> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL.
> For a complete documentation index, see https://next.developer.frame.io/platform/v4/docs/guides/uploading-to-frame-io/python-sdk-upload-guide/llms.txt.
> For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://next.developer.frame.io/_mcp/server.

# Frame.io Python SDK — Upload Guide

This guide explains how to upload files to Frame.io using the **Frame.io Python SDK** (`frameio`). The SDK handles chunked multi-part uploads to S3 via pre-signed URLs, with parallel workers, automatic retries, and optional progress tracking.

For the general upload API concepts (upload URLs, headers, chunking), see [How Local & Remote Uploads Work](./how-local-remote-uploads-work).

---

## Prerequisites

#### Authentication

You have a working `Frameio` client. See the [Authentication Guide](/platform/docs/guides/authentication/python-sdk) for setup.

#### Install the SDK

```bash
pip install frameio
```

#### Target folder

You need the `account_id` and `folder_id` where the file should be uploaded. Use the SDK to find them:

```python
# List your accounts
accounts = client.accounts.index()
account_id = accounts.data[0].id

# List workspaces in the account
workspaces = client.workspaces.index(account_id=account_id)
workspace_id = workspaces.data[0].id

# List projects in the workspace
projects = client.projects.index(account_id=account_id, workspace_id=workspace_id)
project = projects.data[0]

# The project's root folder is the top-level upload target
folder_id = project.root_folder_id

# Or list subfolders to upload into a specific one
folders = client.folders.list(account_id=account_id, folder_id=folder_id)
```

---

## Quick Start

```python
import os
from frameio import Frameio
from frameio.files import FileCreateLocalUploadParamsData
from frameio.upload import FrameioUploader

client = Frameio(token="YOUR_TOKEN")

file_path = "/path/to/video.mp4"
file_size = os.path.getsize(file_path)

# 1. Create the file resource and get pre-signed upload URLs
response = client.files.create_local_upload(
    account_id="YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID",
    folder_id="YOUR_FOLDER_ID",
    data=FileCreateLocalUploadParamsData(
        name="video.mp4",
        file_size=file_size,
    ),
)

# 2. Upload the file to S3
with open(file_path, "rb") as f:
    FrameioUploader(response.data, f).upload()
```

That's it. The SDK splits the file into chunks based on the upload URLs returned by the API, uploads them in parallel, and handles retries automatically.

---

## How It Works

Local upload is a two-step process:

#### Create file resource

Call `client.files.create_local_upload()` with the file name and size. The API creates a placeholder file and returns pre-signed S3 PUT URLs — one per chunk. The number of URLs (and therefore chunks) depends on the file size.

#### Upload to S3

`FrameioUploader` reads the upload URLs from the response, splits your file into matching chunks, and PUTs each chunk to its URL in parallel using a thread pool. Each request includes the required `x-amz-acl: private` and `Content-Type` headers.

> **Note**
>
> The upload goes directly from your application to S3 — it does not pass through the Frame.io API servers. This is the same pattern used by services like YouTube, Vimeo, and Dropbox for large file uploads.

---

## Using `FrameioUploader`

`FrameioUploader` is the recommended way to upload files. It wraps the lower-level chunked uploader and handles all the details — extracting upload URLs from the API response, setting required headers, chunking the file, and uploading in parallel.

### Progress Tracking

Use the `on_progress` callback to track upload progress:

```python
def on_progress(bytes_uploaded: int, total_bytes: int) -> None:
    pct = bytes_uploaded / total_bytes * 100
    print(f"\r{pct:.1f}% ({bytes_uploaded:,} / {total_bytes:,} bytes)", end="", flush=True)

with open(file_path, "rb") as f:
    FrameioUploader(response.data, f, on_progress=on_progress).upload()

print("\nUpload complete!")
```

The callback is invoked once after each chunk completes, with the cumulative bytes uploaded so far and the total file size.

