadata handling).
• You’re okay with AGPL-3.0 licensing (or can relicense internally if needed).
• You want to avoid vendor lock-in and prefer open-source dependencies.

Look Elsewhere If:

• You need multi-cloud storage (e.g., S3, GCS, Azure Blob) out of the box → Use Laravel Filesystem or Flysystem.
• Your project requires PHP 8.1 or lower (this package drops support for PHP <8.2).
• You need advanced features like:
  • Serverless triggers (e.g., AWS Lambda for file processing).
  • GraphQL APIs for blob operations (this is HTTP-only).
  • Block storage (e.g., databases for binary data) → Consider Doctrine Dbal or Laravel’s store().
• Your team lacks Symfony/Laravel familiarity (the bundle integration is still "soon to come").
• You need high throughput (this is a helper library, not a distributed storage system).

How to Pitch It (Stakeholders)

For Executives:

"This library lets us build a secure, self-hosted file storage system without the complexity of managing raw APIs or third-party dependencies. Here’s why it’s a smart move:

• Faster Development: Abstracts OAuth2/OIDC auth and signed URLs—critical for secure file sharing—so our team can focus on core features.
• Cost Control: Avoids recurring costs of cloud storage (e.g., S3) while keeping data on-prem or in our own infrastructure.
• Compliance Ready: AGPL-3.0 aligns with open-source values, and OIDC support lets us integrate with our existing identity providers (e.g., Keycloak).
• Scalable: Handles user uploads, media libraries, and document workflows—scalable for our roadmap (e.g., adding CDN caching later). We’re proposing a build vs. buy decision: this library gives us 80% of the functionality with 20% of the effort compared to a custom solution."

For Engineering:

"This is a PHP helper library for interacting with dbp/relay-blob-bundle, which provides:

• HTTP-based blob operations (upload/download/delete files with metadata).
• OIDC/OAuth2 auth out of the box—no need to reinvent token flows.
• Signed URLs for secure file sharing (e.g., createSignedUrl()).
• Flexible file handling: Supports SplFileInfo, StreamInterface, or strings for uploads.
• Symfony/Laravel-friendly: Designed for integration with the relay-blob-bundle (though bundle docs are still in progress).

Proposed use case: Replace direct S3 calls with this for our [Project X] file storage needs. Tradeoffs:

• Pros: Faster iteration, secure by default, open-source.
• Cons: Limited to HTTP mode (no direct PHP SDK), early-stage docs, AGPL license. Recommendation: Pilot this for [specific feature] and evaluate performance against our benchmarks."*

Key Asks:

• Execs: Approval to adopt for [use case] with budget for potential custom extensions.
• Engineering: Sign-off on AGPL-3.0 license and commitment to contribute fixes/docs if needed.