Cloudinary Upload API
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For Agents
Upload and manage media assets in Cloudinary, including images, videos, and raw files. Supports tagging, renaming, explicit transformations, and deletion of cloud-hosted assets.
Use for: I need to upload an image to Cloudinary and get a delivery URL, I want to add tags to an existing media asset for categorization, Remove a video file from my Cloudinary media library, Rename an uploaded asset while keeping its existing transformations intact
Not supported: Does not handle image analysis, facial recognition, or video transcoding pipelines - use for media upload, tagging, and basic transformations only.
Jentic publishes the only available OpenAPI specification for Cloudinary Upload API, keeping it validated and agent-ready. Upload, transform, and manage images, videos, and raw files through a rate-unlimited REST interface that supports both Basic Authentication and signature-based uploads. The API handles asset creation, metadata tagging, renaming, and deletion across multiple resource types including image, video, and raw file formats. Each uploaded asset is stored in Cloudinary's cloud-based media library with automatic CDN delivery.
Install Jentic One Beta
Connect the Cloudinary Upload API to your agent
Jentic One is a self-hosted execution layer for AI agents. It lets your agent call the Cloudinary Upload API, or any other public or private API you need. You set the rules, the agent never sees your credentials, and every call is logged.
Two steps, two machines. Install the instance in a safe environment, then register your agent from wherever it runs.
1
Step 1: Jentic One Host machine
# On the machine that will host your Jentic One instance:
curl -fsSL "https://jentic.com/install.sh?src=apis&api=%2Fapis%2Fcloudinary.com%2Fcloudinary-upload-api" | sh2
Step 2: Agent machine
# On the machine where your agent runs (keep this separate from the instance):
curl -fsSL "https://jentic.com/install.sh?src=apis&api=%2Fapis%2Fcloudinary.com%2Fcloudinary-upload-api" | sh
jentic register # connects your agent to your Jentic One instanceJentic One is in public beta. The setup above keeps your agent separate from the instance, which is what you want before using real credentials: an agent running as the same OS user as Jentic One can read its stored keys directly. Just evaluating? A single local install is fine to start. See the secure deployment guide for the tiers.
Capabilities
What an agent can do with Cloudinary Upload API.
Upload images, videos, and raw files to a cloud-based media library with automatic CDN distribution
Apply explicit transformations and eager processing to already-uploaded assets without re-uploading
Assign, replace, and remove tags on media assets for organized retrieval and filtering
Rename assets while preserving their transformation URLs and delivery links
Delete individual assets or batch-remove media by public ID from the cloud storage
Generate derived assets such as thumbnails, format conversions, and quality optimizations on upload
Use Cases
Patterns agents use Cloudinary Upload API for, with concrete tasks.
★ AI Agent Media Upload Automation
AI agents upload user-generated content such as profile pictures, product photos, or document scans directly to Cloudinary through Jentic. The agent searches for the upload operation, receives the required multipart form schema, and executes the upload in a single call. Cloudinary returns a secure delivery URL with optional eager transformations applied - the agent never handles raw file bytes beyond the initial POST.
Upload a JPEG image file to the Cloudinary cloud using the POST /{resource_type}/upload endpoint with resource_type set to 'image' and verify the returned secure_url
Bulk Media Tagging and Organization
Organize large media libraries by assigning semantic tags to assets. The tags endpoint supports add, remove, and replace operations in a single call, enabling batch categorization of hundreds of assets. Tags serve as the primary filter mechanism for retrieval, making this operation essential for any media-heavy application that needs structured asset discovery.
Add the tags 'product-hero' and 'summer-2026' to three image assets using POST /{resource_type}/tags with the command 'add'
On-the-fly Asset Transformation
Apply post-upload transformations to existing assets without re-uploading. The explicit endpoint triggers eager transformations such as format conversion, quality adjustment, face-detection cropping, and responsive breakpoint generation. Results are cached on Cloudinary's CDN, so subsequent requests serve the pre-generated derivative instantly.
Call POST /{resource_type}/explicit on an existing image asset to generate a 300x300 face-cropped thumbnail and a WebP format derivative
Secure Asset Lifecycle Management
Control asset availability by renaming or permanently removing files from the media library. The rename endpoint updates the public ID while maintaining existing derived versions, and the destroy endpoint permanently removes an asset and all its transformations from CDN. Both operations support invalidation flags for immediate CDN cache purge.
Rename an image asset from 'old_product_photo' to 'product_hero_v2' using POST /{resource_type}/rename and confirm the new public_id in the response
Key Endpoints
6 endpoints — jentic publishes the only available openapi specification for cloudinary upload api, keeping it validated and agent-ready.
