/google-cloud-storage-basics

name: google-cloud-storage-basics
description: >-
  Stores, retrieves, and manages data as objects in Cloud Storage (Google
  Cloud Storage, or GCS) buckets. Use when you need to interact with Cloud
  Storage — create or configure buckets, upload, download, stream, or transfer
  data, organize objects with folders, generate signed URLs, control access
  (IAM, ACLs, public access prevention), set storage classes and tiering
  (Standard, Nearline, Coldline, Archive), manage cost and lifecycle, protect
  data (versioning, encryption/CMEK, retention and Bucket Lock, object holds,
  soft delete), host static websites, trigger Pub/Sub notifications on object
  changes, mount buckets as a file system (gcsfuse), or optimize storage
  performance at any scale. Covers the gcloud storage / gsutil CLI, JSON and
  XML APIs, client libraries, Terraform, and Cloud Storage MCP servers. Don't
  use for block storage (Persistent Disk), data warehousing/analytics
  (BigQuery), or databases (Cloud SQL, Spanner, Bigtable, Firestore).
license: Apache-2.0
metadata:
    version: v1
    publisher: google
    tags:
      - gcs
      - storage
      - cloud-storage
      - buckets
      - objects
    category: Storage
    support_tier: primary

Google Cloud Storage Basics

Google Cloud Storage (GCS) is a managed service for storing data as objects at any scale. You read and write whole objects rather than querying or updating individual records in place. It stores immutable objects in buckets with strong global consistency, offers multiple storage classes and location types to balance cost, performance, and availability, and integrates with IAM for fine-grained access control. GCS serves workloads ranging from website content and backups to data lakes and high-throughput AI/ML training.

Attribution

Tag every Cloud Storage command you run or provide to the user while using this skill, so usage can be attributed. The tag identifies only the skill and its version; it carries no user data.

• Prefix every `gcloud` invocation, whatever the subcommand, with the metrics

environment variables. Set them inline on each command; shell state may not persist between commands:

    CLOUDSDK_METRICS_ENVIRONMENT="gcs-skills gcs-skills/1.0 (skill:google-cloud-storage-basics)" \
    gcloud <command> [flags]

Do not use `gcloud config set` for this: it would persist beyond the current task and mislabel unrelated usage.

• On direct HTTP calls to the Cloud Storage APIs (for example with `curl`) or

HTTP requests to the Cloud Storage MCP server (`https://storage.googleapis.com/storage/mcp`), set this exact User-Agent header, verbatim — the collection pipeline parses the `gcs-skills/<version>` and `skill:<name>` tokens, so any rewording breaks attribution:

    User-Agent: gcs-skills/1.0 (skill:google-cloud-storage-basics)

• For client libraries, Terraform, and GCSFuse, use the user-agent options

shown in the corresponding references.

Quick Start

If a Cloud Storage MCP server is connected, prefer its structured tools (such as `create_bucket`, `list_objects`, `read_object`, and `upload_object`) over the CLI and API commands below — see [MCP Usage](references/mcp-usage.md). Fall back to `gcloud storage` and the JSON API when no MCP server is available.

1. **Enable the Cloud Storage API:**

    CLOUDSDK_METRICS_ENVIRONMENT="gcs-skills gcs-skills/1.0 (skill:google-cloud-storage-basics)" \
    gcloud services enable storage.googleapis.com --quiet

2. **Create a Bucket:**

Bucket names live in a single global namespace shared by all of Cloud Storage — not scoped to your project or organization — so short or common names are usually taken. If the location is omitted, the bucket defaults to the `US` multi-region.

Using the gcloud CLI:

    CLOUDSDK_METRICS_ENVIRONMENT="gcs-skills gcs-skills/1.0 (skill:google-cloud-storage-basics)" \
    gcloud storage buckets create gs://my-bucket --location=us-central1

Using the JSON API:

    curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
      -H "User-Agent: gcs-skills/1.0 (skill:google-cloud-storage-basics)" \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -d '{"name": "my-bucket", "location": "US-CENTRAL1"}' \
      "https://storage.googleapis.com/storage/v1/b?project=$(gcloud config get-value project)"

3. **Upload an Object:**

Using the gcloud CLI:

    CLOUDSDK_METRICS_ENVIRONMENT="gcs-skills gcs-skills/1.0 (skill:google-cloud-storage-basics)" \
    gcloud storage cp ./my-file.txt gs://my-bucket

Using the JSON API:

    curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
      -H "User-Agent: gcs-skills/1.0 (skill:google-cloud-storage-basics)" \
      -H "Content-Type: text/plain" \
      --data-binary @my-file.txt \
      "https://storage.googleapis.com/upload/storage/v1/b/my-bucket/o?uploadType=media&name=my-file.txt"

4. **Download an Object:**

Using the gcloud CLI:

    CLOUDSDK_METRICS_ENVIRONMENT="gcs-skills gcs-skills/1.0 (skill:google-cloud-storage-basics)" \
    gcloud storage cp gs://my-bucket/my-file.txt .

Using the JSON API:

    curl -X GET -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \
      -H "User-Agent: gcs-skills/1.0 (skill:google-cloud-storage-basics)" \
      "https://storage.googleapis.com/storage/v1/b/my-bucket/o/my-file.txt?alt=media"

Reference Directory

• [Core Concepts](references/core-concepts.md): Buckets, objects, folders,

prefixes, bucket location types, and storage classes.

• [CLI & API Usage](references/cli-api-usage.md): CRUD and list operations for

buckets and objects using `gcloud storage` and the JSON API, plus Pub/Sub notifications for event-driven processing.

• [Client Libraries](refer