---
title: Overview
url: https://docs.kaltura.com/docs/rich-media-cms-apis/content-management/esearch-overview
---

## 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](/docs/getting-started/authentication/ks-overview))  
**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](/docs/getting-started/authentication/ks-overview) 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:


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