> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.felt.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.felt.com/upload-anything/stream-large-rasters.md).

# Stream large rasters

Stream Cloud Optimized GeoTIFFs and STAC imagery into Felt, and name your bucket's files so you can search and filter them.

{% hint style="success" %}
Available on the Business and Enterprise plans. [Compare plans](https://felt.com/pricing#compare)
{% endhint %}

Stream terabyte-scale rasters from your bucket without uploading or copying them to Felt. Felt supports [Cloud Optimized GeoTIFFs (COGs)](/upload-anything/stream-large-rasters/cloud-optimized-geotiffs.md) and [SpatioTemporal Asset Catalogs (STACs)](/upload-anything/data-sources/stac.md), and indexes your files by location and metadata so you can search and filter them. You can [style](/styling/style-raster-layers.md) the results like any raster layer.

Streamed rasters aren't limited by the upload file size, and they don't count toward your workspace's processing limit. See [Data limits](/upload-anything/data-limits.md) and [Plan usage](/plans-and-billing/plan-usage.md).

{% embed url="<https://files.gitbook.com/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FmRfGitkyjOEMvVsEyGWN%2Fuploads%2FpotWKZgx9Aw791Aoq5Vd%2FRasterLaunch%20-%20Preview%20Screen.mp4?alt=media&token=df17d7c7-53f0-4fce-bcc8-8171a2afa835>" %}

## How streaming works

When raster streaming is on your plan, Felt tries to stream every COG you add from a bucket or a URL. If a file can't be streamed, for example because it isn't a valid COG, Felt uploads and processes it instead. The file then counts toward processing like any upload.

In a streamed layer's **Data** tab, **Status** reads **Streaming**. Felt reads the file from its location each time the map needs tiles, so a streamed layer can't be refreshed. To show newer imagery, add the new file to the map as its own layer, and then delete the old layer. See [Refresh data](/upload-anything/refresh-data.md).

## Organize your raster data

For large raster collections, store [Cloud Optimized GeoTIFFs](/upload-anything/stream-large-rasters/cloud-optimized-geotiffs.md) in a bucket. Use a consistent path pattern that includes metadata about each file. See [Extract attributes with regular expressions](#extract-attributes-with-regular-expressions).

<figure><img src="https://217108486-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FmRfGitkyjOEMvVsEyGWN%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-7843c275b38541460d5703ba3dacc3803edf9cdb%2Fmaps-1x3.webp?alt=media" alt="Three maps of streamed rasters: a land cover classification, building elevation in a city, and night lights."><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

### Storage

Felt streams rasters from these buckets. Each connects as a data source:

* [Amazon S3](/upload-anything/data-sources/amazon-s3.md)
* [Google Cloud Storage](/upload-anything/data-sources/google-cloud-storage.md)
* [Azure Blob Storage](/upload-anything/data-sources/azure-blob-storage.md)

Felt can also stream from any other location that serves files over HTTPS and supports [range requests](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Guides/Range_requests), which let Felt read only part of a file. If your Felt instance is [self-hosted](/administration/self-hosted-deployment.md) in your own virtual private cloud (VPC), storing data close to it reduces the delay in loading tiles.

### Format

Felt can process many raster formats, but a [Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF](https://cogeo.org/) lets Felt read only the data you're viewing on the map. For the settings and commands to create one, see [Cloud Optimized GeoTIFFs](/upload-anything/stream-large-rasters/cloud-optimized-geotiffs.md).

### Structure

A strict naming pattern makes your files easy to find in Felt:

* Use folders to organize files into projects.
* Put the attributes you want to search by into each file's path.

For example, this naming pattern puts a project, a type, a date, and a resolution in each path:

```
s3://my-bucket/{project}/{type}_{YYYYMMDD}_r{resolution}.tiff
```

A file that follows the pattern looks like this:

```
s3://my-bucket/fire_hazards/dem_20250515_r35.tiff
```

### Extract attributes with regular expressions

Felt can use [regular expressions](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Guide/Regular_expressions) to extract attributes from the paths of files in a bucket. In the bucket source's **Extract attributes** section, enter an **Example file path**, then click **Add regex match** for each attribute. Give each one a **Regex**, a **Name**, and a **Type**, such as a string, number, or date. The **Example** column shows what each regex matches in the example path.

For the naming pattern in [Structure](#structure), extract `project`, `type`, `date`, and `resolution` to search and filter files by those attributes.

<figure><img src="https://217108486-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FmRfGitkyjOEMvVsEyGWN%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-8910a4c8c8f146efb824056caf897373e228d55c%2Fstream-rasters-extract-attributes.png?alt=media" alt="Extract properties table with an example file path and four regular expressions that extract project, type, date, and resolution."><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

### STAC

A SpatioTemporal Asset Catalog (STAC) stores metadata in a defined format, including the area and time period each file covers. Use one when your metadata doesn't fit a naming pattern, or when you have a very large or frequently changing set of files. Felt can add both static STAC catalogs in JSON and dynamic STAC APIs as sources. See [STAC](/upload-anything/data-sources/stac.md).


---

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