> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.plaud.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# File Upload API

> Upload your user's conversation audio to Plaud storage and get a download URL to pass to the Transcription API.

<Note>
  The [Transcription API](/plaud-embedded/transcription-api-overview) accepts any publicly accessible audio URL.

  **This File Upload API is optional**. You can host your audio files on your own storage if you prefer.
</Note>

The File Upload API uploads audio files from your users' mobile apps to Plaud storage. Once files are uploaded, these files can be passed to the [Transcription API](/plaud-embedded/transcription-api-overview) to take advantage of Plaud's transcription and ASR models.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Generate Presigned URLs">
    Using the `POST /generate-presigned-urls` endpoint, Plaud will send an array of pre-signed S3 upload endpoint for you to upload your users' audio files

    <Note>
      You must send **\<`ChunkSize`** of data to each `PresignedUrl`.
    </Note>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Upload Each Chunk">
    `PUT` the raw bytes of each chunk directly to its presigned S3 URL (no auth needed), then read the `ETag` (Entity Tag) response header for each part.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Complete the Upload">
    Send your list of `ETag`s to the `POST /complete-upload` endpoint to receive your file's `DownloadUrl`
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Using the File Upload API

## Prerequisites

The File Upload API authenticates with a **User Token**. Use the [Authentication API](/plaud-embedded/auth-api-overview) if you don't have a User Token or need a new one.

<Tip>
  Try the [Plaud Embedded API Playground](https://plaud-embedded-playground.vercel.app/) to see every step of the transcription process with your own client credentials.

  End-to-end, from **authentication** to **recording audio** to **uploading** to **transcription**.

  <Frame>
    <img src="https://mintcdn.com/plaud/3HJ-zGIl_uprusCq/assets/playground-ss.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=3HJ-zGIl_uprusCq&q=85&s=2eff3616a9b3d0cfe5f1bf4902d260b1" width="1760" height="858" data-path="assets/playground-ss.png" />
  </Frame>
</Tip>

## Find Your Region

The File Upload API is served with Plaud's **region-level** API services. There is no global host for these calls; pick the host of the region your client was provisioned in when using the File Upload API.

| Region    | Public host                          | Status      |
| --------- | ------------------------------------ | ----------- |
| US        | `platform-us.plaud.ai/developer/api` | Available   |
| Japan     | `platform-jp.plaud.ai/developer/api` | Available   |
| Europe    | `platform-eu.plaud.ai/developer/api` | Coming soon |
| Singapore | `platform-sg.plaud.ai/developer/api` | Coming soon |

### Generate Presigned Upload URLs

Request presigned S3 URLs for a multipart upload from Plaud's API. The number of presigned URLs will depend on your file size.

```http theme={"system"}
POST [REGION_SPECIFIC_HOST]/open/partner/files/upload/generate-presigned-urls
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer <user_access_token>

{
  "filesize": 10485760,
  "filetype": "mp3"
}
```

```json theme={"system"}
{
  "FileId": "file_xxx",
  "UploadId": "upload_xxx",
  "ChunkSize": 5242880,
  "Parts": [
    { "PartNumber": 1, "PresignedUrl": "https://plaud-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/..." },
    { "PartNumber": 2, "PresignedUrl": "https://plaud-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/..." }
  ]
}
```

### Upload Each Chunk to S3

For each part, `PUT` up to the `ChunkSize` of raw bytes (5MB) to its `PresignedUrl`. These AWS S3 calls are presigned thus no authentication is needed.

<Note>
  Keep the `ETag` (Entity Tags) found in the response headers from each `PUT` call. These are needed in `POST /complete-upload`.
</Note>

```http theme={"system"}
PUT [PresignedUrl]

[raw bytes of chunk]
```

The S3 response includes the `ETag` header for that part:

```http theme={"system"}
ETag: "abc123..."
```

### Complete the Multipart Upload

Submit the:

1. `file_id` from the first step
2. `upload_id` from the first step
3. Array of `ETag` with its corresponding `PartNumber` from the second step

```http theme={"system"}
POST [REGION_SPECIFIC_HOST]/open/partner/files/upload/complete-upload
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer <user_access_token>

{
  "file_id": "file_xxx",
  "upload_id": "upload_xxx",
  "part_list": [
    { "PartNumber": 1, "ETag": "\"abc123...\"" },
    { "PartNumber": 2, "ETag": "\"def456...\"" }
  ],
  "filetype": "mp3",
  "file_md5": "9e107d9d372bb6826bd81d3542a419d6"
}
```

```json theme={"system"}
{
  "FileId": "file_xxx",
  "FileType": "mp3",
  "DownloadUrl": "https://plaud-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/...",
  "FileMd5": "9e107d9d372bb6826bd81d3542a419d6"
}
```

The returned `DownloadUrl` is valid for **24 hours**. Pass it as `file_url` to the [Transcription API](/plaud-embedded/transcription-api-overview) to transcribe your file!