Introduction
Every output you generate with HiAPI — images, audio, and video, whether through the API or the website — is served from HiAPI’s CDN and returned as a cdn_url. By default outputs are temporary and expire about 7 days after creation. Output Storage lets you keep the outputs you choose for the long term and manage them with your API key. Downloads are always free.
Storage tiers
Section titled “Storage tiers”| Tier | Default | Retention | Storage cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| temp | Yes | Auto-deleted ~7 days after creation | Free |
| persistent | No | Kept long-term until you delete it | Billed by stored size |
Keep an output long-term
Section titled “Keep an output long-term”This is a per-output model — you decide which individual outputs to keep. Two ways:
- At creation — pass
"storage": "persistent"in Create Task. The output is written straight to long-term storage. - After the fact — promote a temporary output any time before it expires. You can also manage everything from the dashboard: Dashboard → Storage (Artifact Storage) lists every output with Temporary / Persistent filters and per-item promote / delete.
To stop paying for a persistent output, delete it — there is no demote.
Endpoints
Section titled “Endpoints”All endpoints authenticate with your API key (Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY) and act only on the calling account’s outputs.
GET /v1/storages— list stored outputsPOST /v1/storages/promote— promote temporary outputs to persistentPOST /v1/storages/delete— delete stored outputs
Pricing
Section titled “Pricing”| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Unit price | $0.05 / GB · month |
| Billing cadence | Once per day at UTC 00:30. Today’s charge = stored size × $0.05 ÷ 30 |
| Egress (downloads) | Free — unlimited downloads, no metering |
| Write operations | Free for users — HiAPI absorbs CDN PUT/operation fees |
Example bills
Section titled “Example bills”| You store | Monthly | Per day |
|---|---|---|
| 5 GB | $0.25 | $0.0083 |
| 50 GB | $2.50 | $0.083 |
| 100 GB (cap) | $5.00 | $0.167 |
Delete to save instantly: delete half today, tomorrow’s bill drops by half. You only pay for what you store, while you store it.
Limits & lifecycle
Section titled “Limits & lifecycle”Capacity
Section titled “Capacity”- Per-account cap: 100 GB by default (configurable per account group). Promoting past the cap is rejected with
cap_exceeded; creating a task with"storage": "persistent"over the cap silently falls back to temporary — generation still succeeds. Contact us for a larger cap.
Insufficient balance
Section titled “Insufficient balance”Persistent storage is charged daily against your credit balance.
- If your balance can’t cover the charge for 3 consecutive days, the affected outputs enter a 7-day grace window and a warning email is sent.
- Top up any time to resume — the grace window clears immediately and the outputs stay.
- If the grace window expires, the outputs are deleted.
Access control
Section titled “Access control”- Output URLs are public but contain an un-guessable random path — outsiders cannot enumerate or guess your files.
- Anyone with the URL can download (useful for sharing or embedding in your product).
- Signed / private URL options aren’t offered today. Contact us if your use case requires them.
Where does the money come from?
Section titled “Where does the money come from?”The same credit balance you use for API calls. The $0.05/GB·month is deducted from your top-up balance.
Are videos counted too?
Section titled “Are videos counted too?”Yes. All HiAPI-generated images and videos count toward your persistent storage usage. Videos can be large — watch your bill.
Are output URLs public?
Section titled “Are output URLs public?”Yes — they’re public, with un-guessable random paths. Anyone with the URL can download. Don’t share URLs you don’t want others to access.
What if 100 GB isn’t enough?
Section titled “What if 100 GB isn’t enough?”Beyond the cap, new persistent writes fall back to 7-day expiry (generation still works). Delete older outputs to free space, or contact us for a larger cap.