DEV Community

Manthan Ankolekar
Manthan Ankolekar

Posted on

🚀 Automate Media Uploads to Cloudinary with Node.js: A Complete Guide

#node #javascript #webdev #programming

Managing media uploads manually can be a pain — especially when you're dealing with hundreds of images and videos. Whether you're a content creator, developer, or business owner, storing media in the cloud should be fast, organized, and reliable.

That's where Cloudinary Uploader comes in.

Built with Node.js, this open-source tool automates the process of uploading images and videos from a local folder to Cloudinary. It supports batch processing, multi-format handling, retry logic, and more.

Let’s dive into how it works and how you can get started in minutes.

🌟 Why Use This Uploader?

Here’s what makes Cloudinary Uploader stand out:

  • 🔄 Bulk Upload: Upload dozens or even hundreds of media files in one go.
  • ☁️ Cloud Storage: Securely store media on Cloudinary.
  • 🧠 Smart Detection: Automatically detects and separates images from videos.
  • 📦 Batch Processing: Upload files in customizable batch sizes.
  • ♻️ Retry Mechanism: Automatically retries failed uploads.
  • 📊 Detailed Summary: Get a clear report of success and failure rates.

⚙️ Features at a Glance

Feature Description
Supported Formats Images: PNG, JPG, GIF, SVG, WebP, etc.
Videos: MP4, AVI, MOV, etc.
Organized Uploads Uploads are organized into images/ and videos/ folders in Cloudinary
Retry Logic Configurable retry attempts for failed uploads
Batch Configuration Upload files in batches (default: 10 per batch)
CLI Monitoring Real-time progress updates in the terminal

📁 Project Structure 

cloudinary-uploader/
├── images/           # Place your media files here
├── index.js          # Main script
├── .env              # Your Cloudinary credentials (not committed)
├── .env.example      # Example for setting up your env file
├── package.json      # Project metadata and dependencies
└── README.md         # Project documentation
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

🚀 Getting Started

1. Clone the Repository 

git clone https://github.com/manthanank/cloudinary-uploader.git
cd cloudinary-uploader
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

2. Install Dependencies 

npm install
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

3. Configure Environment Variables

Create a .env file based on the provided .env.example:

CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=your_cloud_name
CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=your_api_key
CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=your_api_secret
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

Find these credentials in your Cloudinary dashboard.

🖼️ Uploading Media

  1. Place all your images and videos inside the images/ folder.
  2. Run the uploader: 
npm start
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

You’ll see real-time logs like:

📁 Found 150 media files to upload
🖼️  Images: 120
🎥 Videos: 30
⚙️  Processing in batches of 10 files
🔄 Retry attempts: 3
...
🎥 Uploaded video1.mp4 (video): https://res.cloudinary.com/demo/video/upload/videos/video1.mp4
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

🛠️ Customization Options

📐 Batch Size & Retry Attempts

You can adjust these in index.js:

const BATCH_SIZE = 10;       // Upload 10 files per batch
const RETRY_ATTEMPTS = 3;    // Retry failed uploads 3 times
const RETRY_DELAY = 2000;    // Delay between retries (in ms)
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

➕ Add More File Types

To support additional formats, modify the extension arrays:

const IMAGE_EXTENSIONS = [...];
const VIDEO_EXTENSIONS = [...];
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

🧪 Error Handling & Troubleshooting

Problem Solution
❌ Folder not found Ensure images/ exists
❌ Invalid credentials Check your .env file
❌ Upload failed Check file format, size, internet connection
❌ Resource type error Verify correct file extension

📊 Upload Summary

At the end of each run, you’ll see a detailed summary:

📊 Upload Summary:
🖼️  Images - ✅ Successful: 118, ❌ Failed: 2
🎥 Videos - ✅ Successful: 30, ❌ Failed: 0
📈 Overall Success Rate: 98.7%
Enter fullscreen mode Exit fullscreen mode

🔐 Security Best Practices

  • Never commit your .env file to version control
  • Store your credentials securely (e.g., use CI/CD secrets in production)
  • Cloudinary uses secure URLs by default for all media

📦 Tech Stack

  • Node.js: Core runtime
  • Cloudinary SDK: Media upload API
  • dotenv: Load environment variables
  • fs & path: File system utilities

🧑‍💻 Contributing

Want to improve this project?

  1. Fork the repo
  2. Create a new feature branch
  3. Commit and push your changes
  4. Submit a pull request 🚀

📘 Final Thoughts

If you're tired of dragging and dropping files into a web dashboard, Cloudinary Uploader offers a powerful alternative. With just one command, you can upload hundreds of images and videos into organized Cloudinary folders — complete with progress tracking and error handling.

Give it a try and streamline your media management today.

🔗 GitHub Repository: manthanank/cloudinary-uploader
🧑‍💻 Author: Manthan Ankolekar

Top comments (0)