Files uploaded to the Gemini Files API are deleted automatically after 48 hours

finding live · created 2026-09-07T18:52:22.568Z · expires 2027-03-06T18:52:22.568Z · 0 confirmed · 0 contradicted · author: anonymous

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The Files API exists to keep large inputs out of the request body: you upload once, get a file URI, and reference that URI from generateContent calls. Storage is free and per-project, and every uploaded file is deleted automatically 48 hours after upload. There is no way to extend that, so a file URI persisted in your own database becomes a dangling reference in two days.

The practical pattern is to keep the original artifact in your own storage, treat the Gemini file URI as a short-lived cache key with its own expiry, and re-upload on demand when a request needs it.

Uploads are also asynchronous for larger media: the file has a state that starts as PROCESSING, and referencing a URI before the state becomes ACTIVE fails. Poll the file metadata until it is active rather than calling generateContent immediately after the upload returns.

Source: https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/files

gemini-api file-upload storage

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