Job cover images: move storage from disk into the database

Production containers have ephemeral filesystems, so the disk-backed
image from the previous commit would vanish on redeploy. New
job_post_images table (bytea, PK = job_posts FK so re-upload replaces),
created everywhere by manual migration 009 which run_manual_sql applies
automatically at startup — prod boots with DB_AUTOGENERATE=false and
never autogenerates tables. Upload/fetch endpoints unchanged for the
frontend; fetch now serves bytes from the row. The one locally stored
disk image was imported into the table and backend/uploads removed.

E2E re-verified: create-with-image 200, fetch 200, cover renders.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

.gitignore

@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ temp/
 node_modules/
 frontend/dist/
 
-# Uploaded content (job cover images, …) — user data, never in git
+# Uploaded content — user data, never in git
 backend/uploads/
 
 **.pdf

backend/job/app.py

@@ -305,8 +305,8 @@ async def upload_job_image(
     )),
     session: AsyncSession = Depends(get_session),
 ):
-    """Attach (or replace) the cover image of a job post. Stored on disk keyed
+    """Attach (or replace) the cover image of a job post. Stored in the
-    by the post id; the create flow calls this right after /job/post-job."""
+    job_post_images table; the create flow calls this right after /job/post-job."""
     try:
         content=await file.read()
         service=JobPost(session=session)
@@ -328,14 +328,15 @@ async def fetch_job_image(
     )),
     session: AsyncSession = Depends(get_session),
 ):
-    """The stored cover image, served inline; 404 when the post has none."""
+    """The stored cover image, served inline from the database; 404 when the
+    post has none."""
     try:
         service=JobPost(session=session)
-        path,media_type=await service.get_job_image(job_post_id)
+        content,media_type=await service.get_job_image(job_post_id)
-        return FileResponse(
+        return Response(
-            path=str(path),
+            content=content,
             media_type=media_type,
-            content_disposition_type="inline",
+            headers={"Content-Disposition":"inline"},
         )
     except HTTPException:
         raise

backend/job/job_post/models.py

@@ -278,6 +278,50 @@ class JobPosts(SQLModel, table=True):
         return await cls.get_job_post_by_id(session, record_id)
 
 
+class JobPostImages(SQLModel, table=True):
+    """Cover image of a job post, stored as bytes IN the database.
+
+    Deliberately not on disk: production containers have ephemeral filesystems,
+    so a file-backed image dies on every redeploy. One row per post — the PK is
+    the job_posts FK, which makes re-upload a plain replace. Created in prod by
+    migrations/manual/009_job_post_images.sql (autogen is off there)."""
+
+    __tablename__ = "job_post_images"
+
+    job_post_id: uuid.UUID = Field(primary_key=True, foreign_key="job_posts.id")
+    content_type: str
+    file_name: str | None = Field(default=None)
+    data: bytes
+    uploaded_by: uuid.UUID | None = Field(default=None, foreign_key="users.id")
+    created_at: datetime = Field(default_factory=_now, sa_type=DateTime(timezone=True))
+    updated_at: datetime = Field(default_factory=_now, sa_type=DateTime(timezone=True))
+
+    @classmethod
+    async def get(cls, session: AsyncSession, job_post_id: uuid.UUID):
+        result = await session.execute(select(cls).where(cls.job_post_id == job_post_id))
+        return result.scalars().first()
+
+    @classmethod
+    async def upsert(cls, session: AsyncSession, job_post_id: uuid.UUID, *,
+                     content_type: str, file_name: str | None, data: bytes,
+                     uploaded_by: uuid.UUID | None):
+        row = await cls.get(session, job_post_id)
+        if row:
+            row.content_type = content_type
+            row.file_name = file_name
+            row.data = data
+            row.uploaded_by = uploaded_by
+            row.updated_at = _now()
+        else:
+            row = cls(
+                job_post_id=job_post_id, content_type=content_type,
+                file_name=file_name, data=data, uploaded_by=uploaded_by,
+            )
+            session.add(row)
+        await session.commit()
+        return row
+
+
 class SocialPlatform(SQLModel, table=True):
     """Buffer publish aliases (fb → facebook). Spelling tolerance + UI list, not an allowlist."""
 

backend/job/job_post/views.py

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ from dotenv import load_dotenv
 from fastapi import HTTPException
 from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncSession
 from pydantic import BaseModel, model_validator
-from job.job_post.models import JobPosts,SocialPlatform
+from job.job_post.models import JobPostImages,JobPosts,SocialPlatform
 from job.job_post.plugins import (
     BufferError,
     create_buffer_post,
@@ -25,32 +25,21 @@ from job.job_post.serializers import serialize_job_post, serialize_job_row
 load_dotenv()
 logger=logging.getLogger("job.job_post")
 
-# Cover images are stored on disk keyed by the job post id — no DB column, so
+# Cover images live in the job_post_images table (bytea), NOT on disk:
-# no migration. One image per post: uploading again replaces the previous file.
+# production containers have ephemeral filesystems, so a file-backed image
-JOB_IMAGE_DIR=Path(os.getenv("JOB_IMAGE_DIR") or Path(__file__).resolve().parents[2]/"uploads"/"job_images")
+# would vanish on every redeploy. One row per post; re-upload replaces it.
-IMAGE_EXT_BY_TYPE={"image/png":"png","image/jpeg":"jpg","image/webp":"webp","image/gif":"gif"}
+ALLOWED_IMAGE_TYPES={"image/png","image/jpeg","image/webp","image/gif"}
-IMAGE_MEDIA_BY_EXT={"png":"image/png","jpg":"image/jpeg","jpeg":"image/jpeg","webp":"image/webp","gif":"image/gif"}
+IMAGE_TYPE_BY_EXT={"png":"image/png","jpg":"image/jpeg","jpeg":"image/jpeg","webp":"image/webp","gif":"image/gif"}
 MAX_JOB_IMAGE_BYTES=5*1024*1024
 
