search: Search for terms

API: ac.uk:embl-ebi-ontology-lookup-service-ols-api
Endpoint: /search
Response format: application/json
Charset: utf-8
Auth: none
Method: GET
Last Status: 200
Latency: 7121ms

Description

Full-text search across all ontologies. Returns matching terms with relevance scoring and facet information.

Parameters (5)

ontology (string, query, optional)

Filter by ontology ID (e.g., 'go', 'doid')

q (string, query, required)

Search query string (e.g., 'cancer', 'biological process')

rows (integer, query, optional, default: 10)

Number of results to return

start (integer, query, optional, default: 0)

Starting offset for pagination

type (string, query, optional)

Filter by entity type (e.g., 'class', 'property')

Examples (4)

Search Ontologies openapi-spec
curl 'https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ols4/api/search?q=cancer'
import requests

resp = requests.get(
    "https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ols4/api/search",
    params={
        'q': 'cancer',
    },
)
data = resp.json()
import zingu_apis

api = zingu_apis.api("embl-ebi-ontology-lookup-service-ols")
result = api.fetch("search", q="cancer")

for item in result:
    print(item)
const resp = await fetch("https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ols4/api/search?q=cancer");
const data = await resp.json();
Search across ontologies openapi-spec
curl 'https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ols4/api/search?q=insulin&ontology=go%2C+doid'
import requests

resp = requests.get(
    "https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ols4/api/search",
    params={
        'q': 'insulin',
        'ontology': 'go, doid',
    },
)
data = resp.json()
import zingu_apis

api = zingu_apis.api("embl-ebi-ontology-lookup-service-ols")
result = api.fetch("search", q="insulin", ontology="go, doid")

for item in result:
    print(item)
const resp = await fetch("https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ols4/api/search?q=insulin&ontology=go%2C+doid");
const data = await resp.json();
Search across ontologies probe-gate
curl 'https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ols4/api/search?q=insulin&ontology=go%2C+doid&exact=False&page=0&size=20'
import requests

resp = requests.get(
    "https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ols4/api/search",
    params={
        'q': 'insulin',
        'ontology': 'go, doid',
        'exact': 'False',
        'page': '0',
        'size': '20',
    },
)
data = resp.json()
import zingu_apis

api = zingu_apis.api("embl-ebi-ontology-lookup-service-ols")
result = api.fetch("search", q="insulin", ontology="go, doid", exact="False", page=0, size=20)

for item in result:
    print(item)
const resp = await fetch("https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ols4/api/search?q=insulin&ontology=go%2C+doid&exact=False&page=0&size=20");
const data = await resp.json();
Search across ontologies openapi-spec
curl 'https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ols4/api/search?q=diabetes&ontology=go%2Cefo'
import requests

resp = requests.get(
    "https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ols4/api/search",
    params={
        'q': 'diabetes',
        'ontology': 'go,efo',
    },
)
data = resp.json()
import zingu_apis

api = zingu_apis.api("embl-ebi-ontology-lookup-service-ols")
result = api.fetch("search", q="diabetes", ontology="go,efo")

for item in result:
    print(item)
const resp = await fetch("https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ols4/api/search?q=diabetes&ontology=go%2Cefo");
const data = await resp.json();

Probe History

Latency

Status Codes

TimeStatusLatencySize
2026-04-16 17:12:50.786814 200 7121ms
2026-04-16 01:43:27.546907 200 6190ms
2026-04-16 01:25:56.111542 200 860ms
2026-04-16 01:05:23.066476 200 832ms
2026-04-16 00:11:41.544368 200 598ms
2026-04-15 02:57:37.357193 200 386ms
2026-04-15 02:34:28.824865 200 1896ms
2026-04-15 02:17:47.596349 200 335ms
2026-04-15 01:13:02.209833 200 479ms
2026-04-14 03:27:52.175664 200 669ms
2026-04-14 02:48:13.120950 200 1539ms
2026-04-14 01:54:46.698618 200 836ms
2026-04-14 00:26:37.529804 200 654ms
2026-04-12 16:05:44.128984 200 509ms
2026-04-12 15:51:19.257477 200 719ms
2026-04-12 15:19:31.063114 200 685ms
2026-04-12 14:31:45.593871 200 958ms
2026-04-10 06:43:33.710193 200 571ms
2026-04-10 02:19:32.321886 200 429ms
2026-04-10 01:19:30.613199 200 147ms
2026-04-10 00:38:31.567715 200 183ms
2026-04-09 01:31:07.423978 200 315ms
2026-04-09 01:16:56.656209 200 439ms
2026-04-09 01:15:48.179107 200 227ms
2026-04-09 00:10:29.856685 200 371ms
2026-04-08 07:37:49.491703 200 315ms
2026-04-08 07:23:15.588828 200 439ms
2026-04-08 00:14:50.991101 200 547ms
2026-04-08 00:10:29.509595 200 303ms
2026-04-07 01:51:09.151187 200 241ms
2026-04-07 01:35:51.783388 200 430ms
2026-04-07 01:25:22.250283 200 257ms
2026-04-07 01:22:36.584487 200 240ms
2026-04-06 00:10:49.582602 200 1025ms
2026-04-06 00:09:37.186560 200 1868ms
2026-04-05 20:07:36.310957 200 393ms
2026-04-05 17:57:42.964240 ERR
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