#### Rich progress bar

For a polished terminal experience, use [Rich](https://github.com/Textualize/rich):

```python
from rich.progress import Progress, BarColumn, DownloadColumn, TransferSpeedColumn, TimeRemainingColumn

with Progress(
    "[progress.description]{task.description}",
    BarColumn(),
    DownloadColumn(),
    TransferSpeedColumn(),
    TimeRemainingColumn(),
) as progress:
    task = progress.add_task("Uploading...", total=file_size)

    with open(file_path, "rb") as f:
        FrameioUploader(
            response.data, f,
            on_progress=lambda done, total: progress.update(task, completed=done),
        ).upload()
```

### Configuration

`FrameioUploader` accepts several optional parameters:

| Parameter     | Default                    | Description                                                                          |
| ------------- | -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `max_workers` | `5`                        | Number of concurrent upload threads                                                  |
| `headers`     | `{"x-amz-acl": "private"}` | Headers sent with every S3 PUT request. Custom headers are merged with the defaults. |
| `max_retries` | `3`                        | Retry attempts per chunk (exponential backoff: 1s, 2s, 4s, ...)                      |
| `on_progress` | `None`                     | Callback `(bytes_uploaded, total_bytes)` fired after each chunk                      |

```python
with open(file_path, "rb") as f:
    FrameioUploader(
        response.data,
        f,
        max_workers=10,       # more parallelism for high-bandwidth connections
        max_retries=5,        # more resilient on flaky networks
        on_progress=on_progress,
    ).upload()
```

### Full Example

A complete example with authentication, upload, and progress tracking:

```python
import os
from frameio import Frameio
from frameio.auth import ServerToServerAuth
from frameio.files import FileCreateLocalUploadParamsData
from frameio.upload import FrameioUploader

# Authenticate
auth = ServerToServerAuth(
    client_id="YOUR_CLIENT_ID",
    client_secret="YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET",
)
client = Frameio(token=auth.get_token)

# Prepare the file
file_path = "/path/to/video.mp4"
file_name = os.path.basename(file_path)
file_size = os.path.getsize(file_path)

# Create the file resource
response = client.files.create_local_upload(
    account_id="YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID",
    folder_id="YOUR_FOLDER_ID",
    data=FileCreateLocalUploadParamsData(
        name=file_name,
        file_size=file_size,
    ),
)

print(f"Uploading {file_name} ({file_size:,} bytes) in {len(response.data.upload_urls)} chunks...")

# Upload with progress
def on_progress(uploaded: int, total: int) -> None:
    print(f"\r{uploaded / total:.0%}", end="", flush=True)

with open(file_path, "rb") as f:
    FrameioUploader(response.data, f, on_progress=on_progress).upload()

print(f"\nDone! View at: {response.data.view_url}")
```

---

> **Tip**
>
> If you need full control over the upload process — for example, to handle chunking manually, integrate with an async pipeline, or customize retry logic — see [How Local & Remote Uploads Work](./how-local-remote-uploads-work) for the raw API flow and a standalone Python script example.

---

## Remote Upload

If your file is already accessible via a public URL, use remote upload instead. No chunking is needed — Frame.io fetches the file directly:

```python
from frameio.files import FileCreateRemoteUploadParamsData

response = client.files.create_remote_upload(
    account_id="YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID",
    folder_id="YOUR_FOLDER_ID",
    data=FileCreateRemoteUploadParamsData(
        name="video.mp4",
        source_url="https://example.com/video.mp4",
    ),
)
print(f"File created: {response.data.id}")
```

> **Warning**
>
> Remote upload currently has a **50 GB file size limit**. For files larger than 50 GB, use [local upload](#quick-start) instead.

---

## Checking Upload Status

After uploading, you can verify the file was received:

```python
status = client.files.show_file_upload_status(
    account_id="YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID",
    file_id=response.data.id,
)
print(f"Upload complete: {status.data.upload_complete}")
```