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Overview - Content Management

eSearch Overview​

Kaltura's eSearch API, powered by Elasticsearch, provides flexible full-text search across media entries, categories, users, captions, custom metadata, cue points, and more — all in a single API call.

Base URL: https://www.kaltura.com/api_v3
Auth: KS passed as ks parameter in POST form data (see Session Guide)
Format: Form-encoded POST (application/x-www-form-urlencoded), format=1 for JSON responses

When to Use​

  • Content discovery platforms need fast, full-text search across video libraries with faceted filtering by media type, tags, categories, and custom metadata.
  • Enterprise knowledge management requires searching inside captions, transcripts, and cue points to find the exact moment a topic is discussed.
  • AI-powered content workflows use eSearch aggregations and cross-entity queries to analyze content distribution, identify gaps, and surface relevant media.
  • Custom portal and app builders implement search-as-you-type experiences with ranked results, highlighted matches, and paginated browsing.

Prerequisites​

  • Kaltura Session (KS): USER KS (type=0) is sufficient for search operations; ADMIN KS (type=2) for searching across all content regardless of ownership. See Session Guide for generation methods.
  • Partner ID and API credentials: Available from your Kaltura Management Console (KMC) under Settings > Integration Settings.
  • Service URL: Set $KALTURA_SERVICE_URL to your account's regional endpoint (default: https://www.kaltura.com/api_v3).
  • eSearch enabled: eSearch (Elasticsearch-based) is enabled by default on all Kaltura accounts. Content is indexed automatically upon creation and update.

Authentication​

Include the ks as part of the POST form data:

-d "ks=$KALTURA_KS"
-d "format=1"