From b38c8b0dd02c634088cde7a0c931a9ec2fdb90f5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Diego Ripley <diego@diegoripley.ca>
Date: Sun, 3 May 2026 14:29:00 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] Add quick blog post on s3 interface and s3 browser ui

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+---
+title: Deployed S3 Interface and S3 Browser UI
+summary: Making open data more accessible through our new S3-compatible endpoint and an intuitive web-based object explorer.
+date: 2026-05-03T10:00:00-04:00
+authors:
+  - name: diegoripley
+    link: https://github.com/diegoripley
+    image: https://github.com/diegoripley.png
+tags:
+  - s3
+  - infrastructure
+excludeSearch: false
+---
+
+A core part of the mission here at Data for Canada is modernizing how we access, store, and interact with public datasets. Today, we are excited to announce a step forward in our infrastructure with the deployment of a new S3-compatible API and a companion web-based explorer.
+
+These two tools are designed to serve both programmatic workflows and everyday discovery.
+
+## 1. The Programmatic S3 Interface
+[developmentseed/multistore](https://github.com/developmentseed/multistore/) has been successfully deployed to [https://s3.dataforcanada.org/](https://s3.dataforcanada.org/).
+
+For data pipelines and cloud-native workflows, standard access protocols are everything. Multistore provides a robust S3-compatible interface, allowing developers, researchers, and data engineers to interact with our hosted datasets using familiar S3 tools and libraries. Whether you are automating data pipelines, querying cloud-optimized formats directly over the network, or syncing large datasets, this endpoint ensures that data retrieval is fast, scalable, and standardized.
+
+```mermaid
+flowchart TD
+    Client(["🌐 S3 Client / User"])
+    Gateway["<b>s3.dataforcanada.org</b>\nS3-Compatible Gateway"]
+
+    Client -->|"S3 API Request"| Gateway
+
+    Gateway -->|"sourcecooperative bucket"| AWS
+    Gateway -->|"backblaze-ca-east-006 bucket"| BB
+    Gateway -->|"cloudflare-apac bucket"| CFAPAC
+    Gateway -->|"cloudflare-enam bucket"| CFENAM
+    Gateway -->|"tigris bucket"| TIGRIS
+
+    subgraph AWS ["☁️ Amazon Web Services"]
+        AWSNode["📍 Oregon, United States"]
+    end
+
+    subgraph BB ["🔵 Backblaze B2"]
+        BBNode["📍 Toronto, ON, Canada"]
+    end
+
+    subgraph CFAPAC ["🟠 Cloudflare R2"]
+        CFAPACNode["📍 Asia Pacific Region"]
+    end
+
+    subgraph CFENAM ["🟠 Cloudflare R2"]
+        CFENAMNode["📍 Eastern North America"]
+    end
+
+    subgraph TIGRIS ["⚡ Tigris Data"]
+        TIGRISNode["11 Regions Worldwide 🌍\nAuto-routes to nearest location\nfor lowest latency"]
+    end
+
+    style Gateway fill:#1a5f7a,color:#fff,stroke:#0d3d52
+    style Client fill:#2d6a4f,color:#fff,stroke:#1b4332
+    style AWSNode fill:#ff9900,color:#000,stroke:#cc7a00
+    style BBNode fill:#e03c31,color:#fff,stroke:#b02d24
+    style CFAPACNode fill:#f6821f,color:#fff,stroke:#c4681a
+    style CFENAMNode fill:#f6821f,color:#fff,stroke:#c4681a
+    style TIGRISNode fill:#6c3483,color:#fff,stroke:#512e6b
+```
+## 2. The S3 Browser UI
+To complement the API, we have also deployed [walkthru-earth/objex](https://github.com/walkthru-earth/objex) to [https://objex.labs.dataforcanada.org/](https://objex.labs.dataforcanada.org/).
+
+While an S3 API is perfect for code, sometimes you just need to look around. Objex provides a lightweight, clean, and intuitive web interface for browsing our storage buckets. This allows anyone to navigate through directory structures, discover what files are available, and download data directly from their browser—no command-line tools or specialized software required. 
+
+
+### Supported Formats
+As of May 3, 2026, objex supports over 100 file formats.
+
+| Category | Formats |
+|----------|---------|
+| Tabular | Parquet, CSV, TSV, JSONL, NDJSON |
+| Geo vector | GeoParquet, GeoJSON, Shapefile, GeoPackage, FlatGeobuf |
+| Geo raster | COG, PMTiles, Zarr v2/v3, GeoZarr |
+| Geo catalog | STAC Item / Collection / Catalog / FeatureCollection (JSON), stac-geoparquet |
+| Point cloud | COPC, LAZ, LAS |
+| Notebooks | Jupyter (.ipynb), marimo |
+| Code | 30+ languages (Python, TS, Rust, Go, SQL...) |
+| Documents | Markdown, PDF, text, logs |
+| Media | Images, video, audio |
+| 3D | GLB, glTF, OBJ, STL, FBX |
+| Archives | ZIP, TAR, GZ, 7Z, RAR |
+| Database | DuckDB, SQLite |
+
+## What’s Next?
+By pairing a standardized S3 API with a human-readable explorer, we are bridging the gap between heavy-duty engineering requirements and general public accessibility.
+
+Take a look around the new explorer, test out the S3 endpoint in your workflows, and stay tuned for more updates as we continue to build out the Data for Canada infrastructure!
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