diff --git a/lib/ai/providers/vip98k.ts b/lib/ai/providers/vip98k.ts
index ba6b5c430..6ac9059ff 100644
--- a/lib/ai/providers/vip98k.ts
+++ b/lib/ai/providers/vip98k.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,13 @@
 import "server-only";
 
+import { GetObjectCommand } from "@aws-sdk/client-s3";
 import { createOpenAI } from "@ai-sdk/openai";
 import sharp from "sharp";
+import {
+  getDefaultStorageConfig,
+  getStorageConfigById,
+  getSystemSetting,
+} from "@/lib/db/queries";
 import {
   bindVip98kImages,
   selectVip98kTaskInvocation,
@@ -9,9 +15,19 @@ import {
 } from "@/lib/ai/vip98k-task-invocation";
 import { VIP98K_BASE_URL, normalizeVip98kBaseUrl } from "@/lib/ai/vip98k-models";
 import { shouldResolveVip98kResultDelivery } from "@/lib/ai/vip98k-result-delivery";
+import {
+  getStorageObjectKeyFromPublicUrl,
+  shouldStageVip98kReferenceUrl,
+} from "@/lib/ai/vip98k-reference-staging";
 import { createLogger } from "@/lib/observability/logger";
 import { createDeferredUploadedImage } from "@/lib/storage/image-archive";
-import { uploadFile } from "@/lib/storage/service";
+import {
+  createS3Client,
+  type S3UploadConfig,
+  toDbS3UploadConfig,
+  uploadFile,
+  uploadFileWithS3Config,
+} from "@/lib/storage/service";
 
 const logger = createLogger("vip98k-provider");
 
@@ -48,6 +64,23 @@ type UploadedImage = {
 const DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT_MS = 120_000;
 const DEFAULT_POLL_INTERVAL_SECONDS = 8;
 const DEFAULT_MAX_POLL_SECONDS = 600;
+const REFERENCE_DOWNLOAD_ATTEMPTS = 3;
+const REFERENCE_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT_MS = 120_000;
+const MAX_REFERENCE_DOWNLOAD_BYTES = 40 * 1024 * 1024;
+const REFERENCE_STAGING_CACHE_MS = 60_000;
+const STORAGE_FAILOVER_CONFIG_KEY = "storage_failover_config";
+
+type ReferenceStagingConfig = {
+  sourcePublicUrl: string;
+  sourceDownloadConfig?: S3UploadConfig;
+  targetPublicUrl?: string;
+  uploadConfig: S3UploadConfig;
+};
+
+let referenceStagingConfigCache:
+  | { expiresAt: number; value: ReferenceStagingConfig | null }
+  | undefined;
+const referenceStagingTasks = new Map<string, Promise<string>>();
 
 function toRecord(value: unknown): Record<string, unknown> | null {
   if (!value || typeof value !== "object" || Array.isArray(value)) return null;
@@ -435,13 +468,269 @@ async function archiveOutputImage(imageUrl: string): Promise<UploadedImage> {
   );
 }
 
