{"rid":"storage/openai-files-api-per-project-file-storage","card":{"rid":"storage/openai-files-api-per-project-file-storage","eid":"openai","topic":"storage","slug":"openai-files-api-per-project-file-storage","provider":"OpenAI Files API — per-project file storage","url":"https://developers.openai.com/api/reference/resources/files/methods/create","domain":"openai.com","category":"LLM provider /v1/files","tier":null,"verdict":"qualifies-with-caveat","vorder":1,"grp":"usable","confidence":"reported","binding":"per-object-cap","identity_kind":"any-phone","identity_basis":"stated","needs_card":0,"needs_phone":1,"needs_id":0,"needs_institution":0,"country":null,"crypto":null,"interfaces":"rest","egress_metered":1,"per_object_bytes":512000000,"retention_days":null,"verified_at":"2026-10-21T00:00:00.000Z","verified_basis":"inherited","checked_on":"2026-10-21","stale_on":"2026-11-04","n_evidence":9,"usd_month":null,"usd_per_tb_month":null,"summary":"2.5 TB per project; 512 MB per file; no organization-wide storage cap; orgs may create up to 2,000 projects by default","duplicate_of":null,"n_unknown":4},"record":{"topic":"storage","slug":"openai-files-api-per-project-file-storage","provider":"OpenAI Files API — per-project file storage","url":"https://developers.openai.com/api/reference/resources/files/methods/create","category":"LLM provider /v1/files","free_tier":{"stated":"2.5 TB per project; 512 MB per file; no organization-wide storage cap; orgs may create up to 2,000 projects by default","unit":"objects","metered_on":"stored-bytes","source_url":"https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8724843-file-storage-quota-errors-for-api-users","read_on":"2026-10-21","notes":null},"per_object_cap":{"stated":"512 MB per file","bytes":512000000,"source_url":"https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8724843-file-storage-quota-errors-for-api-users","notes":"not stated"},"retention":{"stated":"not stated","source_url":"https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8724843-file-storage-quota-errors-for-api-users","notes":"not stated"},"egress":{"terms":"Not metered separately for upload/download of files; retrieval is a plain authenticated GET. No published per-GB transfer fee on the Files API surface.","metered":true},"interface":["rest"],"interface_detail":"REST `POST/GET/DELETE /v1/files`, `GET /v1/files/{file_id}/content`; OpenAI SDKs; works through OpenAI-compatible gateways","tooling":"openai-python, openai-node, curl; `purpose` field selects the lifecycle class","chaining":"2,000 projects/org x 2.5 TB = nominally 5 PB per org. Files are project-scoped and cannot be moved between projects, so a pooler must track (project -> file_id). Because `purpose=batch` and `purpose=vision` are both uploadable AND downloadable, they are the only two classes usable as actual storage.","limits":[{"kind":"per-object-cap","value":"512 MB per file","source":"https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8724843-file-storage-quota-errors-for-api-users"}],"limits_note":"per-object-cap 512 MB. Upload rate 1,000 requests/min/authenticated user. Vector-store attachment has its own 2,000 files/min/org limit. `purpose` is the real gate — see reliability_note.","identity_cost":{"kind":"any-phone","detail":"any-phone","country":null},"reliability_note":"READ GATE IS PER-PURPOSE, NOT PER-ACCOUNT. An OpenAI staff-adjacent answer on the developer forum gives the directionality table: assistants up/NO down; user_data up/NO down; fine-tune up/NO down; evals up/NO down; **batch up/YES down**; **vision up/YES down**; *_output down only. So `purpose=user_data` and `purpose=assistants` are write-only — uploading there is data loss. Storage is genuinely free (no per-GB-day charge for raw files; the $0.10/GB-day on the pricing page is *vector store* storage, not Files API storage). Identity: ChatGPT signup is email-only, but generating the FIRST API key now mandates phone verification (SMS or WhatsApp, one number reusable 3x, rolled out to a listed set of countries). That is the binding constraint here.","confidence":"reported","confidence_note":"One page read moves it to documented.","evidence":[{"url":"https://developers.openai.com/api/reference/resources/files/methods/create","date":"2026-10-21","proved":"'Individual files can be up to 512 MB, and each project can store up to 2.5 TB of files in total. There is no organization-wide storage limit. Uploads ... rate-limited to 1,000 requests per minute'"},{"url":"https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8724843-file-storage-quota-errors-for-api-users","date":"2026-10-21","proved":"'OpenAI currently supports a file storage quota of 2.5 TB of files per project', updated 2 days ago"},{"url":"https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9186755-managing-projects-in-the-api-platform","date":"2026-10-21","proved":"'Organizations can create up to 2,000 projects by default'; 'Project resources (such as files, assistants, storage, or threads) are scoped to the project'"},{"url":"https://developers.openai.com/api/reference/resources/files/","date":"2026-10-21","proved":"'Retrieve file content: get /files/{file_id}/content'"},{"url":"https://community.openai.com/t/file-uploads-error-why-can-t-i-download-files-with-purpose-user-data/1357013","date":"2026-10-21","proved":"directionality table; 'Not allowed to download files of purpose: user_data'"},{"url":"https://community.openai.com/t/not-allowed-to-download-files-of-purpose-assistants/528220","date":"2026-10-21","proved":"'You can't download files that you've uploaded to the assistants yourself'"},{"url":"https://platform.openai.com/docs/pricing","date":"2026-10-21","proved":"'File search | Storage | $0.10 / GB per day (1 GB free)' — this is vector-store storage, NOT raw file storage"},{"url":"https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8983040-what-does-phone-verification-look-like","date":"2026-10-21","proved":"'Phone verification is now mandated on platform.openai.com for generating your initial API key'"},{"url":"https://api.openai.com/v1/files","date":"2026-10-21","proved":"PROBE: curl -D - -> HTTP/1.1 401, Content-Length 616, real JSON error, x-openai-proxy-wasm; /v1/files/{id}/content also 401/616 — endpoint live, not a 0-byte 200"}],"verdict":"qualifies-with-caveat","verified_at":"2026-10-21T00:00:00.000Z","price_per_tb_month":"free (raw file storage); vector-store storage $0.10/GB/day after 1 GB — avoid attaching to vector stores","notes":"2.5 TB per project; 512 MB per file; no organization-wide storage cap; orgs may create up to 2,000 projects by default","extras":{"price_verbatim":"free (raw file storage); vector-store storage $0.10/GB/day after 1 GB — avoid attaching to vector stores"},"binding":"per-object-cap","binding_note":"the per-object cap sets the shard size and therefore the object count; it bounds the total more tightly than any headline quota"},"claims":[{"path":"$.free_tier.stated","kind":"free-quota","num":2.5,"unit":"TB","per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"},{"path":"$.limits[0].value","kind":"limit:per-object-cap","num":512,"unit":"MB","per":null,"currency":null,"usd":null,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"},{"path":"$.price_per_tb_month","kind":"price-per-tb","num":0.1,"unit":"GB","per":"day","currency":"USD","usd":0.1,"fx_date":null,"parse":"ok"}],"unknown":[["$.free_tier.notes","process"],["$.per_object_cap.notes","not-extracted"],["$.retention.notes","not-extracted"],["$.retention.stated","not-extracted"]],"history":[],"drift":[]}