Try RAG with the Gemini API using the File Search tool.

File Search

The Gemini API enables Retrieval Augmented Generation ("RAG") through the File Search tool. File Search imports, chunks, and indexes your data to enable fast retrieval of relevant information based on a user's prompt. This information is then provided as context to the model, allowing the model to provide more accurate and relevant answers.

You can use the uploadToFileSearchStore API to directly upload an existing file to your File Search store, or separately upload and then importFile if you want to create the file at the same time.

Directly upload to File Search store

This examples shows how to directly upload a file to a file store:

Python

from google import genai
from google.genai import types
import time

client = genai.Client()

# Create the File Search store with an optional display name
file_search_store = client.file_search_stores.create(config={'display_name': 'your-fileSearchStore-name'})

# Upload and import a file into the File Search store, supply a file name which will be visible in citations
operation = client.file_search_stores.upload_to_file_search_store(
  file='sample.txt',
  file_search_store_name=file_search_store.name,
  config={
      'display_name' : 'display-file-name',
  }
)

# Wait until import is complete
while not operation.done:
    time.sleep(5)
    operation = client.operations.get(operation)

# Ask a question about the file
response = client.models.generate_content(
    model="gemini-2.5-flash",
    contents="""Can you tell me about Robert Graves""",
    config=types.GenerateContentConfig(
        tools=[
            file_search=(
                  file_search_store_names=[file_search_store.name]
            )
        ]
    )
)

print(response.text)

JavaScript

const { GoogleGenAI } = require('@google/genai');

const ai = new GoogleGenAI({});

async function run() {
  // Create the File Search store with an optional display name
  const fileSearchStore = await ai.fileSearchStores.create({
    config: { displayName: 'your-fileSearchStore-name' }
  });

  // Upload and import a file into the File Search store, supply a file name which will be visible in citations
  let operation = await ai.fileSearchStores.uploadToFileSearchStore({
    file: 'file.txt',
    fileSearchStoreName: fileSearchStore.name,
    config: {
      displayName: 'file-name',
    }
  });

  // Wait until import is complete
  while (!operation.done) {
    await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 5000));
    operation = await ai.operations.get({ operation });
  }

  // Ask a question about the file
  const response = await ai.models.generateContent({
    model: "gemini-2.5-flash",
    contents: "Can you tell me about Robert Graves",
    config: {
      tools: [
        {
          fileSearch: {
            fileSearchStoreNames: [fileSearchStore.name]
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  });

  console.log(response.text);
}

run();

REST

FILE_PATH="path/to/sample.pdf"
MIME_TYPE=$(file -b --mime-type "${FILE_PATH}")
NUM_BYTES=$(wc -c < "${FILE_PATH}")

# Create a FileSearchStore
STORE_RESPONSE=$(curl -s -X POST "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/fileSearchStores?key=${GEMINI_API_KEY}" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d '{ "displayName": "My Store" }')

# Extract the store name (format: fileSearchStores/xxxxxxx)
STORE_NAME=$(echo $STORE_RESPONSE | jq -r '.name')

# Initiate Resumable Upload to the Store
TMP_HEADER="upload-header.tmp"

curl -s -D "${TMP_HEADER}" \ "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/upload/v1beta/${STORE_NAME}:uploadToFileSearchStore?key=${GEMINI_API_KEY}" \
  -H "X-Goog-Upload-Protocol: resumable" \
  -H "X-Goog-Upload-Command: start" \
  -H "X-Goog-Upload-Header-Content-Length: ${NUM_BYTES}" \
  -H "X-Goog-Upload-Header-Content-Type: ${MIME_TYPE}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" > /dev/null

# Extract upload_url from headers
UPLOAD_URL=$(grep -i "x-goog-upload-url: " "${TMP_HEADER}" | cut -d" " -f2 | tr -d "\r")
rm "${TMP_HEADER}"

# --- Upload the actual bytes ---
curl "${UPLOAD_URL}" \
  -H "Content-Length: ${NUM_BYTES}" \
  -H "X-Goog-Upload-Offset: 0" \
  -H "X-Goog-Upload-Command: upload, finalize" \
  --data-binary "@${FILE_PATH}" 2> /dev/null

# Generate content using the FileSearchStore
curl "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/models/gemini-2.5-flash:generateContent" \
    -H "x-goog-api-key: $GEMINI_API_KEY" \
    -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
    -X POST \
    -d '{
            "contents": [{
                "parts":[{"text": "What does the research say about ..."}]          
            }],
            "tools": [{
                "file_search": { "file_search_store_names":["'$STORE_NAME'"] }
            }]
        }' 2> /dev/null > response.json

cat response.json

Check the API reference for uploadToFileSearchStore for more information.

