API Usage & Basics

The Full API Reference covers all API methods.

It details the request methods, authentication and authorization requirements, and response formats for every supported operation.

All of that documentation has these components as its basis:

Globus Search is a web API which communicates over the HTTP protocol using a RESTful data model.

1.1. URLs

The Search API is reached at https://search.api.globus.org/

URLs and URIs in this documentation will usually omit this piece, so the text

GET /foo/bar

should be interpreted as referring to an HTTP GET request against

https://search.api.globus.org/foo/bar

1.1.1. Globus Preview URL

In the Globus Preview environment, the Search API can be found at https://search.api.preview.globus.org.

2. Authentication & Authorization

Some features of Search don’t have any authorization or authentication requirements. These can be accessed over HTTPS with no credentials.

API methods are which are documented as requiring authentication must be authenticated with a Globus Auth token. They will document the scopes which they need.

2.1. Authorization Header

Globus Search authorizes access with Globus Auth. It therefore requires that any authenticated calls be made with a bearer Authorization header:

Authorization: Bearer <token_string>

The token string is an Access Token provided via Globus Auth.

2.2. Scopes

Access tokens for Globus Search have one of the following scopes:

Name Full Scope String Definition

ingest

urn:globus:auth:scope:search.api.globus.org:ingest

The token authorizes the call to write data into Search

search

urn:globus:auth:scope:search.api.globus.org:search

The token authorizes the call to query data from Search

all

urn:globus:auth:scope:search.api.globus.org:all

The token authorizes the activities of both ingest and search

Globus Search evaluates and enforces permissions after successful authentication. In particular, a user may be

  • An admin of an index

  • A writer of an index

  • A member of the visible_to list of a document

These permissions are all evaluated against the linked identities and Globus Group memberships of a user.