-async function ensurePublicMediaUrl(mediaUrl: string) {
+function readStorageFailoverConfig(value: unknown) {
+  let parsed = value;
+  if (typeof parsed === "string") {
+    try {
+      parsed = JSON.parse(parsed);
+    } catch {
+      parsed = null;
+    }
+  }
+  const record = toRecord(parsed);
+  return {
+    enabled: record?.enabled === true,
+    backupStorageConfigId: String(record?.backupStorageConfigId || "").trim(),
+  };
+}
+
+async function resolveReferenceStagingConfig() {
+  const now = Date.now();
+  if (referenceStagingConfigCache?.expiresAt && referenceStagingConfigCache.expiresAt > now) {
+    return referenceStagingConfigCache.value;
+  }
+
+  let value: ReferenceStagingConfig | null = null;
+  try {
+    const [sourceStorage, failoverSetting] = await Promise.all([
+      getDefaultStorageConfig(),
+      getSystemSetting({ key: STORAGE_FAILOVER_CONFIG_KEY }),
+    ]);
+    const failover = readStorageFailoverConfig(failoverSetting?.value);
+    if (
+      sourceStorage?.publicUrl &&
+      failover.enabled &&
+      failover.backupStorageConfigId &&
+      failover.backupStorageConfigId !== sourceStorage.id
+    ) {
+      const targetStorage = await getStorageConfigById({
+        id: failover.backupStorageConfigId,
+      });
+      const uploadConfig = toDbS3UploadConfig(targetStorage);
+      if (uploadConfig) {
+        value = {
+          sourcePublicUrl: sourceStorage.publicUrl,
+          sourceDownloadConfig: toDbS3UploadConfig(sourceStorage) || undefined,
+          targetPublicUrl: targetStorage?.publicUrl || uploadConfig.publicUrl,
+          uploadConfig,
+        };
+      }
+    }
+  } catch (error) {
+    logger.warn("reference staging config lookup failed", {
+      message: error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error),
+    });
+  }
+
+  referenceStagingConfigCache = {
+    expiresAt: now + REFERENCE_STAGING_CACHE_MS,
+    value,
+  };
+  return value;
+}
+
+function getUrlHost(value: string) {
+  try {
+    return new URL(value).host;
+  } catch {
+    return "invalid";
+  }
+}
+
+async function downloadReferenceImage(mediaUrl: string) {
+  let lastError: unknown;
+  for (let attempt = 1; attempt <= REFERENCE_DOWNLOAD_ATTEMPTS; attempt += 1) {
+    try {
+      const response = await fetch(mediaUrl, {
+        cache: "no-store",
+        redirect: "follow",
+        headers: { "User-Agent": "yedir-ai-vip98k-staging/1.0" },
+        signal: AbortSignal.timeout(REFERENCE_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT_MS),
+      });
+      if (!response.ok) {
+        throw new Error(`source returned HTTP ${response.status}`);
+      }
+
+      const declaredLength = Number(response.headers.get("content-length"));
+      if (
+        Number.isFinite(declaredLength) &&
+        declaredLength > MAX_REFERENCE_DOWNLOAD_BYTES
+      ) {
+        throw new Error("source image exceeds the staging size limit");
+      }
+
+      const buffer = Buffer.from(await response.arrayBuffer());
+      if (buffer.byteLength > MAX_REFERENCE_DOWNLOAD_BYTES) {
+        throw new Error("source image exceeds the staging size limit");
+      }
+      if (
+        Number.isFinite(declaredLength) &&
+        declaredLength > 0 &&
+        buffer.byteLength !== declaredLength
+      ) {
+        throw new Error("source image download was incomplete");
+      }
+      return {
+        buffer,
+        mimeType: response.headers.get("content-type") || "image/png",
+      };
+    } catch (error) {
+      lastError = error;
+      logger.warn("reference staging download attempt failed", {
+        attempt,
+        sourceHost: getUrlHost(mediaUrl),