Importing files

Alternatively, you can upload an existing file and import it to your file store:

Python

from google import genai
from google.genai import types
import time

client = genai.Client()

# Upload the file using the Files API, supply a file name which will be visible in citations
sample_file = client.files.upload(file='sample.txt', config={'name': 'display_file_name'})

# Create the File Search store with an optional display name
file_search_store = client.file_search_stores.create(config={'display_name': 'your-fileSearchStore-name'})

# Import the file into the File Search store
operation = client.file_search_stores.import_file(
    file_search_store_name=file_search_store.name,
    file_name=sample_file.name
)

# Wait until import is complete
while not operation.done:
    time.sleep(5)
    operation = client.operations.get(operation)

# Ask a question about the file
response = client.models.generate_content(
    model="gemini-2.5-flash",
    contents="""Can you tell me about Robert Graves""",
    config=types.GenerateContentConfig(
        tools=[
            file_search=(
                  file_search_store_names=[file_search_store.name]
            )
        ]
    )
)

print(response.text)

JavaScript

const { GoogleGenAI } = require('@google/genai');

const ai = new GoogleGenAI({});

async function run() {
  // Upload the file using the Files API, supply a file name which will be visible in citations
  const sampleFile = await ai.files.upload({
    file: 'sample.txt',
    config: { name: 'file-name' }
  });

  // Create the File Search store with an optional display name
  const fileSearchStore = await ai.fileSearchStores.create({
    config: { displayName: 'your-fileSearchStore-name' }
  });

  // Import the file into the File Search store
  let operation = await ai.fileSearchStores.importFile({
    fileSearchStoreName: fileSearchStore.name,
    fileName: sampleFile.name
  });

  // Wait until import is complete
  while (!operation.done) {
    await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, 5000));
    operation = await ai.operations.get({ operation: operation });
  }

  // Ask a question about the file
  const response = await ai.models.generateContent({
    model: "gemini-2.5-flash",
    contents: "Can you tell me about Robert Graves",
    config: {
      tools: [
        {
          fileSearch: {
            fileSearchStoreNames: [fileSearchStore.name]
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  });

  console.log(response.text);
}

run();

REST

FILE_PATH="path/to/sample.pdf"
MIME_TYPE=$(file -b --mime-type "${FILE_PATH}")
NUM_BYTES=$(wc -c < "${FILE_PATH}")

# Create a FileSearchStore
STORE_RESPONSE=$(curl -s -X POST "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/fileSearchStores?key=${GEMINI_API_KEY}" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d '{ "displayName": "My Store" }')

STORE_NAME=$(echo $STORE_RESPONSE | jq -r '.name')

# Initiate Resumable Upload to the Store
TMP_HEADER="upload-header.tmp"

curl -s -X POST "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/upload/v1beta/files?key=${GEMINI_API_KEY}" \
  -D "${TMP_HEADER}" \
  -H "X-Goog-Upload-Protocol: resumable" \
  -H "X-Goog-Upload-Command: start" \
  -H "X-Goog-Upload-Header-Content-Length: ${NUM_BYTES}" \
  -H "X-Goog-Upload-Header-Content-Type: ${MIME_TYPE}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" 2> /dev/null

UPLOAD_URL=$(grep -i "x-goog-upload-url: " "${TMP_HEADER}" | cut -d" " -f2 | tr -d "\r")
rm "${TMP_HEADER}"

# Upload the actual bytes.
curl -s -X POST "${UPLOAD_URL}" \
  -H "Content-Length: ${NUM_BYTES}" \
  -H "X-Goog-Upload-Offset: 0" \
  -H "X-Goog-Upload-Command: upload, finalize" \
  --data-binary "@${FILE_PATH}" 2> /dev/null > file_info.json

file_uri=$(jq ".file.name" file_info.json)

