Request endpoints

This page explains the different request endpoints you can use to access Cloud Storage. Cloud Storage supports HTTP/1.1, HTTP/2, and HTTP/3 protocols. An endpoint is the location where Cloud Storage can be accessed, written as a URL.

Note: The Cloud Storage URLs described on this page are subject to change.

Typical API requests

JSON API

When making JSON API requests directly to Cloud Storage, use the following endpoints:

• For general JSON API requests, excluding object uploads, use the following endpoint, replacing PATH_TO_RESOURCE with the appropriate value:

  https://storage.googleapis.com/storage/v1/PATH_TO_RESOURCE

• For JSON API object uploads, use the following endpoint, replacing BUCKET_NAME with the appropriate value:

  https://storage.googleapis.com/upload/storage/v1/b/BUCKET_NAME/o

• For batched requests, use the following endpoint, replacing PATH_TO_RESOURCE with the appropriate value:

  https://storage.googleapis.com/batch/storage/v1/PATH_TO_RESOURCE

• Optionally, for JSON API object downloads, you can use the following endpoint, replacing BUCKET_NAME and OBJECT_NAME with the appropriate values:

  https://storage.googleapis.com/download/storage/v1/b/BUCKET_NAME/o/OBJECT_NAME?alt=media

JSON API endpoints only accept HTTPS requests.

Note: An https://www.googleapis.com endpoint is also supported for the JSON API and is returned in the selfLink metadata field for an object, but https://storage.googleapis.com is the preferred endpoint for better performance and availability. Similarly, an https://content-storage.googleapis.com endpoint is supported for downloads and is returned in the mediaLink metadata field for an object, but is also not recommended for use.

XML API

Important: If you intend to serve content through a browser, note that the XML API serves content from the same origin as the request endpoint. If you need to serve content from a unique origin, consider using the JSON API or Authenticated browser downloads.

When making XML API requests directly to Cloud Storage, use the virtual hosted-style or path-style endpoint, replacing BUCKET_NAME and OBJECT_NAME with the appropriate values:

• Virtual hosted-style endpoint:

  https://BUCKET_NAME.storage.googleapis.com/OBJECT_NAME

• Path-style endpoint:

  https://storage.googleapis.com/BUCKET_NAME/OBJECT_NAME

Note: Virtual hosted-style endpoints cannot be used to access domain-named buckets. Use either path-style endpoints or a redirect instead.

XML API endpoints support secure sockets layer (SSL) encryption, which means you can use either HTTP or HTTPS. Using HTTPS is recommended, especially if you authenticate to Cloud Storage using OAuth 2.0.

For connections through a proxy, see the Troubleshooting topic for recommended practices.

Encoding URL path parts

In addition to general considerations for bucket naming and object naming, to ensure compatibility across Cloud Storage tools, you should encode the following characters when they appear in either the object name or query string of a request URL:

!, #, $, &, ', (, ), *, +, ,, /, :, ;, =, ?, @, [, ], and space characters.

For example, if you send a JSON API GET request for the object named foo??bar in the bucket example-bucket, then your request URL should be:

GET https://storage.googleapis.com/storage/v1/b/example-bucket/o/foo%3f%3fbar

Note that not all of the listed characters must be encoded in every scenario. Additionally, encoding is typically handled for you by client libraries, such as the Cloud Storage Client Libraries, so you can pass the raw object name when using such tools.

For more information about using percent-encoding, see Section 3.3 Path in RFC 3986.

Google Cloud console endpoints

When using the Google Cloud console, you access different resources using the following URLs:

Resource	URL
Bucket list for a project	https://console.cloud.google.com/storage/browser?project=PROJECT_ID
Object list for a bucket	https://console.cloud.google.com/storage/browser/BUCKET_NAME
Details for an object	https://console.cloud.google.com/storage/browser/_details/BUCKET_NAME/OBJECT_NAME
Data for an object	See Authenticated browser downloads

gcloud endpoints

gcloud storage commands use JSON API endpoints. Endpoint usage is managed on your behalf by the gcloud CLI.

