> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.agno.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# GCS Media Storage

> Offload agent media to Google Cloud Storage and keep only a MediaReference in the database.

Demonstrates GCSMediaStorage, which offloads media to Google Cloud Storage and keeps only a MediaReference in the database.

```python media_storage_gcs.py theme={null}
"""
GCS Media Storage
=================

Demonstrates GCSMediaStorage, which offloads media to Google Cloud Storage and keeps only a
MediaReference in the database. URL-only media is skipped unless persist_remote_urls=True.

Signing a URL needs a service-account private key, so under application-default credentials
nothing is signed and AgentOS streams the bytes through the /media route instead.

Requirements:
- uv pip install 'agno[gcs]'
- `gcloud auth application-default login`, or a service-account JSON via credentials_path
- Set MEDIA_GCS_BUCKET to a bucket you own; GCP_PROJECT to set the project
"""

import os

import httpx
from agno.agent import Agent
from agno.db.sqlite import SqliteDb
from agno.media import Image
from agno.media.storage import GCSMediaStorage
from agno.models.openai import OpenAIResponses

# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Setup
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
IMAGE_URL = "https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/mountain-landscape-pieniny-national-park-foot-tatra-mountains-mountain-landscape-pieniny-national-park-437239881.jpg?w=768"

# A bucket you do not own makes every upload fail, and offload falls back to inline
# base64 — the run still succeeds, so the failure is easy to miss. Ask for the bucket
# up front instead.
bucket = os.getenv("MEDIA_GCS_BUCKET")
if not bucket:
    raise ValueError("MEDIA_GCS_BUCKET must be set to a GCS bucket you own")

# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Approach 1: Pre-download the media yourself and send bytes.
# URL-only media is skipped by default.
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

storage = GCSMediaStorage(
    bucket=bucket,
    project=os.getenv("GCP_PROJECT"),
    prefix="agno/media/",
    presigned_url_expiry=3600,  # 1 hour
)

# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Create the Agent
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
agent = Agent(
    model=OpenAIResponses(id="gpt-5.5"),
    media_storage=storage,
    db=SqliteDb(db_file="tmp/data.db"),
)

# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Approach 2: Use the flag persist_remote_urls=True.
# This will download every URL-only media automatically and store it in GCS.
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

storage_with_persist = GCSMediaStorage(
    bucket=bucket,
    project=os.getenv("GCP_PROJECT"),
    prefix="agno/media/",
    presigned_url_expiry=3600,  # 1 hour
    persist_remote_urls=True,
)

agent_with_persist = Agent(
    model=OpenAIResponses(id="gpt-5.5"),
    media_storage=storage_with_persist,
    db=SqliteDb(db_file="tmp/data.db"),
)

# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Run the Agents
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
if __name__ == "__main__":
    # Download image content first so media storage can offload it to GCS.
    # mime_type gives the stored object its file extension and Content-Type.
    image_bytes = httpx.get(IMAGE_URL, follow_redirects=True).content

    agent.print_response(
        "What do you see in this image?",
        images=[Image(content=image_bytes, format="jpeg", mime_type="image/jpeg")],
    )

    # URL-only media is NOT stored in GCS by default — it is skipped during offload.
    agent.print_response(
        "What do you see in this image?",
        images=[Image(url=IMAGE_URL)],
    )

    # URL-only images are automatically downloaded and stored when persist_remote_urls=True
    agent_with_persist.print_response(
        "What do you see in this image?",
        images=[Image(url=IMAGE_URL)],
    )
```

## Run the Example

<Steps>
  <Snippet file="create-venv-step.mdx" />

  <Step title="Install dependencies">
    ```bash theme={null}
    uv pip install -U "agno[gcs]" openai httpx sqlalchemy
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Export your OpenAI API key">
    <CodeGroup>
      ```bash Mac/Linux theme={null}
      export OPENAI_API_KEY="your_openai_api_key_here"
      ```

      ```bash Windows theme={null}
      $Env:OPENAI_API_KEY="your_openai_api_key_here"
      ```
    </CodeGroup>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Authenticate with Google Cloud">
    ```bash theme={null}
    gcloud auth application-default login
    export MEDIA_GCS_BUCKET="your_bucket"
    export GCP_PROJECT="your_project"
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Run the example">
    Save the code above as `media_storage_gcs.py`, then run:

    ```bash theme={null}
    python media_storage_gcs.py
    ```
  </Step>
</Steps>

Full source: [cookbook/06\_storage/08\_media\_storage\_gcs.py](https://github.com/agno-agi/agno/blob/main/cookbook/06_storage/08_media_storage_gcs.py)