Searching Through Videos

Overview

VidNavigator supports two distinct search workflows: global platform search discovers videos on YouTube or TikTok, while semantic (vector) search finds relevant information in already indexed YouTube channel content and uploaded files.

Prerequisites

A valid VidNavigator API key.
The Python or JavaScript SDK installed in your project.

Billing

Billing depends on which search you run:

Semantic search over indexed content consumes one search_request per call. This includes indexed YouTube channel search and file search (/search/file); file search can also bill analysis_request if the AI analysis pass runs. 1 credit covers 1,000 semantic searches.
Global YouTube search (/youtube/search) does not bill search_request. It bills one residential_request per candidate video analyzed, plus a single consolidated analysis_request (ceil(total_tokens / 15000)). See Search YouTube.
TikTok keyword search (/tiktok/search) does not bill search_request; it bills per residential page fetched. See TikTok Search.

Searching Videos

Searching Across YouTube

This example demonstrates how to search for videos on YouTube that match a specific query, via the /youtube/search endpoint.

Using the Python SDK

from vidnavigator import VidNavigatorClient, VidNavigatorError

client = VidNavigatorClient()

try:
    results = client.search_videos(
        query="What are the best practices for React development?",
        focus="relevance",
        start_year=2022
    )
    print(f"Found {len(results.data['results'])} relevant videos:")
    for video in results.data['results']:
        print(f"- {video['title']} ({video['url']})")
except VidNavigatorError as e:
    print(f"An error occurred: {e.message}")

Using the JavaScript SDK

const { VidNavigatorClient, VidNavigatorError } = require('vidnavigator');

const client = new VidNavigatorClient({
  apiKey: process.env.VIDNAVIGATOR_API_KEY,
});

async function searchOnlineVideos() {
  try {
    const results = await client.searchVideos({
      query: "What are the best practices for React development?",
      focus: "relevance",
      start_year: 2022
    });
    console.log(`Found ${results.data.results.length} relevant videos:`);
    results.data.results.forEach(video => {
      console.log(`- ${video.title} (${video.url})`);
    });
  } catch (error) {
    if (error instanceof VidNavigatorError) {
      console.error(`An error occurred: ${error.message}`);
    } else {
      console.error("An unexpected error occurred:", error);
    }
  }
}

searchOnlineVideos();

Searching Your Uploaded Files

This example demonstrates how to search across the files you have uploaded to VidNavigator. Each result includes namespace_ids and namespaces showing which namespaces the file belongs to.

Using the Python SDK

from vidnavigator import VidNavigatorClient, VidNavigatorError

client = VidNavigatorClient()

try:
    results = client.search_files(query="Customer feedback on pricing")
    print(f"Found {len(results.data['results'])} relevant files:")
    for file_result in results.data['results']:
        ns_names = [ns['name'] for ns in file_result.get('namespaces', [])]
        print(f"- {file_result['name']} (File ID: {file_result['id']}, Namespaces: {ns_names})")
except VidNavigatorError as e:
    print(f"An error occurred: {e.message}")

Using the JavaScript SDK

const { VidNavigatorClient, VidNavigatorError } = require('vidnavigator');

const client = new VidNavigatorClient({
  apiKey: process.env.VIDNAVIGATOR_API_KEY,
});

async function searchUploadedFiles() {
  try {
    const results = await client.searchFiles({ query: "Customer feedback on pricing" });
    console.log(`Found ${results.results.length} relevant files:`);
    results.results.forEach(fileResult => {
      const nsNames = (fileResult.namespaces || []).map(ns => ns.name);
      console.log(`- ${fileResult.name} (File ID: ${fileResult.id}, Namespaces: ${nsNames})`);
    });
  } catch (error) {
    if (error instanceof VidNavigatorError) {
      console.error(`An error occurred: ${error.message}`);
    } else {
      console.error("An unexpected error occurred:", error);
    }
  }
}

searchUploadedFiles();

Filtering File Search by Namespace

You can restrict search to specific namespaces by passing namespace_ids. If omitted, all namespaces are searched.

results = client.search_files(
    query="Customer feedback on pricing",
    namespace_ids=["64a1b2c3d4e5f6789abc0002"]
)

const results = await client.searchFiles({
  query: "Customer feedback on pricing",
  namespace_ids: ["64a1b2c3d4e5f6789abc0002"]
});

Get Started

User Guides

Overview

Prerequisites

Billing

Searching Videos

Searching Across YouTube

Using the Python SDK

Using the JavaScript SDK

Searching Your Uploaded Files

Using the Python SDK

Using the JavaScript SDK

Filtering File Search by Namespace

​Overview

​Prerequisites

​Billing

​Searching Videos

​Searching Across YouTube

​Using the Python SDK

​Using the JavaScript SDK

​Searching Your Uploaded Files

​Using the Python SDK

​Using the JavaScript SDK

​Filtering File Search by Namespace

Overview

Prerequisites

Billing

Searching Videos

Searching Across YouTube

Using the Python SDK

Using the JavaScript SDK

Searching Your Uploaded Files

Using the Python SDK

Using the JavaScript SDK

Filtering File Search by Namespace