diff --git a/src/auto_archiver/core/config.py b/src/auto_archiver/core/config.py
index 66d2ffb..0282d41 100644
--- a/src/auto_archiver/core/config.py
+++ b/src/auto_archiver/core/config.py
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ from loguru import logger
 from copy import deepcopy
 from auto_archiver.core.consts import MODULE_TYPES
 
-from typing import Any, List, Type, Tuple
 
 _yaml: YAML = YAML()
 
diff --git a/src/auto_archiver/core/consts.py b/src/auto_archiver/core/consts.py
index a49884f..597ce4e 100644
--- a/src/auto_archiver/core/consts.py
+++ b/src/auto_archiver/core/consts.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+class SetupError(ValueError):
+    pass
 
 MODULE_TYPES = [
     'feeder',
diff --git a/src/auto_archiver/core/extractor.py b/src/auto_archiver/core/extractor.py
index 484a09d..f84be98 100644
--- a/src/auto_archiver/core/extractor.py
+++ b/src/auto_archiver/core/extractor.py
@@ -81,7 +81,8 @@ class Extractor(BaseModule):
             if len(to_filename) > 64:
                 to_filename = to_filename[-64:]
         to_filename = os.path.join(self.tmp_dir, to_filename)
-        if verbose: logger.debug(f"downloading {url[0:50]=} {to_filename=}")
+        if verbose:
+            logger.debug(f"downloading {url[0:50]=} {to_filename=}")
         headers = {
             'User-Agent': 'Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/81.0.4044.138 Safari/537.36'
         }
diff --git a/src/auto_archiver/core/media.py b/src/auto_archiver/core/media.py
index b6820ab..ecaef19 100644
--- a/src/auto_archiver/core/media.py
+++ b/src/auto_archiver/core/media.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ nested media retrieval, and type validation.
 from __future__ import annotations
 import os
 import traceback
-from typing import Any, List
+from typing import Any, List, Iterator
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field
 from dataclasses_json import dataclass_json, config
 import mimetypes
@@ -21,14 +21,13 @@ class Media:
     Represents a media file with associated properties and storage details.
 
     Attributes:
-    - filename: The file path of the media.
-    - key: An optional identifier for the media.
+    - filename: The file path of the media as saved locally (temporarily, before uploading to the storage).
     - urls: A list of URLs where the media is stored or accessible.
     - properties: Additional metadata or transformations for the media.
     - _mimetype: The media's mimetype (e.g., image/jpeg, video/mp4).
     """
     filename: str
-    key: str = None
+    _key: str = None
     urls: List[str] = field(default_factory=list)
     properties: dict = field(default_factory=dict)
     _mimetype: str = None  # eg: image/jpeg
@@ -47,7 +46,7 @@ class Media:
             for any_media in self.all_inner_media(include_self=True):
                 s.store(any_media, url, metadata=metadata)
 
-    def all_inner_media(self, include_self=False):
+    def all_inner_media(self, include_self=False) -> Iterator[Media]:
         """Retrieves all media, including nested media within properties or transformations on original media.
         This function returns a generator for all the inner media.
 
@@ -67,6 +66,10 @@ class Media:
         # checks if the media is already stored in the given storage
         return len(self.urls) > 0 and len(self.urls) == len(in_storage.config["steps"]["storages"])
 
+    @property
+    def key(self) -> str:
+        return self._key
+
     def set(self, key: str, value: Any) -> Media:
         self.properties[key] = value
         return self
diff --git a/src/auto_archiver/core/orchestrator.py b/src/auto_archiver/core/orchestrator.py
index b78c7e7..6a95046 100644
--- a/src/auto_archiver/core/orchestrator.py
+++ b/src/auto_archiver/core/orchestrator.py
@@ -23,15 +23,13 @@ from .config import read_yaml, store_yaml, to_dot_notation, merge_dicts, is_vali
     DefaultValidatingParser, UniqueAppendAction, AuthenticationJsonParseAction, DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE
 from .module import ModuleFactory, LazyBaseModule
 from . import validators, Feeder, Extractor, Database, Storage, Formatter, Enricher
-from .consts import MODULE_TYPES
+from .consts import MODULE_TYPES, SetupError
 from auto_archiver.utils.url import check_url_or_raise
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from .base_module import BaseModule
     from .module import LazyBaseModule
 
-class SetupError(ValueError):
-    pass
 class ArchivingOrchestrator:
 
