The outcome

Deliver generated results reliably without blocking requests or losing short-lived output files.

Replicate is a hosted API platform for running and deploying machine-learning models. Testing public generative models, integrating versioned predictions, running asynchronous media jobs, and deploying custom model versions. This guide narrows that broad capability into one repeatable outcome, with checkpoints that keep the source material and your judgment in the loop.

Before you begin

Set the boundary before the tool starts.

Choose one real task, identify who will use the result, and decide what evidence or test will make the result acceptable. Gather only the source material needed for that task. If the work contains confidential, personal, regulated, or client-owned information, confirm that the platform and account are approved before sharing it.

Troiana principle

AI should make the work easier to inspect. If the workflow removes the source, the owner, or the review step, redesign the workflow.

Step by step

A workflow you can repeat.

  1. 01

    Create predictions server-side, store the prediction ID and owner, and return a durable application job ID immediately.

  2. 02

    Choose polling, server-sent events, or a webhook according to duration and scale, and authenticate access to job status.

  3. 03

    Make webhook handling idempotent, validate the event and expected prediction, and tolerate repeated or out-of-order updates.

  4. 04

    When a job succeeds, copy required output files to controlled persistent storage before Replicate's API retention window ends.

  5. 05

    Handle cancellation, failure, timeout, retry, moderation, and cleanup states, then test each path with observable metrics.

Working standard

What good use looks like.

  • Persist prediction IDs.
  • Make callbacks idempotent.
  • Copy required files before expiry.

Community models vary in quality, licensing, and safety. Protect API tokens, pin versions, validate inputs and outputs, make webhook processing idempotent, and do not assume generated files remain available permanently.

Official references

Check the current product documentation.

Features, plan limits, availability, and data controls change. These official pages are the starting points used for this collection.