Probe.dev API Documentation

Overview

Probe.dev can analyze media files from various sources. Simply provide a direct link to your media file, and our API will securely fetch and analyze it.

Public URLs

The simplest approach is to provide a direct HTTP/HTTPS URL to your media file:

{
    "url": "https://example.com/videos/sample.mp4"
}

Requirements:

Must be publicly accessible
Must be a direct link to the media file (not a webpage)
Supports HTTP and HTTPS protocols

Amazon S3 Integration

Public S3 Buckets

For publicly accessible S3 objects, use the standard S3 URL format:

{
    "url": "https://my-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/path/to/video.mp4"
}

Key-Based Authorization

For private S3 objects, include your AWS access credentials directly in the URL:

https://KEY:SECRET@s3.amazonaws.com/BUCKET/PATH
s3://KEY:SECRET@BUCKET/PATH

Example:

{
    "url": "https://AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE:wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY@s3.amazonaws.com/my-bucket/video.mp4"
}

Be careful when using access keys in URLs as they may appear in logs. Consider using presigned URLs for better security.

Presigned URLs

For private S3 objects, create a presigned URL with temporary access:

{
    "url": "https://my-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/sample-video.mp4?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE%2F20250506%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20250506T121314Z&X-Amz-Expires=86400&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=9a1b2c3d4e5f6a7b8c9d0e1f2a3b4c5d6e7f8a9b0c1d2e3f4a5b6c7d8e9f0a1"
}

Benefits:

Temporary access (configurable expiration)
No credentials in the URL path
More secure than embedded keys

Creating Presigned URLs

AWS CLI

AWS SDK (Node.js)

Use the AWS SDK to generate presigned URLs programmatically:

const AWS = require('aws-sdk');
const s3 = new AWS.S3();

const params = {
    Bucket: 'my-bucket',
    Key: 'video.mp4',
    Expires: 3600 // 1 hour
};

const url = s3.getSignedUrl('getObject', params);

AWS SDK (Python)

Generate presigned URLs with boto3:

import boto3
from botocore.exceptions import ClientError

s3_client = boto3.client('s3')

try:
    response = s3_client.generate_presigned_url(
        'get_object',
        Params={'Bucket': 'my-bucket', 'Key': 'video.mp4'},
        ExpiresIn=3600
    )
except ClientError as e:
    logging.error(e)
    return None

Other Cloud Storage

Google Cloud Storage

{
    "url": "https://storage.googleapis.com/my-bucket/video.mp4"
}

Azure Blob Storage

{
    "url": "https://mystorageaccount.blob.core.windows.net/my-container/video.mp4"
}

Cloudflare R2

{
    "url": "https://my-bucket.r2.cloudflarestorage.com/video.mp4"
}

CDN and Streaming Services

Probe.dev works with media served through CDNs and streaming platforms:

Content Delivery Networks

CloudFront - Amazon’s CDN
CloudFlare - Global CDN
Fastly - Edge cloud platform
KeyCDN - High performance CDN

Streaming Platforms

Vimeo - Direct links to video files
YouTube - Public video URLs
Twitch - VOD direct links

Some platforms require specific URL formats or may have rate limiting. Ensure you’re using direct media file URLs, not embed links.

URL Validation Tips

Valid URL Examples ✅

https://example.com/video.mp4
https://cdn.example.com/media/stream.mkv
https://bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/folder/file.avi
ftp://server.com/media/video.mov

Invalid URL Examples ❌

https://youtube.com/watch?v=abc123        // Embed page, not direct file
https://example.com/player.html           // HTML player page
https://drive.google.com/file/d/abc       // Google Drive share link
file:///local/path/video.mp4              // Local file path

Security Best Practices

Access Control

Use presigned URLs for private content
Set appropriate expiration times
Limit access to specific IP ranges when possible
Monitor access logs for unusual activity

URL Management

Don’t embed credentials in URLs when possible
Use HTTPS for all media URLs
Validate URLs before sending to API
Consider URL shortening for very long presigned URLs

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Error	Cause	Solution
`403 Forbidden`	Private content, credentials missing	Use presigned URL or add credentials
`404 Not Found`	Incorrect URL or file doesn’t exist	Verify URL and file existence
`Timeout`	Large file or slow connection	Check file size and network connectivity
`Invalid URL`	Malformed URL	Validate URL format

Testing Media Sources

Verify your media URL is accessible:

# Test with curl
curl -I "https://your-media-url.com/video.mp4"

# Should return HTTP 200 and Content-Type: video/*

Essentials

Integration Guides

Media Sources

Overview

Public URLs

Amazon S3 Integration

Public S3 Buckets

Key-Based Authorization

Presigned URLs

Creating Presigned URLs

Other Cloud Storage

Google Cloud Storage

Azure Blob Storage

Cloudflare R2

CDN and Streaming Services

Content Delivery Networks

Streaming Platforms

URL Validation Tips

Valid URL Examples ✅

Invalid URL Examples ❌

Security Best Practices

Access Control

URL Management

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Testing Media Sources

Next Steps

Report Types

Sample Library

Essentials

Integration Guides

​Overview

​Public URLs

​Amazon S3 Integration

​Public S3 Buckets

​Key-Based Authorization

​Presigned URLs

​Creating Presigned URLs

​Other Cloud Storage

​Google Cloud Storage

​Azure Blob Storage

​Cloudflare R2

​CDN and Streaming Services

​Content Delivery Networks

​Streaming Platforms

​URL Validation Tips

​Valid URL Examples ✅

​Invalid URL Examples ❌

​Security Best Practices

Access Control

URL Management

​Troubleshooting

​Common Issues

​Testing Media Sources

​Next Steps

Report Types

Sample Library

Overview

Public URLs

Amazon S3 Integration

Public S3 Buckets

Key-Based Authorization

Presigned URLs

Creating Presigned URLs

Other Cloud Storage

Google Cloud Storage

Azure Blob Storage

Cloudflare R2

CDN and Streaming Services

Content Delivery Networks

Streaming Platforms

URL Validation Tips

Valid URL Examples ✅

Invalid URL Examples ❌

Security Best Practices

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Testing Media Sources

Next Steps