+        message: error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error),
+      });
+      if (attempt < REFERENCE_DOWNLOAD_ATTEMPTS) await delay(attempt * 1000);
+    }
+  }
+
+  throw new Error(
+    `VIP98K reference staging failed: ${
+      lastError instanceof Error ? lastError.message : "source download failed"
+    }`,
+  );
+}
+
+async function downloadReferenceImageFromStorage(
+  mediaUrl: string,
+  stagingConfig: ReferenceStagingConfig,
+) {
+  if (!stagingConfig.sourceDownloadConfig) return null;
+  const objectKey = getStorageObjectKeyFromPublicUrl(
+    mediaUrl,
+    stagingConfig.sourcePublicUrl,
+  );
+  if (!objectKey) return null;
+
+  try {
+    const response = await createS3Client(stagingConfig.sourceDownloadConfig).send(
+      new GetObjectCommand({
+        Bucket: stagingConfig.sourceDownloadConfig.bucket,
+        Key: objectKey,
+      }),
+      { abortSignal: AbortSignal.timeout(REFERENCE_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT_MS) },
+    );
+    if (!response.Body) throw new Error("source object body is empty");
+    if (
+      typeof response.ContentLength === "number" &&
+      response.ContentLength > MAX_REFERENCE_DOWNLOAD_BYTES
+    ) {
+      throw new Error("source image exceeds the staging size limit");
+    }
+    const buffer = Buffer.from(await response.Body.transformToByteArray());
+    if (buffer.byteLength > MAX_REFERENCE_DOWNLOAD_BYTES) {
+      throw new Error("source image exceeds the staging size limit");
+    }
+    if (
+      typeof response.ContentLength === "number" &&
+      response.ContentLength > 0 &&
+      buffer.byteLength !== response.ContentLength
+    ) {
+      throw new Error("source object download was incomplete");
+    }
+    return {
+      buffer,
+      mimeType: response.ContentType || "image/png",
+    };
+  } catch (error) {
+    logger.warn("reference source-storage download failed; retrying public URL", {
+      sourceHost: getUrlHost(mediaUrl),
+      message: error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error),
+    });
+    return null;
+  }
+}
+
+async function normalizeReferenceImage(buffer: Buffer, mimeType: string) {
+  try {
+    const metadata = await sharp(buffer, { failOn: "none" }).metadata();
+    const pipeline = sharp(buffer, { failOn: "none" })
+      .rotate()
+      .resize(2048, 2048, { fit: "inside", withoutEnlargement: true });
+    if (metadata.hasAlpha || /png/i.test(mimeType)) {
+      return {
+        buffer: await pipeline.png({ compressionLevel: 6 }).toBuffer(),
+        extension: "png",
+      };
+    }
+    return {
+      buffer: await pipeline
+        .jpeg({ quality: 95, chromaSubsampling: "4:4:4", mozjpeg: true })
+        .toBuffer(),
+      extension: "jpg",
+    };
+  } catch (error) {
+    logger.warn("reference image normalization failed; preserving original bytes", {
+      message: error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error),
+    });
+    return { buffer, extension: detectExtension(mimeType) };
+  }
+}
+
+async function stageReferenceImage(
+  mediaUrl: string,
+  stagingConfig: ReferenceStagingConfig,
+) {
+  const downloaded =
+    (await downloadReferenceImageFromStorage(mediaUrl, stagingConfig)) ||
+    (await downloadReferenceImage(mediaUrl));
+  const normalized = await normalizeReferenceImage(
+    downloaded.buffer,
+    downloaded.mimeType,
+  );
+  const suffix = `${Date.now()}-${Math.random().toString(36).slice(2, 8)}`;
+  const uploaded = await uploadFileWithS3Config(
+    `vip98k-reference-${suffix}.${normalized.extension}`,
+    toArrayBuffer(normalized.buffer),
+    stagingConfig.uploadConfig,
+  );
+  logger.info("reference image staged", {
