Kaltura API

Kaltura API Integration

Kaltura — The Agentic Digital Experience Platform. Kaltura is powering rich, agentic digital experiences across organizational journeys for customers, employees, learners, and audiences. The Kaltura platform combines intelligent content creation, enterprise-grade content management and intelligence, and multimodal conversational engagement capabilities. Kaltura serves leading enterprises, financial institutions, educational institutions, media and telecom providers, and other organizations worldwide.

This skill gives you the knowledge map to build any integration on Kaltura's 100+ REST API services.

Platform Overview

The platform is built on three core layers:

• Intelligent Content Creation — Recording, editing, AI-assisted content generation (transcription, translation, captioning, dubbing, summarization, chaptering, clipping, quiz generation), and avatar-based video creation
• Enterprise-Grade Content Management and Intelligence — Centralized management of live and on-demand content with metadata, permissions, workflows, analytics, and AI-driven workflow agents for automated content lifecycle operations
• Multimodal Conversational Engagement — Content hubs, virtual events and webinars, player embeds, LMS/CMS integrations, conversational AI agents (Kaltura Genies and Agentic Avatars), and TV streaming applications

Content is organized as entries (media objects with metadata, flavors, thumbnails, and captions). Every API call requires a Kaltura Session (KS) — a signed, time-limited auth token.

Authentication

Two auth methods, depending on context:

KS types: USER (type=0) for end-user operations, ADMIN (type=2) for backend-only management.

For full auth details, KS privileges, and AppToken HMAC workflow:

• Session Guide — KS generation, types, privileges, security practices
• AppTokens API — Create, distribute, and rotate scoped tokens
• Auth Broker API — SSO/SAML configuration, app subscriptions, federated login

API Patterns

API v3 (most services)

curl -X POST "$KALTURA_SERVICE_URL/service/{service}/action/{action}" \
  -d "ks=$KALTURA_KS" \
  -d "format=1" \
  -d "param[key]=value"

• Base URL: https://www.kaltura.com/api_v3
• Form-encoded POST, always include format=1 for JSON responses
• Nested params use bracket notation: filter[nameContains]=test

Modern JSON APIs

Some newer services use JSON bodies with auth headers:

Regional deployments may use different base URLs (e.g., irp2 for EU, frp2 for DE). The URLs above are for the default NVP1 (US) region. Check your Kaltura account configuration for the correct regional endpoints.

Common Integration Flows

Upload → Process → Deliver → Embed

1. Upload content via chunked upload or import-from-URL
2. Poll for entry status to reach READY (status=2)
3. Enrich with REACH services (captions, translation, moderation, 23 service types) or Agents
4. Search your content library with eSearch
5. Embed the player in your application

Entry Status Lifecycle

Upload Lifecycle

uploadToken.add → uploadToken.upload (one or more chunks) → media.add → media.addContent

Use media.addContent with the appropriate resource type: KalturaUploadedFileTokenResource (local upload), KalturaUrlResource (URL import), KalturaEntryResource (copy from entry).

Capability Map — Detailed Guides

Read the relevant guide when you need to implement a specific capability:

Getting Started

• API Getting Started — API request structure, your first API call, multirequest batching with result chaining, error handling patterns, client libraries. Start here for API fundamentals.

• Content Model and Search Guide — The entry object model (KalturaBaseEntry hierarchy, KalturaMediaType, KalturaEntryType), how categories/custom metadata/tags/cue points differ, the upload-to-searchable pipeline, eSearch's content-gating indexing behavior, and the AI Genie Knowledge Base lifecycle (add/upload/get/delete, status semantics). Read this before designing where to store or search for content.

Content Management

• Upload & Ingestion API — Chunked/resumable uploads, import-from-URL, entry CRUD, flavor assets, attachmentAsset for non-media files, CSV export. Start here for any content ingestion workflow.

• Video Editing API — Trim, clip, multi-clip concatenation, overlay (PiP), chroma-key background replacement, nested composition, caption burn-in, fade effects, dimension control, audio mixing, waveform visualization. All via operation resources with media.updateContent / media.addContent.

• Content Delivery API — playManifest URLs (HLS/DASH), raw serve, download links, delivery profiles, CDN configuration, access control for playback.

• Thumbnail API — Dynamic thumbnail URL (27 params), thumbAsset CRUD, thumbParams templates.

• eSearch API — Full-text search across entries, captions, metadata, categories, and users. Supports AND/OR/NOT operators, nested filters, highlighting, facets, and sorting.