# Import files into the file search store
operation_name=$(curl "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/${STORE_NAME}:importFile?key=${GEMINI_API_KEY}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -X POST \
  -d '{
        "file_name":'$file_uri'
    }' | jq -r .name)

# Wait for long running operation to complete
while true; do
  # Get the full JSON status and store it in a variable.
  status_response=$(curl -s -H "x-goog-api-key: $GEMINI_API_KEY" "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/${operation_name}")

  # Check the "done" field from the JSON stored in the variable.
  is_done=$(echo "${status_response}" | jq .done)

  if [ "${is_done}" = "true" ]; then
    break
  fi
  # Wait for 10 seconds before checking again.
  sleep 10
done

# Generate content using the FileSearchStore
curl "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/models/gemini-2.5-flash:generateContent?key=${GEMINI_API_KEY}" \
    -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
    -X POST \
    -d '{
            "contents": [{
                "parts":[{"text": "What does the research say about ..."}]          
            }],
            "tools": [{
                "file_search": { "file_search_store_names":["'$STORE_NAME'"] }
            }]
        }' 2> /dev/null > response.json

cat response.json

Check the API reference for importFile for more information.

Chunking configuration

When you import a file into a File Search store, it's automatically broken down into chunks, embedded, indexed, and uploaded to your File Search store. If you need more control over the chunking strategy, you can specify a chunking_config setting to set a maximum number of tokens per chunk and maximum number of overlapping tokens.

Python

# Upload and import and upload the file into the File Search store with a custom chunking configuration
operation = client.file_search_stores.upload_to_file_search_store(
    file_search_store_name=file_search_store.name,
    file_name=sample_file.name,
    config={
        'chunking_config': {
          'white_space_config': {
            'max_tokens_per_chunk': 200,
            'max_overlap_tokens': 20
          }
        }
    }
)

JavaScript

// Upload and import and upload the file into the File Search store with a custom chunking configuration
let operation = await ai.fileSearchStores.uploadToFileSearchStore({
  file: 'file.txt',
  fileSearchStoreName: fileSearchStore.name,
  config: {
    displayName: 'file-name',
    chunkingConfig: {
      whiteSpaceConfig: {
        maxTokensPerChunk: 200,
        maxOverlapTokens: 20
      }
    }
  }
});

REST

FILE_PATH="path/to/sample.pdf"
MIME_TYPE=$(file -b --mime-type "${FILE_PATH}")
NUM_BYTES=$(wc -c < "${FILE_PATH}")

# Create a FileSearchStore
STORE_RESPONSE=$(curl -s -X POST "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/fileSearchStores?key=${GEMINI_API_KEY}" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d '{ "displayName": "My Store" }')

# Extract the store name (format: fileSearchStores/xxxxxxx)
STORE_NAME=$(echo $STORE_RESPONSE | jq -r '.name')

# Initiate Resumable Upload to the Store
TMP_HEADER="upload-header.tmp"

curl -s -D "${TMP_HEADER}" \ "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/upload/v1beta/${STORE_NAME}:uploadToFileSearchStore?key=${GEMINI_API_KEY}" \
  -H "X-Goog-Upload-Protocol: resumable" \
  -H "X-Goog-Upload-Command: start" \
  -H "X-Goog-Upload-Header-Content-Length: ${NUM_BYTES}" \
  -H "X-Goog-Upload-Header-Content-Type: ${MIME_TYPE}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" > /dev/null
  -d '{
        "chunking_config": {
          "white_space_config": {
            "max_tokens_per_chunk": 200,
            "max_overlap_tokens": 20
          }
        }
    }'

# Extract upload_url from headers
UPLOAD_URL=$(grep -i "x-goog-upload-url: " "${TMP_HEADER}" | cut -d" " -f2 | tr -d "\r")
rm "${TMP_HEADER}"

# --- Upload the actual bytes ---
curl "${UPLOAD_URL}" \
  -H "Content-Length: ${NUM_BYTES}" \
  -H "X-Goog-Upload-Offset: 0" \
  -H "X-Goog-Upload-Command: upload, finalize" \
  --data-binary "@${FILE_PATH}" 2> /dev/null

To use your File Search store, pass it as a tool to the generateContent method, as shown in the Upload and Import examples.

How it works

File Search uses a technique called semantic search to find information relevant to the user prompt. Unlike traditional keyword-based search, semantic search understands the meaning and context of your query.

