Search spoken instances
govtube_search_instancesRead-onlyIdempotent
Find spoken instances of words or a phrase across official videos and White House transcripts.
Returns one small page: counts for the whole result, then up to 5 videos (newest first, or most instances
first with sort="most_instances"), each with up to 3 passages (quotes; overlapping instances merged), each
passage listing its instances with citation id and share_url. `notes` and `more_passages` say what else
there is: use `next_cursor` for more videos, govtube_list_video_instances for the rest of one video, and
detail="full" for larger pages. White House transcripts have no timing (`timing_granularity` "document",
null times, a `position` and a `document_url`).
Input Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| sort | No | newest (default): event date, newest first. most_instances: most instances first; check order_exact in the response. | newest |
| query | Yes | Words to find. Put an exact phrase in double quotes: "no tax on tips". Unquoted words must occur within 8 words of each other. | |
| cursor | No | next_cursor from the previous page of the same search (same query and filters). | |
| detail | No | compact (default): small pages, passages only. full: the larger pages of the REST API (default 10 videos x 5), with every instance listed one by one as well as in passages. | compact |
| source | No | Only one source: house_floor_clerk (U.S. House floor), senate_floor_and_committees (U.S. Senate floor and committee hearings) or govinfo_dcpd (White House transcripts, no video timing). | |
| date_to | No | Latest event date, YYYY-MM-DD. | |
| speaker | No | Bioguide ID of a member of Congress, e.g. 'C001053' (Rep. Tom Cole). Matches speakers a person has confirmed. Names matched only from the on-screen caption are left out (the result counts them in unreviewed_excluded) unless include_unreviewed is true. Omit to search everyone. | |
| date_from | No | Earliest event date, YYYY-MM-DD. | |
| max_videos | No | Videos per page, 1 to 25. Default 5, or 10 with detail="full". | |
| include_unreviewed | No | With speaker: also return moments where that person was named from the on-screen caption and nobody has reviewed the name yet. They are labelled 'matched from on-screen name, not reviewed'; say so when you quote them. | |
| max_instances_per_video | No | Passages per video, 1 to 20 (with detail="full", also instances). Default 3, or 5 with detail="full". |
Output Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| sort | Yes | ||
| notes | Yes | ||
| query | Yes | ||
| counts | Yes | ||
| detail | Yes | ||
| limits | Yes | ||
| videos | Yes | ||
| next_cursor | Yes | ||
| order_exact | Yes | ||
| normalized_query | Yes | ||
| unreviewed_excluded | No |