Client library endpoints

Cloud Storage client libraries manage request endpoints automatically. Optionally, you can set the request endpoint manually. This can be useful when you want to use a specific endpoint, or for testing, such as when you want to use a local emulator:

C++

For more information, see the Cloud Storage C++ API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for client libraries.

namespace g = ::google::cloud;
namespace gcs = ::google::cloud::storage;
[](std::string const& bucket_name, std::string const& object_name) {
  // NOTE: the CLOUD_STORAGE_EMULATOR_HOST environment variable overrides any
  //     value provided here.
  auto client = gcs::Client(g::Options{}.set<gcs::RestEndpointOption>(
      "https://storage.googleapis.com"));
  PerformSomeOperations(client, bucket_name, object_name);
}

C#

For more information, see the Cloud Storage C# API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for client libraries.

using Google.Cloud.Storage.V1;
using System;

public class SetClientEndpointSample
{
    public StorageClient SetClientEndpoint(string endpoint) => new StorageClientBuilder
    {
        BaseUri = endpoint
    }.Build();
}

Go

For more information, see the Cloud Storage Go API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for client libraries.

import (
	"context"
	"fmt"
	"io"

	"cloud.google.com/go/storage"
	"google.golang.org/api/option"
)

// setClientEndpoint sets the request endpoint.
func setClientEndpoint(w io.Writer, customEndpoint string, opts ...option.ClientOption) error {
	// customEndpoint := "https://my-custom-endpoint.example.com/storage/v1/"
	// opts := []option.ClientOption{}
	ctx := context.Background()

	// Add the custom endpoint option to any other desired options passed to storage.NewClient.
	opts = append(opts, option.WithEndpoint(customEndpoint))
	client, err := storage.NewClient(ctx, opts...)
	if err != nil {
		return fmt.Errorf("storage.NewClient: %w", err)
	}
	defer client.Close()

	// Use the client as per your custom endpoint, for example, attempt to get a bucket's metadata.
	client.Bucket("bucket-name").Attrs(ctx)
	return nil
}

Java

For more information, see the Cloud Storage Java API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for client libraries.

import com.google.cloud.storage.Storage;
import com.google.cloud.storage.StorageOptions;

public class SetClientEndpoint {

  public static void setClientEndpoint(String projectId, String endpoint) {
    // The ID of your GCP project
    // String projectId = "your-project-id";

    // The endpoint you wish to target
    // String endpoint = "https://storage.googleapis.com"

    Storage storage =
        StorageOptions.newBuilder().setProjectId(projectId).setHost(endpoint).build().getService();

    System.out.println(
        "Storage Client initialized with endpoint " + storage.getOptions().getHost());
  }
}

Node.js

For more information, see the Cloud Storage Node.js API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for client libraries.

/**
 * TODO(developer): Uncomment the following lines before running the sample.
 */
// The custom endpoint to which requests should be made
// const apiEndpoint = 'https://yourcustomendpoint.com';

// Imports the Google Cloud client library
const {Storage} = require('@google-cloud/storage');

// Creates a client
const storage = new Storage({
  apiEndpoint: apiEndpoint,
  useAuthWithCustomEndpoint: true,
});

console.log(`Client initiated with endpoint: ${storage.apiEndpoint}.`);

PHP

For more information, see the Cloud Storage PHP API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for client libraries.

use Google\Cloud\Storage\StorageClient;

/**
 * Sets a custom endpoint for storage client.
 *
 * @param string $projectId The ID of your Google Cloud Platform project.
 *        (e.g. 'my-project-id')
 * @param string $endpoint The endpoint for storage client to target.
 *        (e.g. 'https://storage.googleapis.com')
 */
function set_client_endpoint(
    string $projectId,
    string $endpoint
): void {
    $storage = new StorageClient([
        'projectId' => $projectId,
        'apiEndpoint' => $endpoint,
    ]);

    // fetching apiEndpoint and baseUri from StorageClient is excluded for brevity
    # ...
    print('Storage Client initialized.' . PHP_EOL);
}

Python

For more information, see the Cloud Storage Python API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for client libraries.

from google.cloud import storage


def set_client_endpoint(api_endpoint):
    """Initiates client with specified endpoint."""
    # api_endpoint = 'https://storage.googleapis.com'

    storage_client = storage.Client(client_options={'api_endpoint': api_endpoint})

    print(f"client initiated with endpoint: {storage_client._connection.API_BASE_URL}")

    return storage_client

Ruby

For more information, see the Cloud Storage Ruby API reference documentation.