When you import a file, it's converted into numerical representations called embeddings, which capture the semantic meaning of the text. These embeddings are stored in a specialized File Search database. When you make a query, it's also converted into an embedding. Then the system performs a File Search to find the most similar and relevant document chunks from the File Search store.

Here's a breakdown of the process for using the File Search uploadToFileSearchStore API:

Create a File Search store: A File Search store contains the processed data from your files. It's the persistent container for the embeddings that the semantic search will operate on.
Upload a file and import into a File Search store: Simultaneously upload a file and import the results into your File Search store. This creates a temporary File object, which is a reference to your raw document. That data is then chunked, converted into File Search embeddings, and indexed. The File object gets deleted after 48 hours, while the data imported into the File Search store will be stored indefinitely until you choose to delete it.
Query with File Search: Finally, you use the FileSearch tool in a generateContent call. In the tool configuration, you specify a FileSearchRetrievalResource, which points to the FileSearchStore you want to search. This tells the model to perform a semantic search on that specific File Search store to find relevant information to ground its response.

The indexing and querying process of File Search

In this diagram, the dotted line from from Documents to Embedding model (using gemini-embedding-001) represents the uploadToFileSearchStore API (bypassing File storage). Otherwise, using the Files API to separately create and then import files moves the indexing process from Documents to File storage and then to Embedding model.

File Search stores

A File Search store is a container for your document embeddings. While raw files uploaded through the File API are deleted after 48 hours, the data imported into a File Search store is stored indefinitely until you manually delete it. You can create multiple File Search stores to organize your documents. The FileSearchStore API lets you create, list, get, and delete to manage your file search stores. File Search store names are globally scoped.

Here are some examples of how to manage your File Search stores:

Python

# Create a File Search store (including optional display_name for easier reference)
file_search_store = client.file_search_stores.create(config={'display_name': 'my-file_search-store-123'})

# List all your File Search stores
for file_search_store in client.file_search_stores.list():
    print(file_search_store)

# Get a specific File Search store by name
my_file_search_store = client.file_search_stores.get(name='fileSearchStores/my-file_search-store-123')

# Delete a File Search store
client.file_search_stores.delete(name='fileSearchStores/my-file_search-store-123', config={'force': True})

JavaScript

// Create a File Search store (including optional display_name for easier reference)
const fileSearchStore = await ai.fileSearchStores.create({
  config: { displayName: 'my-file_search-store-123' }
});

// List all your File Search stores
const fileSearchStores = await ai.fileSearchStores.list();
for await (const store of fileSearchStores) {
  console.log(store);
}

// Get a specific File Search store by name
const myFileSearchStore = await ai.fileSearchStores.get({
  name: 'fileSearchStores/my-file_search-store-123'
});

// Delete a File Search store
await ai.fileSearchStores.delete({
  name: 'fileSearchStores/my-file_search-store-123',
  config: { force: true }
});

REST

# Create a File Search store (including optional display_name for easier reference)
curl -X POST "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/fileSearchStores?key=${GEMINI_API_KEY}" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" 
    -d '{ "displayName": "My Store" }'

# List all your File Search stores
curl "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/fileSearchStores?key=${GEMINI_API_KEY}" \

# Get a specific File Search store by name
curl "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/fileSearchStores/my-file_search-store-123?key=${GEMINI_API_KEY}"

# Delete a File Search store
curl -X DELETE "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/fileSearchStores/my-file_search-store-123?key=${GEMINI_API_KEY}"

The File Search Documents API reference for methods and fields related to managing documents in your file stores.

File metadata

You can add custom metadata to your files to help filter them or provide additional context. Metadata is a set of key-value pairs.

Python

# Import the file into the File Search store with custom metadata
op = client.file_search_stores.import_file(
    file_search_store_name=file_search_store.name,
    file_name=sample_file.name,
    custom_metadata=[
        {"key": "author", "string_value": "Robert Graves"},
        {"key": "year", "numeric_value": 1934}
    ]
)

JavaScript

// Import the file into the File Search store with custom metadata
let operation = await ai.fileSearchStores.importFile({
  fileSearchStoreName: fileSearchStore.name,
  fileName: sampleFile.name,
  config: {
    customMetadata: [
      { key: "author", stringValue: "Robert Graves" },
      { key: "year", numericValue: 1934 }
    ]
  }
});

