File storage

Some files belong to your app rather than to its code: documents, photos and other uploads. Manage → Storage gives each app folders for files like these. You can create folders, upload, download and delete files, and mark a folder private or public.

Pictures the AI makes for your app, and images you attach in the chat for the AI to use, aren't kept here. They're saved as part of your app's code, so they appear in the Code tab and go with your app when you publish. See Images in your app.

Open Storage

Open the Manage tab and choose Storage. You'll see your app's folders, each marked Private or Public. If there aren't any yet, you'll see No folders yet.

Create a folder

1. 1

   Click New folder

   In Manage → Storage, click New folder.

2. 2

   Name it

   Use lowercase letters, numbers and dashes, starting with a letter, for example avatars or menu-photos. Each name can be used once in this app.

3. 3

   Choose private or public

   Leave Make this folder public unticked to keep the folder private. Tick it only for files that anyone may see, such as product photos. Once your app uses file storage, pictures, audio, video, PDFs and documents in a public folder can be opened by anyone who has their address.

4. 4

   Create it

   Click Create folder.

Upload, download and delete files

Click a folder to open it.

• Upload. Click Upload and choose one or more files, or drag files anywhere onto the panel and drop them. Uploading a file with the same name as an existing one replaces it.
• File size. Each file can be up to 500 MB. Your plan can set a lower limit for each file and includes a set amount of storage for each app. Past that, uploads need credits available: if you're out of credits, or a spending limit is stopping running-apps usage, the upload is refused with a message that tells you to add credits or check Settings → Spending. If an app goes over the most storage an app can keep, uploads pause until you bring its usage back down (for example, by deleting files you don't need), or you can contact us for more. A paused app starts again once its usage is back under the limit, which can take up to a day.
• Folders inside folders. If a folder contains other folders, click a folder name (or Open) to go into it. Use Up one folder or All folders to go back.
• Download. Click the download icon next to a file. It opens in a new browser tab through a link that only works for a short time, whether the folder is private or public.
• Delete a file. Click the trash icon next to it and confirm.
• Delete a folder. Inside the folder, click Delete folder and confirm. This removes the folder and all its files, including files in folders inside it, and it can't be undone. If it can't finish, the folder stays so you can try again.

Letting visitors upload files

On Buildliy hosting, ask for uploads in plain words. Say what people upload and who should see it.

Let members upload a profile photo and show each member's photo on their profile.

The AI makes a folder for each kind of file in Manage → Storage and builds the upload button or form. Files go from the visitor's browser straight into that folder, through a short-lived upload link your app's server asks Buildliy for. There are no keys for you to add. The files then appear in Manage → Storage, where you can download or delete them like any other file.

• Private folders (the usual choice). Nobody can open a file directly. Your app hands out a link that works for a few minutes. When your app has sign-in, the AI builds it to check who is signed in first.
• Public folders. Only for files anyone may see, like product photos or a gallery. Each file your app saves there gets a permanent web address that anyone can open. Your app can only save pictures, audio, video, PDFs and documents in a public folder. If a file is deleted or its folder is made private, its address stops working within a few minutes.

Your app can't accept web pages, SVG images or scripts as uploads. Each file can be as large as your plan allows, the same as uploads you make in Manage → Storage. If you're out of credits, a spending limit is stopping running-apps usage, or the app's storage is full, uploads in your app are refused until that's sorted. Check uploads in the preview before you publish.

You can also keep files in a storage service you own, such as AWS S3. Connect it on the Connectors page, then ask the AI to use it. Those files are stored and billed by that service, not by Buildliy, and they don't appear in Manage → Storage.

What file storage costs

File storage is paid from your credits, like the rest of your app's hosting:

• Files kept. Stored files, including files your visitors upload, use a small amount of credits each day.
• File downloads. When files are downloaded, for example when visitors open photos your app stores or play videos or music the AI made for your app, that uses credits too.

You can see both under File storage in your app's Usage section and on your account's Usage page. Your plan's free monthly hosting credits are used first. See Credits and usage and Hosting.

Related

• The Manage tab
• Connectors
• Images in your app
• Credits and usage