     # instance variables
diff --git a/src/auto_archiver/core/storage.py b/src/auto_archiver/core/storage.py
index 1535eab..63ccf8d 100644
--- a/src/auto_archiver/core/storage.py
+++ b/src/auto_archiver/core/storage.py
@@ -1,11 +1,29 @@
 """
 Base module for Storage modules – modular components that store media objects in various locations.
+
+If you are looking to implement a new storage module, you should subclass the `Storage` class and
+implement the `get_cdn_url` and `uploadf` methods.
+
+Your module **must** also have two config variables 'path_generator' and 'filename_generator' which
+determine how the key is generated for the media object. The 'path_generator' and 'filename_generator'
+variables can be set to one of the following values:
+- 'flat': A flat structure with no subfolders
+- 'url': A structure based on the URL of the media object
+- 'random': A random structure
+
+The 'filename_generator' variable can be set to one of the following values:
+- 'random': A random string
+- 'static': A replicable strategy such as a hash
+
+If you don't want to use this naming convention, you can override the `set_key` method in your subclass.
+
 """
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 from abc import abstractmethod
 from typing import IO
 import os
+import platform
 
 from loguru import logger
 from slugify import slugify
@@ -27,6 +45,7 @@ class Storage(BaseModule):
         if media.is_stored(in_storage=self): 
             logger.debug(f"{media.key} already stored, skipping")
             return
+
         self.set_key(media, url, metadata)
         self.upload(media, metadata=metadata)
         media.add_url(self.get_cdn_url(media))
@@ -42,42 +61,56 @@ class Storage(BaseModule):
     def uploadf(self, file: IO[bytes], key: str, **kwargs: dict) -> bool:
         """
         Uploads (or saves) a file to the storage service/location.
+
+        This method should not be called directly, but instead through the 'store' method,
+        which sets up the media for storage.
         """
         pass
 
     def upload(self, media: Media, **kwargs) -> bool:
+        """
+        Uploads a media object to the storage service.
+
+        This method should not be called directly, but instead be called through the 'store' method,
+        which sets up the media for storage.
+        """
         logger.debug(f'[{self.__class__.__name__}] storing file {media.filename} with key {media.key}')
         with open(media.filename, 'rb') as f:
             return self.uploadf(f, media, **kwargs)
 
-    def set_key(self, media: Media, url, metadata: Metadata) -> None:
+    def set_key(self, media: Media, url: str, metadata: Metadata) -> None:
         """takes the media and optionally item info and generates a key"""
-        if media.key is not None and len(media.key) > 0: return
+        
+        if media.key is not None and len(media.key) > 0:
+            # media key is already set
+            return
+
         folder = metadata.get_context('folder', '')
         filename, ext = os.path.splitext(media.filename)
 
         # Handle path_generator logic
-        path_generator = self.config.get("path_generator", "url")
+        path_generator = self.path_generator
         if path_generator == "flat":
             path = ""
-            filename = slugify(filename)  # Ensure filename is slugified
         elif path_generator == "url":
-            path = slugify(url)
+            path = slugify(url)[:70]
         elif path_generator == "random":
-            path = self.config.get("random_path", random_str(24), True)
+            path = random_str(24)
         else:
             raise ValueError(f"Invalid path_generator: {path_generator}")
 
         # Handle filename_generator logic
-        filename_generator = self.config.get("filename_generator", "random")
+        filename_generator = self.filename_generator
         if filename_generator == "random":
             filename = random_str(24)
         elif filename_generator == "static":
             # load the hash_enricher module
-            he = self.module_factory.get_module(HashEnricher, self.config)
+            he = self.module_factory.get_module("hash_enricher", self.config)
             hd = he.calculate_hash(media.filename)
             filename = hd[:24]
         else:
             raise ValueError(f"Invalid filename_generator: {filename_generator}")
+        
+        key = os.path.join(folder, path, f"{filename}{ext}")
 
-        media.key = os.path.join(folder, path, f"{filename}{ext}")
+        media._key = key
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/auto_archiver/modules/cli_feeder/cli_feeder.py b/src/auto_archiver/modules/cli_feeder/cli_feeder.py
index 20ca6ae..fac584d 100644
--- a/src/auto_archiver/modules/cli_feeder/cli_feeder.py
+++ b/src/auto_archiver/modules/cli_feeder/cli_feeder.py
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ class CLIFeeder(Feeder):
         for url in urls:
             logger.debug(f"Processing {url}")
             m = Metadata().set_url(url)
-            m.set_context("folder", "cli")
             yield m
 
         logger.success(f"Processed {len(urls)} URL(s)")
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/auto_archiver/modules/local_storage/local_storage.py b/src/auto_archiver/modules/local_storage/local_storage.py
index b995577..2b1a101 100644
--- a/src/auto_archiver/modules/local_storage/local_storage.py
+++ b/src/auto_archiver/modules/local_storage/local_storage.py
@@ -6,25 +6,42 @@ from loguru import logger
 
 from auto_archiver.core import Media
 from auto_archiver.core import Storage
-
+from auto_archiver.core.consts import SetupError
 
 class LocalStorage(Storage):
 