REST

FILE_PATH="path/to/sample.pdf"
MIME_TYPE=$(file -b --mime-type "${FILE_PATH}")
NUM_BYTES=$(wc -c < "${FILE_PATH}")

# Create a FileSearchStore
STORE_RESPONSE=$(curl -s -X POST "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/fileSearchStores?key=${GEMINI_API_KEY}" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d '{ "displayName": "My Store" }')

# Extract the store name (format: fileSearchStores/xxxxxxx)
STORE_NAME=$(echo $STORE_RESPONSE | jq -r '.name')

# Initiate Resumable Upload to the Store
TMP_HEADER="upload-header.tmp"

curl -s -D "${TMP_HEADER}" \
  "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/upload/v1beta/${STORE_NAME}:uploadToFileSearchStore?key=${GEMINI_API_KEY}" \
  -H "X-Goog-Upload-Protocol: resumable" \
  -H "X-Goog-Upload-Command: start" \
  -H "X-Goog-Upload-Header-Content-Length: ${NUM_BYTES}" \
  -H "X-Goog-Upload-Header-Content-Type: ${MIME_TYPE}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
        "custom_metadata": [
          {"key": "author", "string_value": "Robert Graves"},
          {"key": "year", "numeric_value": 1934}
        ]
    }' > /dev/null

# Extract upload_url from headers
UPLOAD_URL=$(grep -i "x-goog-upload-url: " "${TMP_HEADER}" | cut -d" " -f2 | tr -d "\r")
rm "${TMP_HEADER}"

# --- Upload the actual bytes ---
curl "${UPLOAD_URL}" \
  -H "Content-Length: ${NUM_BYTES}" \
  -H "X-Goog-Upload-Offset: 0" \
  -H "X-Goog-Upload-Command: upload, finalize" \
  --data-binary "@${FILE_PATH}" 2> /dev/null

This is useful when you have multiple documents in a File Search store and want to search only a subset of them.

Python

# Use the metadata filter to search within a subset of documents
response = client.models.generate_content(
    model="gemini-2.5-flash",
    contents="Tell me about the book 'I, Claudius'",
    config=types.GenerateContentConfig(
        tools=[
            types.Tool(
                file_search=types.FileSearch(
                    file_search_store_names=[file_search_store.name],
                    metadata_filter="author=Robert Graves",
                )
            )
        ]
    )
)

print(response.text)

JavaScript

// Use the metadata filter to search within a subset of documents
const response = await ai.models.generateContent({
  model: "gemini-2.5-flash",
  contents: "Tell me about the book 'I, Claudius'",
  config: {
    tools: [
      {
        fileSearch: {
          fileSearchStoreNames: [fileSearchStore.name],
          metadataFilter: 'author="Robert Graves"',
        }
      }
    ]
  }
});

console.log(response.text);

REST

curl "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/models/gemini-2.5-flash:generateContent?key=${GEMINI_API_KEY}" \
    -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
    -X POST \
    -d '{
            "contents": [{
                "parts":[{"text": "Tell me about the book I, Claudius"}]          
            }],
            "tools": [{
                "file_search": { 
                    "file_search_store_names":["'$STORE_NAME'"],
                    "metadata_filter": "author = \"Robert Graves\""
                }
            }]
        }' 2> /dev/null > response.json

cat response.json

Guidance on implementing list filter syntax for metadata_filter can be found at google.aip.dev/160

Citations

When you use File Search, the model's response may include citations that specify which parts of your uploaded documents were used to generate the answer. This helps with fact-checking and verification.

You can access citation information through the grounding_metadata attribute of the response.

Python

print(response.candidates[0].grounding_metadata)

JavaScript

console.log(JSON.stringify(response.candidates?.[0]?.groundingMetadata, null, 2));

Supported models

The following models support File Search:

Supported file types

File Search supports a wide range of file formats, listed in the following sections.