• Categories & Entitlements API — Hierarchical content taxonomy via category service, membership and entitlement via categoryUser, content assignment via categoryEntry. Accounts with entitlement enabled require disableentitlement KS privilege for cross-category operations.

• Access Control API — accessControlProfile rules with conditions (geo/IP/domain/scheduling restrictions) and actions (block/preview/limit flavors). Assign profiles to entries to enforce playback and access restrictions.

• Custom Metadata API — XSD-based metadata schemas via metadata_metadataProfile plugin service with Kaltura-native types (textType, dateType, objectType, listType) and <appinfo> annotations for KMC rendering. Per-object structured metadata CRUD via metadata_metadata with optimistic locking, XSLT transformation pipeline, and eSearch integration via KalturaESearchEntryMetadataItem.

• Captions & Transcripts API — Caption asset management (SRT/WebVTT/DFXP/SCC) via caption_captionAsset with two-step creation (add → setContent), on-the-fly WebVTT conversion, HLS segmented delivery, JSON serving for AI/LLM integrations, caption parameter templates via caption_captionParams, multi-language workflows, REACH integration for ASR/translation, and eSearch caption search via KalturaESearchCaptionItem.

• Moderation API — Content moderation with two systems: legacy queue (baseEntry.flag/approve/reject/listFlags with KalturaEntryModerationStatus 1-6) and AI-powered moderation via REACH (entryVendorTask with serviceFeature=15, LLM-based text analysis and AWS Rekognition visual moderation). Configurable policies with weighted rules, critical-rule overrides, and category auto-activation. Player plugin playkit-js-moderation for viewer content flagging.

• Cue Points & Interactive Video API — Hub guide for temporal metadata on video entries via cuepoint_cuepoint service. Covers architecture, base service CRUD, 8 cue point types, REST vs live push protocols, eSearch integration via KalturaESearchCuePointItem, player plugin ecosystem, bulk XML import. Links to 5 dedicated type guides below.

• Quiz API — Interactive video quiz lifecycle via quiz_quiz + userEntry services with 8 question types (MC, T/F, reflection, multi-answer, open, fill-in-blank, hotspot, go-to), 5 scoring models, PDF export, 4 report types, player IVQ plugin.

• Chapters & Slides API — Thumb cue points (chapter=subType 2, slide=subType 1), timedThumbAsset workflow (create, upload, serve, cascade delete), 5 slide creation pathways, navigation and dualscreen player plugins.

• Annotations API — Annotations with threaded parent-child replies, hotspot pattern (JSON partnerData), searchableOnEntry flag, navigation player plugin.

• Ad Cue Points API — VAST/VPAID ad insertion with 4 protocol types, pre-roll/mid-roll/overlay placement, protocol immutability, bumper player plugin.

• Code, Event & Session Cue Points API — Code cue points (view-change commands, systemName, forceStop), event cue points (BROADCAST_START/END, auto-created by media server), session cue points (recording boundaries), dualscreen player plugin.

Playback

• Player Embed Guide — Embed Kaltura's Player v7 via iframe or JavaScript SDK. Covers autoplay, clipping (start/end times), access-controlled playback with KS, and programmatic player control.

• Multi-Stream API — Dual/multi-screen entries for Picture-in-Picture and Side-by-Side layouts. Parent-child entry relationships, Dual Screen player plugin, runtime layout switching.

AI Services

• REACH API — Governed enrichment services marketplace: 23 service types (captions, translation, moderation, dubbing, AI clips, quiz, sentiment analysis, and more) delivered by Machine/AI and Human Professional vendors across 80+ languages. Includes credit management, vendor abstraction, content deletion policies, and REACH Automation Rules (Boolean event conditions, category conditions, always-on) for automatic processing.

• Agents Manager API — Create automated content-processing agents with triggers ("when a new entry is uploaded") and actions ("generate captions, then translate to Spanish"). Hands-free processing at scale.

• AI Genie API — Conversational AI search over your video library using RAG. Streaming responses with structured answers (flashcards, sources, follow-ups). Supports both semantic search and multi-turn conversations.

Events & User Management

• User Management API — Full user lifecycle via user service (add, get, list, update, delete), login and credential management (enableLogin/disableLogin), role-based access control (RBAC) via userRole service (add, get, list, update, clone, delete), and groups via group_group service with groupUser membership. User statuses: 0 (BLOCKED), 1 (ACTIVE), 2 (DELETED).

