Cloudinary Signature Generator

This project provides a server-side implementation for generating Cloudinary signatures, which is required for secure client-side uploads to Cloudinary.

Features

• Express.js server with signature generation endpoint
• CORS enabled for cross-origin requests
• Demo HTML page with Cloudinary upload widget
• Environment-based configuration

Setup Instructions

1. Install Dependencies

npm install

2. Configure Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the root directory with your Cloudinary credentials:

cp env.example .env

Then edit the .env file with your actual Cloudinary credentials:

CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=your_cloud_name
CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=your_api_key
CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=your_api_secret
PORT=3000

3. Get Your Cloudinary Credentials

1. Sign up for a Cloudinary account at cloudinary.com
2. Go to your Dashboard
3. Copy your Cloud Name, API Key, and API Secret

4. Run the Server

# Development mode (with auto-restart)
npm run dev

# Production mode
npm start

The server will start on http://localhost:3000

Usage

Server Endpoint

The signature generation endpoint is available at:

GET /my_generate_signature?data=<json_string>

Client-Side JavaScript

Your existing JavaScript snippet will work with this server:

var generateSignature = function(callback, params_to_sign){
  $.ajax({
   url     : "http://localhost:3000/my_generate_signature",
   type    : "GET",
   dataType: "text",
   data    : { data: params_to_sign},
   complete: function() {console.log("complete")},
   success : function(signature, textStatus, xhr) { callback(signature); },
   error   : function(xhr, status, error) { console.log(xhr, status, error); }
  });
}

Example Usage

// Parameters to sign (example)
const params = {
  timestamp: Math.round((new Date).getTime() / 1000),
  folder: 'my-uploads',
  public_id: 'unique-file-id'
};

// Generate signature
generateSignature(function(signature) {
  console.log('Generated signature:', signature);
  // Use the signature with Cloudinary upload
}, JSON.stringify(params));

Demo

Visit http://localhost:3000 to see a working demo with:

• Signature generation test
• Cloudinary upload widget
• Real-time feedback

Security Notes

• Never expose your Cloudinary API Secret in client-side code
• Always generate signatures server-side
• Use HTTPS in production
• Consider implementing rate limiting for the signature endpoint

API Reference

GET /my_generate_signature

Generates a Cloudinary signature for the provided parameters.

Query Parameters:

• data (required): JSON string of parameters to sign

Response:

• Success: Plain text signature
• Error: JSON error object

Example:

curl "http://localhost:3000/my_generate_signature?data={\"timestamp\":1234567890,\"folder\":\"test\"}"

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. "Missing data parameter": Make sure you're passing the data query parameter
2. "Failed to generate signature": Check your Cloudinary credentials in .env
3. CORS errors: The server includes CORS headers, but ensure your client is making requests to the correct URL

Debug Mode

Enable debug logging by setting the environment variable:

DEBUG=* npm start

License

MIT