+
+    def setup(self) -> None:
+        if len(self.save_to) > 200:
+            raise SetupError(f"Your save_to path is too long, this will cause issues saving files on your computer. Please use a shorter path.")
+
     def get_cdn_url(self, media: Media) -> str:
-        # TODO: is this viable with Storage.configs on path/filename?
-        dest = os.path.join(self.save_to, media.key)
+        dest = media.key
+
         if self.save_absolute:
             dest = os.path.abspath(dest)
         return dest
 
+    def set_key(self, media, url, metadata):
+        # clarify we want to save the file to the save_to folder
+
+        old_folder = metadata.get('folder', '')
+        metadata.set_context('folder', os.path.join(self.save_to, metadata.get('folder', '')))
+        super().set_key(media, url, metadata)
+        # don't impact other storages that might want a different 'folder' set
+        metadata.set_context('folder', old_folder)
+
     def upload(self, media: Media, **kwargs) -> bool:
         # override parent so that we can use shutil.copy2 and keep metadata
-        dest = os.path.join(self.save_to, media.key)
+        dest = media.key
+
         os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(dest), exist_ok=True)
         logger.debug(f'[{self.__class__.__name__}] storing file {media.filename} with key {media.key} to {dest}')
+
         res = shutil.copy2(media.filename, dest)
         logger.info(res)
         return True
 
     # must be implemented even if unused
-    def uploadf(self, file: IO[bytes], key: str, **kwargs: dict) -> bool: pass
+    def uploadf(self, file: IO[bytes], key: str, **kwargs: dict) -> bool:
+        pass
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/auto_archiver/modules/s3_storage/s3_storage.py b/src/auto_archiver/modules/s3_storage/s3_storage.py
index 6590ac9..183a944 100644
--- a/src/auto_archiver/modules/s3_storage/s3_storage.py
+++ b/src/auto_archiver/modules/s3_storage/s3_storage.py
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ class S3Storage(Storage):
                 logger.warning(f"Unable to get mimetype for {media.key=}, error: {e}")
         self.s3.upload_fileobj(file, Bucket=self.bucket, Key=media.key, ExtraArgs=extra_args)
         return True
-    
+
     def is_upload_needed(self, media: Media) -> bool:
         if self.random_no_duplicate:
             # checks if a folder with the hash already exists, if so it skips the upload
@@ -50,13 +50,13 @@ class S3Storage(Storage):
             path = os.path.join(NO_DUPLICATES_FOLDER, hd[:24])
 
             if existing_key:=self.file_in_folder(path):
-                media.key = existing_key
+                media._key = existing_key
                 media.set("previously archived", True)
                 logger.debug(f"skipping upload of {media.filename} because it already exists in {media.key}")
                 return False
             
             _, ext = os.path.splitext(media.key)
-            media.key = os.path.join(path, f"{random_str(24)}{ext}")
+            media._key = os.path.join(path, f"{random_str(24)}{ext}")
         return True
 
     def file_in_folder(self, path:str) -> str:
@@ -66,5 +66,4 @@ class S3Storage(Storage):
         resp = self.s3.list_objects(Bucket=self.bucket, Prefix=path, Delimiter='/', MaxKeys=1)
         if 'Contents' in resp:
             return resp['Contents'][0]['Key']
-        return False
-
+        return False
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/enrichers/test_pdq_hash_enricher.py b/tests/enrichers/test_pdq_hash_enricher.py
index a8470fb..61fa778 100644
--- a/tests/enrichers/test_pdq_hash_enricher.py
+++ b/tests/enrichers/test_pdq_hash_enricher.py
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@ def enricher(setup_module):
 def metadata_with_images():
     m = Metadata()
     m.set_url("https://example.com")
-    m.add_media(Media(filename="image1.jpg", key="image1"))
-    m.add_media(Media(filename="image2.jpg", key="image2"))
+    m.add_media(Media(filename="image1.jpg", _key="image1"))
+    m.add_media(Media(filename="image2.jpg", _key="image2"))
     return m
 
