---
title: Overview
url: https://docs.kaltura.com/docs/getting-started/general/api-overview
---

## Kaltura API — Getting Started

The Kaltura platform exposes 100+ REST API services, a dozen client libraries, several front-end libraries, and embeddable experience components — covering content management, playback, AI enrichment, analytics, and more. This guide covers the fundamentals: how requests work, how to authenticate, how to batch calls for performance, and how to handle errors.

**Base URL:** `https://www.kaltura.com/api_v3` (may differ by region/deployment)  
**Auth:** All requests require a Kaltura Session (KS) — see [Session Guide](/docs/getting-started/authentication/ks-overview) for details  
**Format:** Form-encoded or JSON POST, `format=1` for JSON responses  


## When to Use

- **First-time Kaltura API developers** use this guide to understand request structure, authentication, error handling, and the content model before diving into specific services.  
- **Integration architects** reference this guide for endpoint patterns, regional URL configuration, and best practices for batching API calls with multirequest.  
- **Development teams onboarding to Kaltura** start here to set up their environment, make their first API call, and understand how entries, assets, and sessions relate.

## Prerequisites

- **Partner ID and Admin Secret:** Available from your KMC under Settings > Integration Settings. See [Getting Credentials](/docs/getting-started/general/credentials-overview) for step-by-step setup.  
- **Service URL:** Set `$KALTURA_SERVICE_URL` to your account's regional endpoint (default: `https://www.kaltura.com/api_v3`).  
- **A valid Kaltura Session (KS):** Generate one using `session.start` as described in [Session Guide](/docs/getting-started/authentication/ks-overview). All API calls require a KS.  
- **curl or an HTTP client:** All examples use curl. Any HTTP client that supports POST requests with form-encoded or JSON bodies works.