app/(docs)/dcs/api/s3/s3-compatibility: add storj-vs-self-managed-encryption-s3-compatibility-differences (#617)

Author: amwolff

app/(docs)/dcs/api/s3/s3-compatibility/storj-vs-self-managed-encryption-s3-compatibility-differences/page.md

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+---
+title: Storj Managed vs. Self-Managed Encryption S3 Compatibility Differences
+docId: oozaauQueuq9hgeac4Ze
+weight: 1
+---
+
+## Listing Endpoints Behavior
+
+The behavior of listing endpoints depends on the encryption model configured for your project.
+
+| Encryption Type | S3 Compatibility |
+| :--- | :--- |
+| **Self-Managed Encryption** | **Limited** (Restricted sorting/filtering) |
+| **Storj Managed Encryption** | **Full** (Fully S3-compatible) |
+
+### Self-Managed Encryption
+When using **Self-Managed Encryption**, object keys are end-to-end encrypted. This prevents the listing endpoint from deciphering the keys, which affects sorting and filtering.
+
+* **Standard Listing:** For requests using a forward-slash (`/`) as a prefix terminator or delimiter, results are returned in the lexicographical order of the *encrypted* object keys. This often differs from the expected alphabetical order of the decrypted keys. Clients should not rely on ordering in these cases.
+* **Exhaustive Listing:** For requests using non-standard prefixes or delimiters (not ending in `/`), the endpoint performs an "exhaustive listing." This filters object keys server-side to return results in the correct (decrypted) lexicographical order.
+
+**Limitations:**
+1.  **New Projects:** Projects created after **November 30, 2025**, cannot use exhaustive listing. Requests triggering this behavior will fail with a `501 Not Implemented` error.
+2.  **Large Buckets:** Exhaustive listing does not work for buckets containing hundreds of thousands of objects.
+
+Users requiring these features should use Storj Managed Encryption.
+
+### Storj Managed Encryption
+If your project uses **Storj Managed Encryption**, object keys are **encrypted using server-managed keys**. This allows the system to process object keys directly, ensuring that Storj's S3 listing endpoints are **fully S3-compatible**.
+
+Requests can use arbitrary prefixes and/or delimiters. These requests utilize an optimized execution path, offering superior performance compared to Self-Managed Encryption. Storj recommends Storj Managed Encryption for all new projects requiring high performance and strict S3 compatibility.