Runway ephemeral uploads: 24 hours, 200 MB vs Sume HTTPS inputs

Runway's ephemeral uploads let you push a file from your server to Runway's object storage and get back a runway:// URI that works anywhere an HTTPS URL would. The URI is valid for 24 hours, the file can be up to 200 MB, and the minimum is 512 bytes. Sume has no upload step in the pages read: you pass a public HTTPS URL.

What Runway documents

Runway lists three ways to give it media: a URL, a data URI or an ephemeral upload. Its URL size limits are 16 MB for images and 32 MB for video and audio, and data URIs are limited to 5 MB for images and 16 MB for video and audio. Ephemeral uploads raise all three to 200 MB, and the page warns that they are rate limited.

What Sume expects

Sume's video endpoints take URLs: frame_images[].image_url, input_references, video_url for edits, and the router's image_url and reference_*_urls. They must be public HTTPS locations. The pages read do not describe an upload endpoint for the video routes, and they do not state a per-file byte limit, so the practical rule is that you host the file.

Where to host the file

If your pipeline relied on a short-lived upload, you need to decide where the file lives. Three choices, with trade-offs:

• Object storage with a signed URL: simple, but make the expiry longer than the job can queue.
• A CDN path you control: fast to fetch, and easy to keep for audit.
• Never a private URL: the provider cannot fetch it and the job fails on input.

Match expiry to queue time

Runway's 24-hour expiry is a reminder that a queued job may start later than you expect. Whatever host you choose, keep the file available at least until the job is terminal, then delete it on your own schedule.