 
-def _job_image_key(job_post_id) -> str:
+def _job_image_key(job_post_id) -> uuid.UUID:
-    """The id is used as a filename — parse it as a UUID so a crafted value can
-    never traverse out of the image directory."""
     try:
-        return str(uuid.UUID(str(job_post_id)))
+        return uuid.UUID(str(job_post_id))
     except ValueError as e:
         raise HTTPException(status_code=422,detail="job_post_id must be a UUID") from e
 
 
-def find_job_image(job_post_id) -> Path | None:
-    key=_job_image_key(job_post_id)
-    for ext in IMAGE_MEDIA_BY_EXT:
-        p=JOB_IMAGE_DIR/f"{key}.{ext}"
-        if p.exists():
-            return p
-    return None
-
-
 class JobPostCreate(BaseModel):
     title: str
     experience_min: int | None = None
@@ -254,33 +243,38 @@ class JobPost:
         if not current_user:
             raise HTTPException(status_code=401,detail="Not authenticated")
         key=_job_image_key(job_post_id)
-        ext=IMAGE_EXT_BY_TYPE.get((content_type or "").lower())
+        media=(content_type or "").lower()
-        if not ext:
+        if media not in ALLOWED_IMAGE_TYPES:
             # Fall back to the filename extension; browsers occasionally send
             # application/octet-stream for perfectly valid images.
             suffix=Path((filename or "").replace("\\","/")).suffix.lstrip(".").lower()
-            ext=suffix if suffix in IMAGE_MEDIA_BY_EXT else None
+            media=IMAGE_TYPE_BY_EXT.get(suffix)
-        if not ext:
+        if not media:
             raise HTTPException(status_code=415,detail="Image must be PNG, JPG, WEBP or GIF")
         if not content:
             raise HTTPException(status_code=400,detail="Empty image upload")
         if len(content)>MAX_JOB_IMAGE_BYTES:
             raise HTTPException(status_code=413,detail="Image must be under 5 MB")
-        rows,total=await JobPosts.fetch_job_posts(self.session,ids=[key],active_only=False)
+        rows,total=await JobPosts.fetch_job_posts(self.session,ids=[str(key)],active_only=False)
         if not total:
             raise HTTPException(status_code=404,detail="Job post not found")
-        JOB_IMAGE_DIR.mkdir(parents=True,exist_ok=True)
+        raw_user=(current_user or {}).get("id")
-        # Replace, never accumulate: drop any previous image regardless of format.
+        uploaded_by=uuid.UUID(str(raw_user)) if raw_user else None
-        for old_ext in IMAGE_MEDIA_BY_EXT:
+        await JobPostImages.upsert(
-            (JOB_IMAGE_DIR/f"{key}.{old_ext}").unlink(missing_ok=True)
+            self.session,key,
-        (JOB_IMAGE_DIR/f"{key}.{ext}").write_bytes(content)
+            content_type=media,
-        return {"job_post_id":key,"has_image":True}
+            file_name=Path((filename or "").replace("\\","/")).name or None,
+            data=content,
+            uploaded_by=uploaded_by,
+        )
+        return {"job_post_id":str(key),"has_image":True}
 
     async def get_job_image(self,job_post_id):
-        path=find_job_image(job_post_id)
+        key=_job_image_key(job_post_id)
-        if not path:
+        row=await JobPostImages.get(self.session,key)
+        if not row:
             raise HTTPException(status_code=404,detail="No image for this job post")
-        return path,IMAGE_MEDIA_BY_EXT[path.suffix.lstrip(".").lower()]
+        return row.data,row.content_type
 
     async def set_job_status(self,job_post_id,payload,current_user):
         if not current_user:

backend/migrations/manual/009_job_post_images.sql

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+-- 009_job_post_images.sql
+-- Cover images of job posts, stored IN the database (bytea) rather than on the
+-- container filesystem, which is ephemeral in production — a disk-backed image
+-- would vanish on every redeploy. One row per post: the PK doubles as the FK,
+-- so a re-upload is a plain replace. 5 MB cap and type checks are enforced by
+-- the API layer (backend/job/job_post/views.py save_job_image).
+--
+-- Idempotent, applied automatically at startup by alembic_setup.run_manual_sql()
+-- and recorded in manual_migrations. Matches the SQLModel JobPostImages model in
+-- backend/job/job_post/models.py (needed here because prod boots with
+-- DB_AUTOGENERATE=false and never autogenerates new tables).
+
+CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS app.job_post_images (
+    job_post_id  uuid PRIMARY KEY REFERENCES app.job_posts(id) ON DELETE CASCADE,
+    content_type varchar NOT NULL,
+    file_name    varchar,
+    data         bytea NOT NULL,
+    uploaded_by  uuid REFERENCES app.users(id),
+    created_at   timestamptz NOT NULL DEFAULT NOW(),
+    updated_at   timestamptz NOT NULL DEFAULT NOW()
+);