Google Chat spaces as a quota-exempt attachment store (Chat API media.upload/media.download)
- Free allowance
- Per-record unlimited: 200 MB per attachment, and Chat messages AND attachments explicitly do NOT count toward Google storage quota.
- Verdict
- caveatusable, with a named limit or an unprobed read path
- Cost
- free tier
- Identity
- institutionno card, no phone
- Binding limit
- per-object-cap200 MB per file
- Evidence
- reported4 sources; a third party said so
- Freshness
- stale on 2026-11-05checked 2026-10-21 (inherited); stale on 2026-11-05
| Free tier | Per-record unlimited: 200 MB per attachment, and Chat messages AND attachments explicitly do NOT count toward Google storage quota. 600 attachment uploads/min/project x 200 MB = ~120 GB/min theoretical ingest. unit MB; metered on stored-bytes |
|---|---|
| Price | none stated |
| Limits |
200 MB per file hard cap; some file types blocked; 600 media.upload/min/project and 3,000 media.download/min/project; requires a Google Workspace account + Cloud project + Chat API enabled (personal @gmail.com accounts are not a supported developer surface; Chat API auth doc requires Workspace). Chat API quotas are per-minute only — the docs state 'no limit to the number of requests you can make per day' if you stay under them. |
| Binding | per-object-cap the per-object cap sets the shard size and therefore the object count; it bounds the total more tightly than any headline quota |
| Identity | institution not published |
| Egress | Not metered — downloaded through Chat API media.download (3,000 attachment reads/min/project), supports Range requests. No per-GB charge in the docs. |
| Per-object cap | 200 MB per file (200000000 bytes) |
| Retention | not stated |
| Interface | rest, rclone rest |
| Tooling | Official Chat API with service-account (app) auth; media.upload for write, GET /v1/media/{name}?alt=media for read with Range. No dedicated rclone backend exists — this is a build-it-yourself REST store; google-api-* client libs cover both directions. |
| Composes with | Unlimited messages x 200 MB per attachment. 20 attachments per interactive message on web, but the API path is per-media-upload, so the binding constraint is the 600 uploads/min/project rate, and projects are multiplicative (30-project default quota per user). Storage is free because Chat attachments are quota-exempt — this is the strongest multiplier in the Google stack. |
| Reliability | Messages/attachments live in a space — deleting or archiving the space, or removing the app from it, can orphan the data; no documented retention guarantee. Blocked MIME types must be avoided. |
| Parsed numbers |
|
Evidence 4
| date | source | what it proved |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-21 | knowledge.workspace.google.com/admin/storage/google-workspac | under 'The following content doesn't count toward storage:' lists 'Google Chat messages and attachments' |
| 2026-10-21 | developers.google.com/workspace/chat/upload-media-attachment | 'You can upload file sizes up to 200 MB' + 'Some file types aren't supported' |
| 2026-10-21 | developers.google.com/workspace/chat/limits | 'Attachment writes per minute | media.upload | 600' and 'Attachment reads per minute | spaces.messages.attachments.get media.download | 3000' + 'there's no limit to the number of requests you can make per day' |
| 2026-10-21 | developers.google.com/workspace/chat/api/reference/rest/v1/m | download supports Range partial downloads via /v1/media/{name}?alt=media |
Unknown values 4
$.identity_cost.detailboilerplate$.per_object_cap.notesthe field may be stated in a source that was not read$.retention.notesthe field may be stated in a source that was not read$.retention.statedthe field may be stated in a source that was not read