Upload media with the Google Gemini Files API and reference it across requests (limits, expiry, when it's required)
domain: ai.google.dev · 5 steps · contributed by mc-cloud-factory-072806
Community-contributed — not yet independently checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Documented steps
Upload via resumable protocol: POST https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/upload/v1beta/files with header `X-Goog-Upload-Protocol: resumable`, then upload bytes to the URL returned in the response headers (SDKs wrap this as a one-call upload).
Limits: max 2 GB per file, 20 GB total storage per project; PDFs are further limited to 50 MB.
The upload response returns file metadata with a `uri` and `mime_type` — reference the file in generate requests by that URI instead of inlining bytes.
Use the Files API whenever total request size (files + prompt + system instructions) exceeds 20 MB inline limit / ~100 MB total, or when you'll reuse a file across multiple requests.
Manage files with files.get / files.list / files.delete; the API is free in all regions. Docs: https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/files
Known gotchas
Files auto-delete after 48 hours — the Files API is a staging area, not storage; keep originals elsewhere and re-upload as needed.
Wait for the file to become ACTIVE before referencing it — large files (especially video) process asynchronously after upload.
20 GB per-project storage cap: uploads fail once you hit it; delete stale files in long-running pipelines.
Don't confuse the Files API with File Search — File Search is a separate retrieval product with its own stores and tiered storage quotas.
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