METHOD
PATH
DESCRIPTION
POST
/{resource_type}/upload
Upload an image, video, or raw file
POST
/{resource_type}/explicit
Apply transformations to an existing asset
POST
/{resource_type}/rename
Rename an asset by changing its public ID
POST
/{resource_type}/destroy
Delete an asset and its derivatives
POST
/{resource_type}/tags
Add, remove, or replace tags on assets
GET
/download_backup
Download a backed-up version of an asset
POST
/{resource_type}/upload
Upload an image, video, or raw file
POST
/{resource_type}/explicit
Apply transformations to an existing asset
POST
/{resource_type}/rename
Rename an asset by changing its public ID
POST
/{resource_type}/destroy
Delete an asset and its derivatives
POST
/{resource_type}/tags
Add, remove, or replace tags on assets
GET
/download_backup
Download a backed-up version of an asset
Why Jentic?
What agents get from Jentic-routed access to this vendor.
Setup
Wiring the Cloudinary Upload API by hand means setting up basic auth with your API key and secret, computing the request signature, and resolving the per-account api.cloudinary.com/v1_1/{cloud_name} host yourself. Through Jentic you install once, import the Cloudinary Upload API from the API Directory, store the key and secret once, and your agent calls it.
Permission scoping
The Upload API works within one cloud fixed by the {cloud_name} host and names the asset in the request rather than pinning one id in the URL path, so scope the agent by the operations it needs, such as uploading, tagging, or renaming media. You choose that set, so a destructive operation like destroy is only in reach if you include it.
Credential isolation
Your Cloudinary API key and secret are stored once, encrypted, by your own Jentic One instance and injected at execution time, with the signature computed there. They never enter the agent's prompt, logs, or context.
Intent-based discovery
Agents search Jentic by intent such as 'upload an image to cloud storage', and Jentic returns the matching Cloudinary upload operation with its multipart form schema so the agent constructs the request without reading the Cloudinary docs.
Related APIs
Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.
FAQs
Specific to using Cloudinary Upload API through Jentic.
Why is there no official OpenAPI spec for Cloudinary Upload API?
Cloudinary does not publish an OpenAPI specification. Jentic generates and maintains this spec so that AI agents and developers can call Cloudinary Upload API via structured tooling. It is validated against the live API and kept up to date. Get started with Jentic One, the self-hosted execution layer.
What authentication does the Cloudinary Upload API use?
The Cloudinary Upload API uses HTTP Basic Authentication where the username is your API Key and the password is your API Secret. Alternatively, uploads can use signature-based authentication where you generate a SHA-1 signature from the upload parameters and your API secret. Through Jentic, these credentials are stored encrypted in your Jentic One instance - agents receive scoped access without your API secret entering their context.
Can I upload videos and raw files, not just images?
Yes. The upload endpoint accepts a resource_type path parameter that can be 'image', 'video', or 'raw'. Each resource type supports the full lifecycle: upload, explicit transformations, tagging, renaming, and deletion. The same endpoint structure applies to all three types.
What are the rate limits for the Cloudinary Upload API?
The Cloudinary Upload API is rate-unlimited for upload operations according to the API documentation. There is no per-second or per-minute throttle on upload calls. However, your account's storage quota and bandwidth limits still apply based on your Cloudinary plan tier.
How do I upload an image through Jentic with an AI agent?
Install the Jentic SDK with pip install jentic, then search for 'upload image to cloudinary'. Jentic returns the POST /{resource_type}/upload operation schema with required parameters (file, api_key, timestamp, signature). The agent constructs the multipart request and executes it - Jentic handles credential injection so the API secret never appears in the agent's context.
Can I apply transformations to an already-uploaded asset without re-uploading it?
Yes. Use the POST /{resource_type}/explicit endpoint with the public_id of the existing asset and an eager array specifying the transformations you want (resize, crop, format change, quality adjustment). Cloudinary generates the derivatives and caches them on CDN without requiring a new upload.
How do I organize assets with tags via the API?
Use POST /{resource_type}/tags with a JSON body containing the command (add, remove, or replace), the tag value, and an array of public_ids. You can tag multiple assets in a single call. Tags serve as the primary mechanism for filtering and retrieving assets from your media library.
Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with the Cloudinary Upload API?
Yes. Because you run your own self-hosted Jentic One instance, your rules decide which Cloudinary Upload API operations the agent may call and which stored credentials it may use. You can grant only the operations you need, such as uploading files, applying explicit transformations, or tagging and renaming assets, while withholding a destructive operation like destroy so it is never in reach. Since the API operates within the single cloud fixed by your cloud_name host and names each asset in the request, the operation set you choose is the boundary of what the agent can touch.
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