To authenticate to Cloud Storage, set up Application Default Credentials. For more information, see Set up authentication for client libraries.

# api_endpoint = "https://storage.googleapis.com"

require "google/cloud/storage"

storage = Google::Cloud::Storage.new(
  endpoint: api_endpoint
)

puts "Client initiated with endpoint #{storage.service.service.root_url}"

Custom domains

If you own your own domain, you can map its URIs to one or more Google Cloud services, including Cloud Storage buckets. The term bucket-bound hostname is sometimes used to describe this Cloud Storage request endpoint. To connect a custom domain to a Cloud Storage bucket, you create either an A or CNAME redirect in your DNS record.

A records

When connecting a custom domain to a Cloud Storage bucket, you generally should use an A record.

• A records support HTTPS requests.
• A records can be used to send traffic coming from a single hostname to multiple buckets as well as to other Google Cloud services.
• A records do not place any restrictions on your bucket name.

The drawback to using A records is that they require additional setup and use of additional Google Cloud resources. See Setting up your load balancer and SSL certificate for a guide to using custom domains with A records.

CNAME records

When connecting a custom domain to a Cloud Storage bucket, you can use a CNAME record, but note that doing so has certain limitations:

• CNAME records only support HTTP requests.
• CNAME records can only direct traffic from a given hostname to a single bucket.
• CNAME records require the hostname and the associated bucket name to match, and you must validate your bucket name.
• CNAME records can only be used for subdomains, such as www.mydomain.com, not top-level domains such as mydomain.com.

When using CNAME records, the hostname portion of your CNAME record must be set to the following:

c.storage.googleapis.com.

For example, say your domain is example.com, and you want to make travel maps available to your customers. You can create a bucket in Cloud Storage called travel-maps.example.com, and then create a CNAME record in DNS that redirects requests from travel-maps.example.com to the Cloud Storage URI. To do this, you publish the following CNAME record in DNS:

NAME                      TYPE     DATA
travel-maps               CNAME    c.storage.googleapis.com.

By doing this, your customers can use the following URL to access a map of Paris:

http://travel-maps.example.com/paris.jpg

Your domain registration service should have a way for you to administer your domain, including adding a CNAME resource record. For example, if you use Cloud DNS, instructions for adding resource records can be found on the Add, modify, and delete records page.

Authenticated browser downloads

Authenticated browser downloads use cookie-based authentication. Cookie-based authentication asks users to sign in to their user account to establish their identity. The specified account must have appropriate permission to download the object. For example, if you are using Identity and Access Management to control access to your objects, the user's account should have the storage.objects.viewer permission, which is granted in the Storage Object Viewer role.

To download an object using cookie-based authentication, use the following URL, replacing BUCKET_NAME and OBJECT_NAME with the appropriate values:

https://storage.cloud.google.com/BUCKET_NAME/OBJECT_NAME

For example, if you shared an image london.jpg from your bucket example-maps, the URL would be:

https://storage.cloud.google.com/example-maps/london.jpg

After successfully signing in, you are redirected to the requested content. The URL for this content begins with an alphanumeric sequence and contains the string /download/storage/v1/b/BUCKET_NAME/o/OBJECT_NAME

Using HTTPS is required when performing authenticated browser downloads; attempts to use HTTP redirect to HTTPS.

Access to public objects

All requests to the storage.cloud.google.com URI require authentication. This applies even when allUsers have permission to access an object. If you want users to download anonymously accessible objects without authenticating, use the XML API path-style endpoint:

https://storage.googleapis.com/BUCKET_NAME/OBJECT_NAME

For details and examples, see Accessing Public Data.

Mutual TLS support

Mutual TLS (mTLS) is an industry standard protocol for mutual authentication between a client and a server. Cloud Storage supports the following mTLS endpoints:

• JSON API requests: storage.mtls.googleapis.com

• Authenticated browser downloads: storage.mtls.cloud.google.com

What's next

• Upload a file to Cloud Storage.
• Download a file from Cloud Storage.
• Host a static website.
• Learn about options to control access to your data.