• Auth Broker API — SSO/SAML configuration microservice at https://auth.nvp1.ovp.kaltura.com/api/v1. Auth profiles (SAML IdP config with certificate, attribute mappings, group sync), app subscriptions (link apps to auth providers), SAML metadata endpoint, and SPA proxy for KMC. Uses Authorization: KS <KS> header (not Bearer).

• Events Platform API — Create and manage virtual events (town halls, webinars, conferences). Modern REST API with session types (Interactive Room, LiveWebcast, SimuLive), team members, speakers, templates, and event duplication. Multi-region support.

• App Registry API — Register and manage Kaltura application instances (KMS sites, Events Platform portals, custom apps). Each registered app gets a unique GUID used by other services to associate data with specific app contexts. When Events Platform creates a virtual event, the event ID becomes the appCustomId — use appCustomIdIn filter to resolve virtual event IDs to app GUIDs.

• User Profile API — Per-application user profile management with event attendance lifecycle tracking. Manage registration, attendance status progression (created → registered → confirmed → attended → participated), bulk user import, attendance reporting, and incremental data sync. Includes cross-service registration data retrieval (virtualEvent → App Registry → User Profile → user.list) and engagement analytics via Reports API (report IDs 3030, 3037). Depends on App Registry for app context.

• Messaging API — Template-based email messaging for event communications, attendee notifications, and personalized outreach. Create templates with dynamic tokens (user profile fields, magic login links, QR codes, unsubscribe links), send personalized emails to individual users or groups, track delivery status and engagement (opens, clicks, bounces), and manage CAN-SPAM compliant unsubscribe preferences. Depends on App Registry for app context (appGuid) and integrates with User Profile for recipient data.

Analytics & Gamification

• Analytics Reports API — Pull analytics data: report.getTable/getTotal/getGraphs for VOD/Live/Webcast metrics, CSV exports via getUrlForReportAsCsv and getCsvFromStringParams, async Reports Microservice (generate/serve), live analytics via liveReports.getEvents and beacon.list for stream health. Pipe-delimited response format with paging, date-range filters, and multi-request batching.

• Analytics Events Collection API — Report playback and engagement events back to Kaltura analytics. stats.collect for server-side player events (WIDGET_LOADED, PLAY, quartiles, SEEK, buffer, replay), analytics.trackEvent for application-level tracking (PageLoad, ButtonClicked). Supports appId KS privilege for per-application segmentation and custom event context fields.

• Gamification API — Leaderboards, badges, certificates, lead scoring, and a rules engine via the Game Services (SCM) microservice. Rule types: sum, count, countUnique, countBoolean, external, override. Participation policies (display/do_not_display/do_not_save with email domain or group matching). Sub-leaderboards with filterPaths. Certificate PDF generation with text overlays. External events via CSV import. Scheduled game objects for automated status transitions.

Experience Components

• Experience Components API — Index of all embeddable UI components with shared best practices for KS scoping, session expiry, and error handling.
• Express Recorder — Browser-based WebRTC video/audio/screen recording. Creates Kaltura entries on upload. JS embed with events and methods API.
• Captions Editor — Interactive caption editing with video/waveform sync. iframe embed with URL parameters. Requires existing captionAsset.
• Agentic Avatars — AI-powered conversational video avatars built on the intelligent-agents-sdk (@kaltura/intelligent-agents). Server-side provisioning and token minting, browser conversation runtime, GenUI, Presenter-guided walkthroughs, AI-disclosure gate.
• Chat & Collaborate — Real-time chat, Q&A, polls, reactions alongside video. Activated through Events Platform, not standalone.
• Genie Widget — Conversational AI search widget. ES module embed via Unisphere loader. Custom theming, 15 languages, content scoping. Player integration via 3 PlayKit plugins.
• Media Manager — Browsable media library widget. Select/manage modes, inline table or modal dialog visuals, category-scoped, upload flow, entry selection callbacks.
• Content Lab — AI content repurposing widget. Dual-runtime (application + ai-consent). Generates summaries, chapters, clips, quizzes from video. Entry eligibility checks, consent API.
• Agents Widget — Agent management drawer UI. Create/configure automated content-processing agents with triggers and actions. Connects to Agents Manager backend.
• VOD Avatar Studio — Pre-recorded avatar video studio. Script-to-video generation with AI avatars. Output saved as Kaltura media entries.
• Transparent Alpha-Channel Avatars — Advanced technique to get a real per-pixel alpha-channel WebM from a VOD Avatar render, via a custom flavor with a chroma-key + despill filter chain.
• Embeddable Analytics — Analytics dashboards via iframe + postMessage. viewsConfig for widget control, 9 dashboard views, 11 entity drill-downs, date filters.
• Unisphere Framework — Micro-frontend framework: loader, workspace lifecycle, 9 built-in services (pub-sub, storage, theme, analytics, logger), 15 embeddable widgets (Genie, Media Manager, Content Lab, Notifications, Avatars), player integration plugins, custom runtime development. CDN embedding (no npm needed) and npm build path.

