cloudinary

• Upload images with automatic optimization
• Upload videos with CDN delivery
• Get CDN-delivered media URLs
• Apply transformations (resize, crop, format conversion)
• Concatenate/splice multiple videos
• Host media for production applications

Set the following environment variables:

```bash

export CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=your_cloud_name

export CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=your_api_key

export CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=your_api_secret

```

Get credentials from: https://console.cloudinary.com/settings/api-keys

> Important: When using $VAR in a command that pipes to another command, wrap the command containing $VAR in bash -c '...'. Due to a Claude Code bug, environment variables are silently cleared when pipes are used directly.

> ```bash

> bash -c 'curl -s "https://api.example.com" -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY"'

> ```

Method 1: Unsigned Upload (Simpler)

First, create an unsigned upload preset in Cloudinary Console:

Settings > Upload > Upload presets > Add upload preset > Signing Mode: Unsigned

```bash

curl -X POST "https://api.cloudinary.com/v1_1//image/upload" -F "file=@/path/to/image.png" -F "upload_preset=your_preset_name"

```

Method 2: Signed Upload

Generate signature and upload:

```bash

# Generate timestamp

TIMESTAMP=$(date +%s)

# Generate signature (alphabetical order of params)

SIGNATURE=$(bash -c 'echo -n "timestamp=$TIMESTAMP$CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET" | sha1sum | cut -d" " -f1')

# Upload

curl -X POST "https://api.cloudinary.com/v1_1//image/upload" -F "file=@/path/to/image.png" -F "api_key=$CLOUDINARY_API_KEY" -F "timestamp=$TIMESTAMP" -F "signature=$SIGNATURE"

```

Upload from URL

```bash

TIMESTAMP=$(date +%s)

SIGNATURE=$(bash -c 'echo -n "timestamp=$TIMESTAMP$CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET" | sha1sum | cut -d" " -f1')

curl -X POST "https://api.cloudinary.com/v1_1//image/upload" -F "file=https://example.com/image.png" -F "api_key=$CLOUDINARY_API_KEY" -F "timestamp=$TIMESTAMP" -F "signature=$SIGNATURE"

```

Upload Video

```bash

TIMESTAMP=$(date +%s)

SIGNATURE=$(bash -c 'echo -n "timestamp=$TIMESTAMP$CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET" | sha1sum | cut -d" " -f1')

curl -X POST "https://api.cloudinary.com/v1_1//video/upload" -F "file=@/path/to/video.mp4" -F "api_key=$CLOUDINARY_API_KEY" -F "timestamp=$TIMESTAMP" -F "signature=$SIGNATURE"

```

Upload Video with Custom Public ID

```bash

TIMESTAMP=$(date +%s)

PUBLIC_ID="my-videos/clip1"

SIGNATURE=$(bash -c 'echo -n "public_id=$PUBLIC_ID×tamp=$TIMESTAMP$CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET" | sha1sum | cut -d" " -f1')

curl -X POST "https://api.cloudinary.com/v1_1//video/upload" -F "file=@/path/to/video.mp4" -F "public_id=$PUBLIC_ID" -F "api_key=$CLOUDINARY_API_KEY" -F "timestamp=$TIMESTAMP" -F "signature=$SIGNATURE"

```

Upload Video from URL

```bash

TIMESTAMP=$(date +%s)

PUBLIC_ID="my-videos/clip1"

SIGNATURE=$(bash -c 'echo -n "public_id=$PUBLIC_ID×tamp=$TIMESTAMP$CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET" | sha1sum | cut -d" " -f1')

curl -X POST "https://api.cloudinary.com/v1_1//video/upload" -F "file=https://example.com/video.mp4" -F "public_id=$PUBLIC_ID" -F "api_key=$CLOUDINARY_API_KEY" -F "timestamp=$TIMESTAMP" -F "signature=$SIGNATURE"

```

With Custom Public ID

```bash

TIMESTAMP=$(date +%s)

PUBLIC_ID="my-folder/my-image"

SIGNATURE=$(bash -c 'echo -n "public_id=$PUBLIC_ID×tamp=$TIMESTAMP$CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET" | sha1sum | cut -d" " -f1')

curl -X POST "https://api.cloudinary.com/v1_1//image/upload" -F "file=@/path/to/image.png" -F "public_id=$PUBLIC_ID" -F "api_key=$CLOUDINARY_API_KEY" -F "timestamp=$TIMESTAMP" -F "signature=$SIGNATURE"

```

```json

{

"public_id": "sample",

"secure_url": "https://res.cloudinary.com/demo/image/upload/v1234567890/sample.png",

"url": "http://res.cloudinary.com/demo/image/upload/v1234567890/sample.png",

"format": "png",

"width": 800,

"height": 600

}

```

Key field: secure_url - Use this in Markdown: ![img](https://res.cloudinary.com/...)