Application file types

application/dart
application/ecmascript
application/json
application/ms-java
application/msword
application/pdf
application/sql
application/typescript
application/vnd.curl
application/vnd.dart
application/vnd.ibm.secure-container
application/vnd.jupyter
application/vnd.ms-excel
application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text
application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.presentation
application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet
application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.template
application/x-csh
application/x-hwp
application/x-hwp-v5
application/x-latex
application/x-php
application/x-powershell
application/x-sh
application/x-shellscript
application/x-tex
application/x-zsh
application/xml
application/zip

Text file types

text/1d-interleaved-parityfec
text/RED
text/SGML
text/cache-manifest
text/calendar
text/cql
text/cql-extension
text/cql-identifier
text/css
text/csv
text/csv-schema
text/dns
text/encaprtp
text/enriched
text/example
text/fhirpath
text/flexfec
text/fwdred
text/gff3
text/grammar-ref-list
text/hl7v2
text/html
text/javascript
text/jcr-cnd
text/jsx
text/markdown
text/mizar
text/n3
text/parameters
text/parityfec
text/php
text/plain
text/provenance-notation
text/prs.fallenstein.rst
text/prs.lines.tag
text/prs.prop.logic
text/raptorfec
text/rfc822-headers
text/rtf
text/rtp-enc-aescm128
text/rtploopback
text/rtx
text/sgml
text/shaclc
text/shex
text/spdx
text/strings
text/t140
text/tab-separated-values
text/texmacs
text/troff
text/tsv
text/tsx
text/turtle
text/ulpfec
text/uri-list
text/vcard
text/vnd.DMClientScript
text/vnd.IPTC.NITF
text/vnd.IPTC.NewsML
text/vnd.a
text/vnd.abc
text/vnd.ascii-art
text/vnd.curl
text/vnd.debian.copyright
text/vnd.dvb.subtitle
text/vnd.esmertec.theme-descriptor
text/vnd.exchangeable
text/vnd.familysearch.gedcom
text/vnd.ficlab.flt
text/vnd.fly
text/vnd.fmi.flexstor
text/vnd.gml
text/vnd.graphviz
text/vnd.hans
text/vnd.hgl
text/vnd.in3d.3dml
text/vnd.in3d.spot
text/vnd.latex-z
text/vnd.motorola.reflex
text/vnd.ms-mediapackage
text/vnd.net2phone.commcenter.command
text/vnd.radisys.msml-basic-layout
text/vnd.senx.warpscript
text/vnd.sosi
text/vnd.sun.j2me.app-descriptor
text/vnd.trolltech.linguist
text/vnd.wap.si
text/vnd.wap.sl
text/vnd.wap.wml
text/vnd.wap.wmlscript
text/vtt
text/wgsl
text/x-asm
text/x-bibtex
text/x-boo
text/x-c
text/x-c++hdr
text/x-c++src
text/x-cassandra
text/x-chdr
text/x-coffeescript
text/x-component
text/x-csh
text/x-csharp
text/x-csrc
text/x-cuda
text/x-d
text/x-diff
text/x-dsrc
text/x-emacs-lisp
text/x-erlang
text/x-gff3
text/x-go
text/x-haskell
text/x-java
text/x-java-properties
text/x-java-source
text/x-kotlin
text/x-lilypond
text/x-lisp
text/x-literate-haskell
text/x-lua
text/x-moc
text/x-objcsrc
text/x-pascal
text/x-pcs-gcd
text/x-perl
text/x-perl-script
text/x-python
text/x-python-script
text/x-r-markdown
text/x-rsrc
text/x-rst
text/x-ruby-script
text/x-rust
text/x-sass
text/x-scala
text/x-scheme
text/x-script.python
text/x-scss
text/x-setext
text/x-sfv
text/x-sh
text/x-siesta
text/x-sos
text/x-sql
text/x-swift
text/x-tcl
text/x-tex
text/x-vbasic
text/x-vcalendar
text/xml
text/xml-dtd
text/xml-external-parsed-entity
text/yaml

Rate limits

The File Search API has the following limits to enforce service stability:

Maximum file size / per document limit: 100 MB
Total size of project File Search stores (based on user tier):
- Free: 1 GB
- Tier 1: 10 GB
- Tier 2: 100 GB
- Tier 3: 1 TB
Recommendation: Limit the size of each File Search store to under 20 GB to ensure optimal retrieval latencies.

Pricing

Developers are charged for embeddings at indexing time based on existing embeddings pricing ($0.15 per 1M tokens).
Storage is free of charge.
Query time embeddings are free of charge.
Retrieved document tokens are charged as regular context tokens.

What's next

Visit the API reference for File Search Stores and File Search Documents.