Multi-Account Management

• Multi-Account Management API — Multi-account management: create child accounts via partner.register, cross-account auth via session.impersonate, aggregated analytics via multi-account report variants (20001-20023), per-account usage reports.

Sharing & Distribution

• Short Link API — Create, manage, and resolve shortened URLs (/tiny/{id}) for sharing Kaltura content. Supports expiration, status control (enable/disable/delete), and the KMC preview-link pattern.

• Content Distribution API — Push content to external platforms (YouTube, Facebook, FTP, Cross-Kaltura) via distribution connectors. Distribution profiles define automation rules (auto-submit on entry ready, moderation-gated, sunrise/sunset scheduling). Entry distributions track per-entry status through a state machine (PENDING → QUEUED → SUBMITTING → READY). Uses contentDistribution_* plugin services (distributionProvider, distributionProfile, entryDistribution).

• Syndication Feeds API — Generate RSS/MRSS/XML feeds (Google Video Sitemap, Yahoo MRSS, iTunes Podcast, Roku) that external platforms pull via HTTP GET. Feeds serve XML at public URLs with entry filtering, playlist scoping, and configurable caching (24h default, 30min with &limit=N). Uses the syndicationFeed service.

Integration & Automation

• Webhooks & Event Notifications API — Real-time HTTP webhooks and email notifications triggered by content events (entry ready, metadata changed, caption added, REACH task completed). Clone pre-built system templates, configure webhook URLs with HMAC signing, set event conditions, and use manual dispatch for testing. Email notifications are delivered via the Messaging Service (SendGrid) with delivery tracking and engagement analytics. Uses the eventnotification_eventnotificationtemplate API v3 plugin service. Boolean Event Notification Templates serve as conditions for REACH Automation Rules (documented in the REACH guide).

LMS Integration

• LTI Integration Guide — Integrate Kaltura video experiences into any LMS via LTI. KAF (Kaltura Application Framework) accepts LTI 1.1 (OAuth 1.0a) and LTI 1.3 (JWT/OIDC) launches and renders modules (My Media, Media Gallery, Content Picker, Genie AI, Avatar Studio, Meeting Room) inside LMS iframes. Covers authentication flows, privacy context, deep linking, grade passback, Caliper analytics, KAF standalone (KS-SSO), and SIS provisioning via Kaltura APIs.

Security & Best Practices

When building on Kaltura, follow these principles for production-quality integrations:

• Use AppTokens for production auth. Generate KS server-side via AppTokens; keep adminSecret on the server only. Create scoped tokens with minimal privileges and rotate periodically. See AppTokens API.
• Prefer USER KS (type=0) for end-user operations. Reserve ADMIN KS (type=2) for backend-only management. Scope privileges with edit:, sview:, setrole:, iprestrict:.
• Verify webhook signatures. Validate SHA256(signing_secret + body) on all incoming HTTP webhooks before processing.
• Use Kaltura's built-in services rather than reimplementing. REACH for enrichment services (captions, translation, moderation, and more), Agents Manager for automated processing, Messaging for email delivery, eSearch for search, Access Control for content protection.
• Handle errors and retries. Check every API response for error codes. Implement exponential backoff for transient failures (HTTP 500, rate limits). Log error codes for debugging.
• Set short KS expiry. Default to 1-4 hour sessions. Use AppToken session renewal rather than long-lived admin sessions.
• Sanitize inputs. Validate user-provided entry IDs, search terms, and metadata before passing to API calls.
• Use CAN-SPAM compliant email patterns. Include unsubscribe links and respect opt-out preferences when using the Messaging API.

Environment Setup

export KALTURA_SERVICE_URL="https://www.kaltura.com/api_v3"
export KALTURA_PARTNER_ID="your_partner_id"
export KALTURA_KS="your_kaltura_session"

Regional deployments may use different base URLs. Check with your Kaltura account configuration.