+    sourceHost: getUrlHost(mediaUrl),
+    targetHost: getUrlHost(uploaded.url),
+    sourceBytes: downloaded.buffer.byteLength,
+    stagedBytes: normalized.buffer.byteLength,
+  });
+  return uploaded.url;
+}
+
+async function ensurePublicMediaUrl(mediaUrl: string, mediaKind: "image" | "video") {
   const normalized = String(mediaUrl || "").trim();
-  if (/^https?:\/\//i.test(normalized)) return normalized;
+  if (/^https?:\/\//i.test(normalized)) {
+    if (mediaKind !== "image") return normalized;
+    const stagingConfig = await resolveReferenceStagingConfig();
+    if (
+      !stagingConfig ||
+      !shouldStageVip98kReferenceUrl({
+        mediaUrl: normalized,
+        sourcePublicUrl: stagingConfig.sourcePublicUrl,
+        targetPublicUrl: stagingConfig.targetPublicUrl,
+      })
+    ) {
+      return normalized;
+    }
+
+    const existingTask = referenceStagingTasks.get(normalized);
+    if (existingTask) return existingTask;
+    const task = stageReferenceImage(normalized, stagingConfig).finally(() => {
+      referenceStagingTasks.delete(normalized);
+    });
+    referenceStagingTasks.set(normalized, task);
+    return task;
+  }
   if (!normalized.startsWith("data:")) return normalized;
   const parsed = parseDataUrl(normalized);
   const extension = detectExtension(parsed.mimeType);
   const suffix = `${Date.now()}-${Math.random().toString(36).slice(2, 8)}`;
+  const stagingConfig = await resolveReferenceStagingConfig();
+  if (stagingConfig) {
+    const uploaded = await uploadFileWithS3Config(
+      `vip98k-ref-${suffix}.${extension}`,
+      toArrayBuffer(parsed.buffer),
+      stagingConfig.uploadConfig,
+    );
+    return uploaded.url;
+  }
   const uploaded = await uploadFile(
     `vip98k-ref-${suffix}.${extension}`,
     toArrayBuffer(parsed.buffer),
@@ -577,8 +866,12 @@ export async function submitVip98kExternalTask(params: {
   modelConfig?: Vip98kModelRuntimeConfig;
 }): Promise<Vip98kExternalTaskSubmission> {
   const [imageUrls, videoUrls] = await Promise.all([
-    Promise.all((params.imageUrls || []).map(ensurePublicMediaUrl)),
-    Promise.all((params.videoUrls || []).map(ensurePublicMediaUrl)),
+    Promise.all(
+      (params.imageUrls || []).map((url) => ensurePublicMediaUrl(url, "image")),
+    ),
+    Promise.all(
+      (params.videoUrls || []).map((url) => ensurePublicMediaUrl(url, "video")),
+    ),
   ]);
   const taskParams: Vip98kTaskParams = {
     apiKey: params.apiKey,
@@ -992,8 +1285,12 @@ export function createVip98k({ apiKey, baseURL }: Vip98kConfig) {
           const activeKind = inferKind(activeModelId, runtimeConfig);
           const { prompt, imageUrls, videoUrls } = extractPromptAndMedia(options.messages);
           const [publicImageUrls, publicVideoUrls] = await Promise.all([
-            Promise.all(imageUrls.map(ensurePublicMediaUrl)),
-            Promise.all(videoUrls.map(ensurePublicMediaUrl)),
+            Promise.all(
+              imageUrls.map((url) => ensurePublicMediaUrl(url, "image")),
+            ),
+            Promise.all(
+              videoUrls.map((url) => ensurePublicMediaUrl(url, "video")),
+            ),
           ]);
           const text = await runTask({
             apiKey,
diff --git a/lib/ai/runtime/model-health.ts b/lib/ai/runtime/model-health.ts
index 6205c6a35..0eb4a02c1 100644
--- a/lib/ai/runtime/model-health.ts
+++ b/lib/ai/runtime/model-health.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ import {
   aiModelHealthEvent,
   type AiModel,
 } from "@/lib/db/schema";
+import {
+  isMediaInputFailure,
+  isNonProviderRequestStatus,
+} from "@/lib/ai/runtime/request-failure-classification";
 
