Where are my files? (Drive folder + R2 expiry)

Every completed project produces files in two places: your Google Drive (permanent) and Elistit’s R2 storage (temporary, 72-hour download links shown on the project page). Knowing which is which avoids “I can’t find my files” panic when the project Downloads tab shows expired links.

The two storage locations

Google Drive (permanent)

If you’ve connected Google Drive in Integrations → Google Drive, every completed project uploads its full delivery package to your Drive in this folder structure:

My Drive/
  Elistit/
    <project-name-or-sku>/
      images/         ← upscaled, print-ready
      mockups/        ← if mockups were generated
      product-card.pdf
      delivery.zip    ← the buyer-facing ZIP

The Drive copy never expires. This is your master archive — use it for anything you need to keep beyond a few days.

R2 (temporary, 72 hours)

The Downloads tab on the project page serves files directly from Elistit’s R2 storage with signed URLs. These links expire 72 hours after pipeline completion. After that, the project page shows “Files expired — see your Drive folder for the archive.”

This is intentional — R2 is for the convenience download immediately after a project ships, not long-term storage. The cleanup is run by the r2_cleanup scheduler every 30 minutes.

What if I didn’t connect Google Drive?

Then the R2 download links are your only source. Download them within 72 hours, or you’ll lose the files.

Connect Google Drive at any time — it’s the single biggest thing you can do to make Elistit a calmer tool. The OAuth setup takes ~30 seconds and applies retroactively to future projects (not past ones — already-deleted R2 files can’t be regenerated).

What if my files aren’t in Drive but the project is completed?

Three things to check:

Did you connect Drive before the project completed? Drive uploads happen during the delivery_task worker. If Drive wasn’t connected at that moment, the worker skipped the upload. Past projects won’t backfill.
Is the project on a workspace that doesn’t have Drive connected? Drive connections are workspace-scoped. If you have multiple workspaces, check the right one.
Did the Drive OAuth token expire? Drive tokens are auto-refreshed by Elistit 5 minutes before expiry, but if your Drive account password changed or the connection was revoked from inside Google, the refresh fails silently. Reconnect at Integrations → Google Drive.

What files does the buyer get?

For digital-download products (clipart, wall art, sticker, SVG, custom), the buyer receives the delivery.zip automatically via Etsy’s digital-delivery feature — you don’t manually attach anything. For posters, the buyer never receives a file at all; they receive a physical print from the POD partner.

The product-card.pdf is for you — it’s a quick-reference document you can pull up when promoting the listing on social or in a marketing email. It’s not delivered to the buyer.

Cleaning up old Drive folders

Elistit doesn’t auto-delete from your Drive. Over time the Elistit/ folder will grow. If you want to archive or delete old projects, do it manually in Drive — Elistit doesn’t have or need access to do this for you.