diff --git a/storage/README.md b/storage/README.md
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+# DocHub Storage (Garage)
+
+S3-compatible object storage for DocHub, deployed independently from the
+app stack in `docker-compose.yml` at the repo root — same separation as
+was used for MinIO, just backed by [Garage](https://garagehq.deuxfleurs.fr/)
+instead. Garage was chosen because MinIO's community edition has been
+scaling back features and its licensing direction has grown less
+predictable; Garage is fully open source (AGPL) and purpose-built for
+self-hosting. Both speak the S3 API, so `backend/app/minio_client.py`
+needed no code changes — only connection settings differ.
+
+Single-node setup, matching this project's learning/small-team scope
+(`replication_factor = 1` in `garage.toml` — no data redundancy across
+nodes, since there's only one node).
+
+## First-time setup
+
+```bash
+cd storage
+docker compose up -d
+./init-garage.sh
+docker compose exec garage /garage key info dochub-backend
+```
+
+The last command prints an access key ID and secret key. Set those as
+`MINIO_ACCESS_KEY` / `MINIO_SECRET_KEY` for the DocHub backend (the env
+var names stay `MINIO_*` because `backend/app/config.py` was written
+against the S3 API, not against MinIO specifically).
+
+## Connecting the backend
+
+From the repo root, when running `docker compose up` there:
+
+```bash
+MINIO_ENDPOINT=<this-server-ip>:3900 \
+MINIO_ACCESS_KEY=<from init-garage.sh> \
+MINIO_SECRET_KEY=<from init-garage.sh> \
+docker compose up -d
+```
+
+Garage's S3 API listens on port `3900` (vs MinIO's `9000`) — that's the
+only endpoint difference the rest of the stack needs to know about.
diff --git a/storage/docker-compose.yml b/storage/docker-compose.yml
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+services:
+  garage:
+    image: dxflrs/garage:v1.0.1
+    network_mode: host
+    volumes:
+      - ./garage.toml:/etc/garage.toml:ro
+      - garage-meta:/var/lib/garage/meta
+      - garage-data:/var/lib/garage/data
+    restart: unless-stopped
+
+volumes:
+  garage-meta:
+  garage-data:
diff --git a/storage/garage.toml b/storage/garage.toml
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+metadata_dir = "/var/lib/garage/meta"
+data_dir = "/var/lib/garage/data"
+db_engine = "sqlite"
+
+replication_factor = 1
+
+rpc_bind_addr = "[::]:3901"
+rpc_public_addr = "127.0.0.1:3901"
+rpc_secret = "62b86336239b3fd482f05e0caed739198a9601917cb1f80a7d8d429775be9e5c"
+
+[s3_api]
+s3_region = "garage"
+api_bind_addr = "[::]:3900"
+root_domain = ".s3.garage.localhost"
+
+[s3_web]
+bind_addr = "[::]:3902"
+root_domain = ".web.garage.localhost"
+index = "index.html"
+
+[admin]
+api_bind_addr = "[::]:3903"
+admin_token = "fad952cc1c31f6e53b63b24d9dbbae75809906cfa61a933a91545e6130e32a31"
diff --git a/storage/init-garage.sh b/storage/init-garage.sh
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+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# One-time Garage initialization: assigns this single node to the cluster
+# layout, then creates the DocHub bucket and an access key for the backend.
+#
+# Run this once after `docker compose up -d` in this directory.
+set -euo pipefail
+
+GARAGE="docker compose exec garage /garage"
+
+echo "Waiting for garage to be ready..."
+until $GARAGE status >/dev/null 2>&1; do
+  sleep 1
+done
+
+NODE_ID=$($GARAGE status | awk '/NODE ID/{found=1; next} found && NF {print $1; exit}')
+if [ -z "$NODE_ID" ]; then
+  echo "Could not determine node ID from 'garage status' output." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "Assigning layout to node $NODE_ID (single node, capacity 10G)..."
+$GARAGE layout assign -z dochub -c 10G "$NODE_ID"
+$GARAGE layout apply --version 1
+
+echo "Creating bucket 'dochub'..."
+$GARAGE bucket create dochub
+
+echo "Creating access key 'dochub-backend'..."
+$GARAGE key create dochub-backend
+$GARAGE bucket allow --read --write --owner dochub --key dochub-backend
+
+echo
+echo "Done. Run 'docker compose exec garage /garage key info dochub-backend'"
+echo "to retrieve the access key ID and secret key, then set them as"
+echo "MINIO_ACCESS_KEY / MINIO_SECRET_KEY for the DocHub backend."