Managed Storage

Agent workloads often require stateful services to support short-term memory, checkpoints, caching, and context storage. To simplify operations, OCI Generative AI provides fully managed storage services for deployed agents.

When deploying an agent, you can select one or more of the following managed storage options:

  • PostgreSQL
  • OCI Cache
  • Oracle Autonomous Database

These services are automatically provisioned and configured for your application.

How Managed Storage Works

Managed storage differs from storage that you provision in your own tenancy:

  • Service-managed deployment

    Storage is provisioned in the service tenancy and is not exposed for direct external access (for example, through database clients or public endpoints).

  • Application-scoped access

    Only the associated deployed application can access its storage. Access is managed by the platform, so no manual networking or credential configuration is required.

  • Lifecycle integration

    Storage is tied to the lifecycle of the agent:
    • Created when the agent is deployed
    • Scales with the application (where supported)
    • Deleted when the agent is deleted
  • No administrative management

    The platform manages the storage infrastructure. You do not have DBA-level access or control over the underlying resources.

Important

When an agent is deleted, its managed storage is permanently removed and cannot be recovered.

When to Use Customer-Managed Storage

Use customer-managed storage when you need:

  • Independent storage lifecycle
  • Full administrative control
  • Direct access from external systems or tools
  • Custom configuration, extensions, or shared access across applications

In these cases, provision storage in your own VCN and tenancy, and configure the agent to connect to it by using Customer Networking Mode.

This approach provides greater flexibility and control over your infrastructure.