 
diff --git a/tests/storages/test_S3_storage.py b/tests/storages/test_S3_storage.py
index fe60329..abf9763 100644
--- a/tests/storages/test_S3_storage.py
+++ b/tests/storages/test_S3_storage.py
@@ -37,10 +37,10 @@ class TestS3Storage:
     def test_get_cdn_url_generation(self):
         """Test CDN URL formatting """
         media = Media("test.txt")
-        media.key = "path/to/file.txt"
+        media._key = "path/to/file.txt"
         url = self.storage.get_cdn_url(media)
         assert url == "https://cdn.example.com/path/to/file.txt"
-        media.key = "another/path.jpg"
+        media._key = "another/path.jpg"
         assert self.storage.get_cdn_url(media) == "https://cdn.example.com/another/path.jpg"
 
     def test_uploadf_sets_acl_public(self, mocker):
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ class TestS3Storage:
         self.storage.random_no_duplicate = True
         mock_file_in_folder = mocker.patch.object(S3Storage, 'file_in_folder', return_value="existing_folder/existing_file.txt")
         media = Media("test.txt")
-        media.key = "original_path.txt"
+        media._key = "original_path.txt"
         mock_calculate_hash = mocker.patch('auto_archiver.modules.s3_storage.s3_storage.calculate_file_hash', return_value="beepboop123beepboop123beepboop123")
         assert self.storage.is_upload_needed(media) is False
         assert media.key == "existing_folder/existing_file.txt"
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ class TestS3Storage:
 
     def test_uploads_with_correct_parameters(self, mocker):
         media = Media("test.txt")
-        media.key = "original_key.txt"
+        media._key = "original_key.txt"
         mocker.patch.object(S3Storage, 'is_upload_needed', return_value=True)
         media.mimetype = 'image/png'
         mock_file = mocker.MagicMock()
diff --git a/tests/storages/test_atlos_storage.py b/tests/storages/test_atlos_storage.py
index bcd8f18..d33ff2f 100644
--- a/tests/storages/test_atlos_storage.py
+++ b/tests/storages/test_atlos_storage.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ def media(tmp_path) -> Media:
     file_path.write_bytes(content)
     media = Media(filename=str(file_path))
     media.properties = {"something": "Title"}
-    media.key = "key"
+    media._key = "key"
     return media
 
 
diff --git a/tests/storages/test_gdrive_storage.py b/tests/storages/test_gdrive_storage.py
index f5ff87c..d87f5e8 100644
--- a/tests/storages/test_gdrive_storage.py
+++ b/tests/storages/test_gdrive_storage.py
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ def test_get_id_from_parent_and_name(gdrive_storage, mocker):
 
 def test_path_parts():
     media = Media(filename="test.jpg")
-    media.key = "folder1/folder2/test.jpg"
+    media._key = "folder1/folder2/test.jpg"
 
 
 
diff --git a/tests/storages/test_local_storage.py b/tests/storages/test_local_storage.py
index 7617867..c3581df 100644
--- a/tests/storages/test_local_storage.py
+++ b/tests/storages/test_local_storage.py
@@ -4,13 +4,14 @@ from pathlib import Path
 
 import pytest
 
-from auto_archiver.core import Media
+from auto_archiver.core import Media, Metadata
 from auto_archiver.modules.local_storage import LocalStorage
-
+from auto_archiver.core.consts import SetupError
 
 @pytest.fixture
 def local_storage(setup_module, tmp_path) -> LocalStorage:
     save_to = tmp_path / "local_archive"
+    save_to.mkdir()
     configs: dict = {
         "path_generator": "flat",
         "filename_generator": "static",
@@ -19,36 +20,40 @@ def local_storage(setup_module, tmp_path) -> LocalStorage:
     }
     return setup_module("local_storage", configs)
 
-
 @pytest.fixture
 def sample_media(tmp_path) -> Media:
     """Fixture creating a Media object with temporary source file"""
     src_file = tmp_path / "source.txt"
     src_file.write_text("test content")
-    return Media(key="subdir/test.txt", filename=str(src_file))
+    return Media(filename=str(src_file))
 
+def test_too_long_save_path(setup_module):
+    with pytest.raises(SetupError):
+        setup_module("local_storage", {"save_to": "long"*100})
 
 def test_get_cdn_url_relative(local_storage):
-    media = Media(key="test.txt", filename="dummy.txt")
+    local_storage.filename_generator = "random"
+    media = Media(filename="dummy.txt")
+    local_storage.set_key(media, "https://example.com", Metadata())
     expected = os.path.join(local_storage.save_to, media.key)
     assert local_storage.get_cdn_url(media) == expected
 
