diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index e025fa6..b955e2a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,18 @@
+ifeq (,$(wildcard .env))
+$(error .env file is missing. Please create one based on .env.example)
+endif
+
+include .env
+
 export PYTHONPATH = .
-check_dirs := src
+
+# --- Default Values ---
+
+CHECK_DIRS := src
+LOCAL_DATA_PATH := data
+
+
+# --- Utilities ---
 
 help:
 	@grep -E '^[a-zA-Z0-9 -]+:.*#'  Makefile | sort | while read -r l; do printf "\033[1;32m$$(echo $$l | cut -f 1 -d':')\033[00m:$$(echo $$l | cut -f 2- -d'#')\n"; done
@@ -26,6 +39,16 @@ local-infrastructure-up: local-docker-infrastructure-up local-zenml-server-down
 
 local-infrastructure-down: local-docker-infrastructure-down local-zenml-server-down
 
+# --- AWS ---
+
+s3-upload:  # Upload a local folder to S3
+	@echo "Uploading to S3 bucket: $(AWS_S3_BUCKET_NAME)"
+	uv run python -m tools.use_s3 upload $(LOCAL_DATA_PATH) $(AWS_S3_BUCKET_NAME) --s3-prefix "second_brain_course/notion"
+
+s3-download:  # Download from S3 to local folder using AWS 
+	@echo "Downloading from S3 bucket: $(AWS_S3_BUCKET_NAME)"
+	uv run python -m tools.use_s3 download $(AWS_S3_BUCKET_NAME) "second_brain_course/notion/data.zip" $(LOCAL_DATA_PATH) 
+
 # --- Pipelines ---
 
 collect-notion-pipeline:
@@ -39,16 +62,16 @@ test:
 # --- QA ---
 
 format-fix:
-	uv run ruff format $(check_dirs)
+	uv run ruff format $(CHECK_DIRS)
 	uv run ruff check --select I --fix 
 
 lint-fix:
 	uv run ruff check --fix
 
 format-check:
-	uv run ruff format --check $(check_dirs) 
+	uv run ruff format --check $(CHECK_DIRS) 
 	uv run ruff check -e
 	uv run ruff check --select I -e
 
 lint-check:
-	uv run ruff check $(check_dirs)
+	uv run ruff check $(CHECK_DIRS)
diff --git a/src/second_brain/config.py b/src/second_brain/config.py
index 0171129..15eed47 100644
--- a/src/second_brain/config.py
+++ b/src/second_brain/config.py
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
     NOTION_SECRET_KEY: str | None = None
 
     # --- Required settings even when working locally. ---
-
-    AWS_S3_BUCKET_NAME: str = "notion-second-brain-data"
+    AWS_DEFAULT_REGION: str = "eu-central-1"
+    AWS_S3_BUCKET_NAME: str = "decodingml-public-data"
 
     # OpenAI API
     OPENAI_MODEL_ID: str = "gpt-4o-mini"
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@ class Settings(BaseSettings):
     DATABASE_NAME: str = "twin"
 
     # AWS Authentication
-    AWS_REGION: str = "eu-central-1"
     AWS_ACCESS_KEY: str | None = None
     AWS_SECRET_KEY: str | None = None
     AWS_ARN_ROLE: str | None = None
diff --git a/src/second_brain/infrastructure/aws/s3.py b/src/second_brain/infrastructure/aws/s3.py
index 1622ad8..6fce0a3 100644
--- a/src/second_brain/infrastructure/aws/s3.py
+++ b/src/second_brain/infrastructure/aws/s3.py
@@ -6,11 +6,21 @@
 
 import boto3
 
+from second_brain.config import settings
+
 
 class S3Client:
-    def __init__(self, bucket_name: str) -> None:
-        """Initialize S3 client and bucket name."""
-        self.s3_client = boto3.client("s3")
+    def __init__(
+        self, bucket_name: str, region: str = settings.AWS_DEFAULT_REGION
+    ) -> None:
+        """Initialize S3 client and bucket name.
+
+        Args:
+            bucket_name: Name of the S3 bucket
+            region: AWS region (defaults to AWS_DEFAULT_REGION or AWS_REGION env var, or 'us-east-1')
+        """
+        self.region = region
+        self.s3_client = boto3.client("s3", region_name=self.region)
         self.bucket_name = bucket_name
 
