# Cloud Media Services (/en/introduction/cloud-media-services)

> For AI agents: see the complete documentation index at [llms.txt](/llms.txt).

Cloud Media Services is the capability layer for products that need to do more with live media than simply transport it between participants. This category covers the cloud-side workflows that capture, transform, route, translate, and extend live sessions.

Agora's product map for this layer includes:

* **Recording** in cloud or local-server form
* **Media Push / Pull** and RTMP Gateway workflows
* **Speech-to-Text / Translation**
* **Transcoding / Compositing**
* **Extensions / Analytics** and adjacent cloud-side operational services

## What this category is good for [#what-this-category-is-good-for]

This category is the right entry point when you need:

* recording for archive, replay, compliance, or review
* pushing or pulling media between Agora and external streaming systems
* speech transcription or live translation as a cloud-side service
* stream composition, transcoding, and output shaping
* analytics, extensions, and post-session media workflows

The shared requirement is that the media session must continue to create value after, around, or beyond the primary live interaction.

## Capability map [#capability-map]

<CardGrid>
  <FeatureCard title="Recording">
    Capture live sessions into replayable and reviewable assets through cloud-managed or self-managed recording paths.
  </FeatureCard>

  <FeatureCard title="Media Push / Pull">
    Move media between Agora and external live-streaming or online media systems through push, pull, and gateway workflows.
  </FeatureCard>

  <FeatureCard title="Speech-to-Text / Translation">
    Turn live speech into text and translated text for accessibility, AI preprocessing, records, and multilingual products.
  </FeatureCard>

  <FeatureCard title="Transcoding / Compositing">
    Reshape streams into layouts, output formats, and distribution-friendly media workflows for playback and broadcast.
  </FeatureCard>

  <FeatureCard title="Extensions / Analytics">
    Extend product behavior and add production observation, diagnosis, and ecosystem integrations around the media path.
  </FeatureCard>
</CardGrid>

## Start here [#start-here]

<OverviewSpotlightGrid>
  <OverviewSpotlightCard href="/en/realtime-media/media-processing-and-distribution" title="Media workflow map" variant="platform" />

  <OverviewSpotlightCard href="/en/realtime-media/cloud-recording" title="Recording" variant="platform" />

  <OverviewSpotlightCard href="/en/realtime-media/speech-to-text" title="Speech to Text" variant="platform" />
</OverviewSpotlightGrid>

## Key characteristics [#key-characteristics]

<CardGrid>
  <FeatureCard title="Cloud-side media lifecycle">
    Handle what happens to live media before, during, and after the user-facing session.
  </FeatureCard>

  <FeatureCard title="Bridge to downstream systems">
    Connect live interaction with storage, broadcast delivery, analytics, moderation, and external streaming workflows.
  </FeatureCard>

  <FeatureCard title="Supports both media and text derivatives">
    Work with recordings, transformed streams, transcripts, translations, and playback-oriented outputs as one service layer.
  </FeatureCard>

  <FeatureCard title="Production expansion layer">
    Add capabilities that teams usually need once a live experience moves beyond prototype stage.
  </FeatureCard>

  <FeatureCard title="Works across multiple primary products">
    Reuse the same cloud media services whether the upstream source is RTC, AI interaction, or host-audience live streaming.
  </FeatureCard>
</CardGrid>

## What to read next [#what-to-read-next]

* [Media processing and distribution](/en/realtime-media/media-processing-and-distribution)
* [Cloud Recording](/en/realtime-media/cloud-recording)
* [RTMP Gateway](/en/realtime-media/rtmp-gateway)
* [Transcoding](/en/realtime-media/transcoding)
* [Real-time Transcription and Translation](/en/realtime-media/speech-to-text)