Cloudinary URLs support on-the-fly transformations:

```

https://res.cloudinary.com/{cloud_name}/image/upload/{transformations}/{public_id}.{format}

```

Examples:

```

# Resize to 300x200

.../image/upload/w_300,h_200/sample.png

# Auto format and quality

.../image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/sample.png

# Crop to square

.../image/upload/w_200,h_200,c_fill/sample.png

# Combine transformations

.../image/upload/w_400,h_300,c_fill,f_auto,q_auto/sample.png

```

Concatenate videos using URL transformations with l_video: (overlay) and fl_splice flag.

Basic Concatenation

Append clip2 to the end of clip1:

```

https://res.cloudinary.com/{cloud_name}/video/upload/l_video:clip2,fl_splice/fl_layer_apply/clip1.mp4

```

Concatenate Multiple Videos

Append clip2 and clip3 to clip1:

```

https://res.cloudinary.com/{cloud_name}/video/upload/l_video:clip2,fl_splice/fl_layer_apply/l_video:clip3,fl_splice/fl_layer_apply/clip1.mp4

```

With Uniform Size

Resize all videos to same dimensions:

```

https://res.cloudinary.com/{cloud_name}/video/upload/w_640,h_360,c_fill/l_video:clip2,fl_splice,w_640,h_360,c_fill/fl_layer_apply/clip1.mp4

```

With Fade Transition

Add fade out (-1000ms) on first video and fade in (1000ms) on second:

```

https://res.cloudinary.com/{cloud_name}/video/upload/w_640,h_360,c_fill,e_fade:-1000/l_video:clip2,fl_splice,e_fade:1000,w_640,h_360,c_fill/fl_layer_apply/clip1.mp4

```

Add Image as Intro (3 seconds)

Prepend an image as intro:

```

https://res.cloudinary.com/{cloud_name}/video/upload/l_intro_image,fl_splice,du_3/so_0,fl_layer_apply/clip1.mp4

```

Limitations

• URL length limit (~2000 chars) restricts number of videos
• First request triggers server-side processing (slow)
• For many videos (10+), consider using ffmpeg or dedicated video APIs

```bash

TIMESTAMP=$(date +%s)

PUBLIC_ID=""

SIGNATURE=$(bash -c 'echo -n "public_id=$PUBLIC_ID×tamp=$TIMESTAMP$CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET" | sha1sum | cut -d" " -f1')

# Delete image

curl -X POST "https://api.cloudinary.com/v1_1//image/destroy" -F "public_id=$PUBLIC_ID" -F "api_key=$CLOUDINARY_API_KEY" -F "timestamp=$TIMESTAMP" -F "signature=$SIGNATURE"

# Delete video

curl -X POST "https://api.cloudinary.com/v1_1//video/destroy" -F "public_id=$PUBLIC_ID" -F "api_key=$CLOUDINARY_API_KEY" -F "timestamp=$TIMESTAMP" -F "signature=$SIGNATURE"

```

• 25 credits/month
• ~25,000 transformations or ~25GB storage/bandwidth
• Sufficient for personal projects

1. Use unsigned presets for simpler uploads when security isn't critical
2. Signature order: Parameters must be alphabetically sorted when generating signature
3. Auto optimization: Add f_auto,q_auto to URLs for automatic format/quality
4. Folders: Use public_id="folder/subfolder/name" to organize media
5. Video concatenation: Keep URLs short; for 10+ videos use external tools

• Image Upload: https://cloudinary.com/documentation/image_upload_api_reference
• Video Upload: https://cloudinary.com/documentation/video_upload_api_reference
• Video Concatenation: https://cloudinary.com/documentation/video_trimming_and_concatenating
• Console: https://console.cloudinary.com/
• Transformation Reference: https://cloudinary.com/documentation/transformation_reference