     def upload_folder(self, local_path: Union[str, Path], s3_prefix: str = "") -> None:
@@ -21,6 +31,9 @@ def upload_folder(self, local_path: Union[str, Path], s3_prefix: str = "") -> No
             local_path: Path to the local folder
             s3_prefix: Optional prefix (folder path) in S3 bucket
         """
+        # Ensure bucket exists before proceeding
+        self.__create_bucket_if_doesnt_exist()
+
         local_path = Path(local_path)
 
         if not local_path.exists():
@@ -49,6 +62,30 @@ def upload_folder(self, local_path: Union[str, Path], s3_prefix: str = "") -> No
         # Clean up temporary zip file
         os.unlink(temp_zip.name)
 
+    def __create_bucket_if_doesnt_exist(self) -> None:
+        """
+        Check if bucket exists and create it if it doesn't.
+        Raises permission-related exceptions if user lacks necessary permissions.
+        """
+        try:
+            self.s3_client.head_bucket(Bucket=self.bucket_name)
+        except self.s3_client.exceptions.ClientError as e:
+            error_code = e.response["Error"]["Code"]
+            if error_code == "404":
+                try:
+                    self.s3_client.create_bucket(
+                        Bucket=self.bucket_name,
+                        CreateBucketConfiguration={"LocationConstraint": self.region},
+                    )
+                except self.s3_client.exceptions.ClientError as create_error:
+                    raise Exception(
+                        f"Failed to create bucket {self.bucket_name}: {str(create_error)}"
+                    )
+            elif error_code == "403":
+                raise Exception(f"No permission to access bucket {self.bucket_name}")
+            else:
+                raise
+
     def download_folder(self, s3_prefix: str, local_path: Union[str, Path]) -> None:
         """
         Download a zipped folder from S3 and extract it to local storage.
diff --git a/tools/use_s3.py b/tools/use_s3.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5ef138e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/use_s3.py
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+import click
+
+from second_brain.infrastructure.aws.s3 import S3Client
+
+
+@click.group()
+def cli() -> None:
+    """CLI tool for uploading and downloading folders to/from S3."""
+    pass
+
+
+@cli.command()
+@click.argument("local_path")
+@click.argument("bucket_name")
+@click.option("--s3-prefix", default="", help="Optional S3 prefix (folder path)")
+def upload(local_path: str, bucket_name: str, s3_prefix: str) -> None:
+    """Upload a local folder to S3 bucket.
+
+    Args:
+        local_path: Path to the local folder to upload
+        bucket_name: Name of the S3 bucket
+        s3_prefix: Optional S3 prefix (folder path)
+
+    Raises:
+        click.Abort: If upload fails or path is invalid
+    """
+    try:
+        s3_client = S3Client(bucket_name)
+        s3_client.upload_folder(local_path, s3_prefix)
+        click.echo(
+            f"Successfully uploaded {local_path} to s3://{bucket_name}/{s3_prefix}"
+        )
+    except Exception as e:
+        click.echo(f"Error: {str(e)}", err=True)
+        raise click.Abort()
+
+
+@cli.command()
+@click.argument("bucket_name")
+@click.argument("s3_path")
+@click.argument("local_path")
+def download(bucket_name: str, s3_path: str, local_path: str) -> None:
+    """Download a zipped folder from S3 and extract it to local storage.
+
+    Args:
+        bucket_name: Name of the S3 bucket
+        s3_path: Path to the zip file in S3 bucket
+        local_path: Local path where files should be extracted
+
+    Raises:
+        click.Abort: If download fails or path is invalid
+    """
+
+    try:
+        s3_client = S3Client(bucket_name)
+        s3_client.download_folder(s3_path, local_path)
+        click.echo(
+            f"Successfully downloaded s3://{bucket_name}/{s3_path} to {local_path}"
+        )
+    except Exception as e:
+        click.echo(f"Error: {str(e)}", err=True)
+        raise click.Abort()
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    cli()