TiDB Cloud Filesystem

TiDB Cloud Filesystem is a persistent, shared cloud file system for applications, automation, and AI agents. Files remain available independently of the machine or process that creates them, so you can reuse the same workspace across sessions and environments.

Use TiDB Cloud Filesystem when files need to remain available after a process or sandbox ends, when your workflow spans multiple machines or temporary environments, or when multiple users or workloads need controlled access to the same files.

For example, you can use a file system for the following tasks:

• Access and modify the same files from different machines or environments.
• Share files and results with users, applications, CI jobs, or AI agents.
• Mount the file system as a local directory for tools that require local file paths.
• Isolate file changes in layers before applying them to shared files.

How TiDB Cloud Filesystem works

TiDB Cloud Filesystem persists in TiDB Cloud independently of the machines and processes that access it. Different authorized environments can therefore access the same files without copying them between machines.

To create and manage file systems and access their files, you can use TiDB Cloud CLI (ti). You do not need to provision or manage a TiDB database to use TiDB Cloud Filesystem.

You can access and work with file system data in two ways:

• Use ti fs commands: upload, download, read, organize, and search files directly from the command line without mounting the file system.
• Mount the file system as a local directory: let applications and tools access file system data through normal local file paths.

For more information, see Work with Files and Directories and Mount a File System.

Share files across environments

Multiple machines or environments can access a file system simultaneously. Each environment can use its own file system token, so credentials do not need to be shared across environments.

For example:

• A CI job can write build output to a file system and another environment can read it later.
• An AI agent can continue working on files created during an earlier session.
• A reviewer can receive read-only access to a specific directory.

TiDB Cloud Filesystem provides owner tokens and scoped tokens so you can control which files and operations each user or workload can access.

For more information, see TiDB Cloud Filesystem Authorization and Share a File System.

Isolate and manage changes

To let multiple tasks work from the same files without modifying the shared base, you can create file system layers.

Each layer provides an isolated view where changes can be made independently. You can create checkpoints for a layer and later commit selected changes to the base file system.

For more information, see Layers and Checkpoints.

Get started

Choose the path that matches what you want to do:

• Create a new file system: follow Get Started with TiDB Cloud Filesystem.
• Use a file system that someone else has shared with you: see Access an Existing File System.
• Check supported regions, platforms, and current limitations: see Regions and Limitations.