GET /search
ac.uk:embl-ebi-ontology-lookup-service-ols-api
Summary: Search across ontologies
Operation ID: search
Auth: unknown
Operation ID: search
Auth: unknown
Description
Search for terms across all ontologies using Solr/Lucene query syntax
Parameters (9)
childrenOf
(string, query, optional)
Filter to children of specified term IRI
exact
(boolean, query, optional, default: False)
Match exact label only
local
(boolean, query, optional, default: False)
Return only terms from defining ontology
obsoletes
(boolean, query, optional, default: False)
Include obsolete terms
ontology
(string, query, optional)
Filter by ontology ID (can be multiple, comma-separated)
q
(string, query, required)
Search query string
rows
(integer, query, optional, default: 10)
Number of results to return
start
(integer, query, optional, default: 0)
Offset for pagination
type
(string, query, optional)
Filter by entity type
Constraints: {'enum': ['class', 'property', 'individual']}
Examples (4)
| Title | Type | URL | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search Ontologies | openapi-spec |
https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ols4/api/search?q=cancer |
|
| Search across ontologies | openapi-spec |
https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ols4/api/search?q=insulin&ontology=go, doid |
|
| Search across ontologies | probe-gate |
https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ols4/api/search?q=insulin&ontology=go%2C+doid&exact=False&page=0&size=20 |
|
| Search across ontologies | openapi-spec |
https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ols4/api/search?q=diabetes&ontology=go,efo |
Probe History
Status Codes
| Time | Status | Latency | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-03-23 10:15:43.332680 | 200 | 309ms | |
| 2026-03-23 09:33:51.440080 | 200 | 164ms | |
| 2026-03-23 09:21:36.598514 | 200 | 158ms | |
| 2026-03-23 09:03:48.026329 | 200 | 240ms |
Response Changes
| When | Old | New |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-03-23 09:21:36.598514 | 0210c66f4813 |
dd1fe5a1abb2 |
| 2026-03-23 09:33:51.440080 | dd1fe5a1abb2 |
826497ec2e4f |
| 2026-03-23 10:15:43.332680 | 826497ec2e4f |
4c41efaa01b6 |