 export type AiModelHealthEventType =
   | "success"
@@ -173,6 +177,15 @@ export function classifyAiModelHealthFailure(error: unknown): {
     };
   }
 
+  if (isMediaInputFailure(normalized)) {
+    return {
+      eventType: "error",
+      severity: "warning",
+      counted: false,
+      reason: "request_media_rejected",
+    };
+  }
+
   if (
     normalized.includes("fetch failed") ||
     normalized.includes("econnreset") ||
@@ -226,6 +239,15 @@ export function classifyAiModelHealthFailure(error: unknown): {
     };
   }
 
+  if (isNonProviderRequestStatus(httpStatus, normalized)) {
+    return {
+      eventType: "error",
+      severity: "warning",
+      counted: false,
+      reason: "request_input_rejected",
+    };
+  }
+
   if (
     isOperationalAbort(error, normalized) ||
     normalized.includes("timeout") ||
diff --git a/lib/ai/runtime/request-failure-classification.ts b/lib/ai/runtime/request-failure-classification.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..efabf9747
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/ai/runtime/request-failure-classification.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+const NON_PROVIDER_REQUEST_STATUSES = new Set([400, 413, 415, 422]);
+
+export function isMediaInputFailure(message: string) {
+  const normalized = String(message || "").trim().toLowerCase();
+  return (
+    normalized.includes("media request is invalid") ||
+    normalized.includes("invalid media request") ||
+    normalized.includes("invalid input media") ||
+    normalized.includes("unsupported media type") ||
+    normalized.includes("vip98k reference staging failed")
+  );
+}
+
+export function isNonProviderRequestStatus(
+  httpStatus: number | null,
+  message: string,
+) {
+  if (httpStatus !== null && NON_PROVIDER_REQUEST_STATUSES.has(httpStatus)) {
+    return true;
+  }
+
+  const normalized = String(message || "").trim();
+  return /(?:^|\D)(?:400|413|415|422)(?:\D|$)/.test(normalized);
+}
diff --git a/lib/ai/vip98k-reference-staging.ts b/lib/ai/vip98k-reference-staging.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ee7d5e5a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/ai/vip98k-reference-staging.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+function parseUrl(value: string) {
+  try {
+    return new URL(String(value || "").trim());
+  } catch {
+    return null;
+  }
+}
+
+export function isUrlWithinPublicBase(mediaUrl: string, publicBaseUrl: string) {
+  const media = parseUrl(mediaUrl);
+  const base = parseUrl(publicBaseUrl);
+  if (!media || !base || media.host.toLowerCase() !== base.host.toLowerCase()) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  const basePath = base.pathname.replace(/\/+$/, "");
+  if (!basePath) return true;
+  return media.pathname === basePath || media.pathname.startsWith(`${basePath}/`);
+}
+
+export function shouldStageVip98kReferenceUrl(params: {
+  mediaUrl: string;
+  sourcePublicUrl: string;
+  targetPublicUrl?: string;
+}) {
+  if (
+    params.targetPublicUrl &&
+    isUrlWithinPublicBase(params.mediaUrl, params.targetPublicUrl)
+  ) {
+    return false;
+  }
+  return isUrlWithinPublicBase(params.mediaUrl, params.sourcePublicUrl);
+}
+
+export function getStorageObjectKeyFromPublicUrl(
+  mediaUrl: string,
+  publicBaseUrl: string,
+) {
+  if (!isUrlWithinPublicBase(mediaUrl, publicBaseUrl)) return null;
+  const media = parseUrl(mediaUrl);
+  const base = parseUrl(publicBaseUrl);
+  if (!media || !base) return null;
+  const basePath = base.pathname.replace(/\/+$/, "");
+  const encodedKey = media.pathname.slice(basePath.length).replace(/^\/+/, "");
+  if (!encodedKey) return null;
+  try {
+    return decodeURIComponent(encodedKey);
+  } catch {
+    return encodedKey;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/tests/routes/model-health-classification.test.ts b/tests/routes/model-health-classification.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6435a7073
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/routes/model-health-classification.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+import { expect, test } from "@playwright/test";
+import {
+  isMediaInputFailure,
+  isNonProviderRequestStatus,
+} from "@/lib/ai/runtime/request-failure-classification";
+
+test.describe("AI model health request classification", () => {
+  test("does not treat rejected media as a provider outage", () => {
+    expect(
+      isMediaInputFailure("The media request is invalid. (HTTP 400)"),
+    ).toBe(true);
+    expect(
+      isMediaInputFailure("VIP98K reference staging failed: fetch failed"),
+    ).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test("recognizes request-specific HTTP failures", () => {
+    expect(isNonProviderRequestStatus(413, "payload too large")).toBe(true);
+    expect(isNonProviderRequestStatus(null, "request failed (HTTP 422)")).toBe(
+      true,
+    );
+    expect(isNonProviderRequestStatus(503, "service unavailable")).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/tests/routes/vip98k-reference-routing.test.ts b/tests/routes/vip98k-reference-routing.test.ts
index 274f76c8a..289cc289b 100644
--- a/tests/routes/vip98k-reference-routing.test.ts
+++ b/tests/routes/vip98k-reference-routing.test.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ import {
   buildVip98kModelPresets,
   isVip98kImageModelVisible,
 } from "@/lib/ai/vip98k-models";
+import { shouldStageVip98kReferenceUrl } from "@/lib/ai/vip98k-reference-staging";
+import { getStorageObjectKeyFromPublicUrl } from "@/lib/ai/vip98k-reference-staging";
 import { shouldResolveVip98kResultDelivery } from "@/lib/ai/vip98k-result-delivery";
 
 const textToImageInvocation: Vip98kTaskInvocation = {
@@ -23,6 +25,36 @@ const textToImageInvocation: Vip98kTaskInvocation = {
 };
 
 test.describe("VIP98K reference-image routing", () => {
+  test("stages references from the configured default storage into backup storage", () => {
+    expect(
+      shouldStageVip98kReferenceUrl({
+        mediaUrl: "https://default.example/uploads/reference.jpg",
+        sourcePublicUrl: "https://default.example",
+        targetPublicUrl: "https://backup.example/project",
+      }),
+    ).toBe(true);
+    expect(
+      shouldStageVip98kReferenceUrl({
+        mediaUrl: "https://backup.example/project/uploads/reference.jpg",
+        sourcePublicUrl: "https://default.example",
+        targetPublicUrl: "https://backup.example/project",
+      }),
+    ).toBe(false);
+    expect(
+      shouldStageVip98kReferenceUrl({
+        mediaUrl: "https://external.example/reference.jpg",
+        sourcePublicUrl: "https://default.example",
+        targetPublicUrl: "https://backup.example/project",
+      }),
+    ).toBe(false);
+    expect(
+      getStorageObjectKeyFromPublicUrl(
+        "https://default.example/assets/folder%20name/reference.jpg?token=secret",
+        "https://default.example/assets",
+      ),
+    ).toBe("folder name/reference.jpg");
+  });
+
   test("shows the newly published Nano Banana Pro image editor", () => {
     expect(
       isVip98kImageModelVisible({