-
-
 def test_get_cdn_url_absolute(local_storage):
-    media = Media(key="test.txt", filename="dummy.txt")
+    local_storage.filename_generator = "random"
+
+    media = Media(filename="dummy.txt")
     local_storage.save_absolute = True
+    local_storage.set_key(media, "https://example.com", Metadata())
     expected = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(local_storage.save_to, media.key))
     assert local_storage.get_cdn_url(media) == expected
 
 def test_upload_file_contents_and_metadata(local_storage, sample_media):
+    local_storage.store(sample_media, "https://example.com", Metadata())
     dest = os.path.join(local_storage.save_to, sample_media.key)
-    assert local_storage.upload(sample_media) is True
     assert Path(sample_media.filename).read_text() == Path(dest).read_text()
 
-
 def test_upload_nonexistent_source(local_storage):
-    media = Media(key="missing.txt", filename="nonexistent.txt")
+    media = Media(_key="missing.txt", filename="nonexistent.txt")
     with pytest.raises(FileNotFoundError):
         local_storage.upload(media)
 
diff --git a/tests/storages/test_storage_base.py b/tests/storages/test_storage_base.py
index 7578acd..53dfbd7 100644
--- a/tests/storages/test_storage_base.py
+++ b/tests/storages/test_storage_base.py
@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@ from typing import Type
 
 import pytest
 
-from auto_archiver.core.metadata import Metadata
+from auto_archiver.core.metadata import Metadata, Media
 from auto_archiver.core.storage import Storage
-
+from auto_archiver.core.module import ModuleFactory
 
 class TestStorageBase(object):
 
@@ -20,3 +20,76 @@ class TestStorageBase(object):
         self.storage: Type[Storage] = setup_module(
             self.module_name, self.config
         )
+
+
+class TestBaseStorage(Storage):
+
+    name = "test_storage"
+
+    def get_cdn_url(self, media):
+        return "cdn_url"
+    
+    def uploadf(self, file, key, **kwargs):
+        return True
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def dummy_file(tmp_path):
+    # create dummy.txt file
+    dummy_file = tmp_path / "dummy.txt"
+    dummy_file.write_text("test content")
+    return str(dummy_file)
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def storage_base():
+    def _storage_base(config):
+        storage_base = TestBaseStorage()
+        storage_base.config_setup({TestBaseStorage.name : config})
+        storage_base.module_factory = ModuleFactory()
+        return storage_base
+    
+    return _storage_base
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "path_generator, filename_generator, url, expected_key",
+    [
+        ("flat", "static", "https://example.com/file/", "folder/6ae8a75555209fd6c44157c0.txt"),
+        ("flat", "random", "https://example.com/file/", "folder/pretend-random.txt"),
+        ("url", "static", "https://example.com/file/", "folder/https-example-com-file/6ae8a75555209fd6c44157c0.txt"),
+        ("url", "random", "https://example.com/file/", "folder/https-example-com-file/pretend-random.txt"),
+        ("random", "static", "https://example.com/file/", "folder/pretend-random/6ae8a75555209fd6c44157c0.txt"),
+        ("random", "random", "https://example.com/file/", "folder/pretend-random/pretend-random.txt"),
+
+    ],
+)
+def test_storage_name_generation(storage_base, path_generator, filename_generator, url, 
+                                 expected_key, mocker, tmp_path, dummy_file):
+    mock_random = mocker.patch("auto_archiver.core.storage.random_str")
+    mock_random.return_value = "pretend-random"
+
+    config: dict = {
+        "path_generator": path_generator,
+        "filename_generator": filename_generator,
+    }
+    storage: Storage = storage_base(config)
+    assert storage.path_generator == path_generator
+    assert storage.filename_generator == filename_generator
+
+    metadata = Metadata()
+    metadata.set_context("folder", "folder")
+    media = Media(filename=dummy_file)
+    storage.set_key(media, url, metadata)
+    print(media.key)
+    assert media.key == expected_key
+
+
+def test_really_long_name(storage_base, dummy_file):
+    config: dict = {
+        "path_generator": "url",
+        "filename_generator": "static",
+    }
+    storage: Storage = storage_base(config)
+
+    url = f"https://example.com/{'file'*100}"
+    media = Media(filename=dummy_file)
+    storage.set_key(media, url, Metadata())
+    assert media.key == f"https-example-com-{'file'*13}/6ae8a75555209fd6c44157c0.txt"
\ No newline at end of file