fs-s3fs
Amazon S3 filesystem for PyFilesystem2
What it is and what it does
S3FS wraps Amazon S3 storage in a PyFilesystem interface, so you can treat S3 buckets like local directories. You open an S3FS instance by bucket name or URL, then use standard file operations—open, read, write, copy—exactly as you would with a local filesystem. The package handles the translation to S3 API calls behind the scenes.
It supports both basic file operations and S3-specific features like cache-control headers, ACLs, and public URL generation. You can mirror local directories to S3, download files to disk, or upload files from your filesystem to S3 using the same PyFilesystem copy and mirror tools you'd use for any other filesystem.
Use it for:
- Mirror a local directory tree to S3 with custom cache-control and ACL settings for all uploaded objects.
- Download files from an S3 bucket to local disk using standard filesystem read operations.
- Generate public URLs for files stored in S3 without manually constructing them.
- Treat S3 as a drop-in replacement for local storage in code that already uses PyFilesystem.
- Upload files to S3 with metadata like cache-control headers set per-operation or per-instance.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
S3FS provides a PyFilesystem interface to Amazon S3, letting you read, write, and manage files in S3 buckets using standard filesystem operations.
Yes, if you need PyFilesystem integration with S3 and can accept dormant maintenance. The package is stable and has no known vulnerabilities, but the last release was 2019-08-14—verify compatibility with your current boto3 and PyFilesystem2 versions before relying on it for new projects. Low install friction and permissive licensing make it reasonable for existing codebases already using PyFilesystem.
Install
fs-s3fs on PyPI
pip
pip install fs-s3fsuv
uv add fs-s3fspoetry
poetry add fs-s3fsInstalling fs-s3fs
Before you install
Low install friction with no runtime dependencies. Maintenance is dormant—last release was 2019-08-14, though the repository remains active with a recent commit in 2024-07-16.
License in practice
MIT license (permissive) means you can use, modify, and distribute this package freely in commercial and private projects with minimal restrictions.
Quickstart
pip install fs-s3fs
from fs_s3fs import S3FS
s3fs = S3FS('mybucket')
# Or via FS URL:
from fs import open_fs
s3fs = open_fs('s3://mybucket')
Requires AWS credentials configured (via environment variables, config file, or IAM role) for S3 access.
Verify before relying
- Whether the package works reliably with modern versions of boto3 and PyFilesystem2, given the last release was in 2019.
- Current compatibility with Python versions beyond 3.7, as classifiers only list up to 3.7.
- Whether upload_args and download_args features remain fully functional with current S3 API.
Package facts
| License | MIT (permissive) |
| Python support | not specified |
| Install friction | low — pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | none |
| Maintenance | dormant — 2,557 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 259,607/month — #8,410 on PyPI (30-day window, as of 2026-08-14) |
| Known vulnerabilities | none known (OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14) |
Evidence: fs_s3fs-1.1.1-py2.py3-none-any.whl
Keywords: pyfilesystem
Tags
More Filesystems packages
Watches file system changes and triggers…
permissive · top 1,000 on PyPI
watchdogWatchdog monitors file system events across…
permissive · top 1,000 on PyPI
portalockerPortalocker provides cross-platform file…
permissive · top 1,000 on PyPI
filetypeInfers file type and MIME type by examining…
permissive · top 1,000 on PyPI
pathvalidateSanitize and validate filenames and file paths…
permissive · top 5,000 on PyPI
pathlibProvides object-oriented filesystem path…
permissive · top 5,000 on PyPI
s3fss3fs provides a Python filesystem interface to…
permissive · top 100 on PyPI
python-fsutilProvides a high-level API for common…
permissive · top 5,000 on PyPI
fsProvides a unified filesystem abstraction layer…
permissive · top 5,000 on PyPI
dvc-s3Enables DVC to read from, write to, and manage…
permissive · top 5,000 on PyPI
fs.sshfsfs.sshfs provides a PyFilesystem2 interface to…
copyleft · top 15,000 on PyPI
littlefs-pythonlittlefs-python provides a Python interface to…
unclear · top 5,000 on PyPI
s5cmdProvides a Python wheel distribution that…
permissive · top 5,000 on PyPI
synapse-s3-storage-providerA Synapse media storage provider that…
permissive · top 15,000 on PyPI
fsspecfsspec provides a unified filesystem interface…
unclear · top 100 on PyPI
s3urlsParse and build Amazon S3 URLs in multiple…
permissive · top 15,000 on PyPI