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Kaltura Experience Components API

Experience Components are front-end embeddable apps and widgets that simplify building rich media agentic applications. Instead of building recording, editing, or collaboration UIs from scratch, embed a Kaltura component and integrate via events and configuration.

Base URL: Varies per component — see individual guide for embed URLs
Auth: KS passed via config object, URL parameter, or SDK constructor
Format: JavaScript embed, iframe embed, or SDK

1. When to Use

  • Embedding video experiences — Add video galleries, media libraries, playback, recording, and AI-powered widgets to your website or portal without building custom video UIs.
  • No-code video UIs — Provide end users with ready-made interfaces for browsing media, editing captions, generating AI summaries, and managing content-processing agents, all embeddable via script tags or iframes.
  • Portal and LMS integration — Embed Kaltura components (Player, Media Manager, Content Lab) into learning management systems, intranets, and customer-facing portals for seamless video workflows.
  • AI-powered content tools — Give users access to Genie (conversational video search), Content Lab (AI content repurposing), VOD Avatar Studio (scripted avatar videos), and Agents (automated processing) through embeddable widgets.
  • Custom application composition — Combine multiple Kaltura components in a single page to build tailored video-centric applications (e.g., a media page with Player, Transcript, and Genie side-by-side).

2. Prerequisites

  • KS (Kaltura Session): Each component requires a KS scoped to its needs. USER KS (type=0) for playback and read-only components; ADMIN KS (type=2) for analytics dashboards. Generate KS tokens server-side and pass them to client-side components.
  • Component-specific privileges: Express Recorder requires editadmintags:*; Genie requires setrole:PLAYBACK_BASE_ROLE; Embeddable Analytics requires an ADMIN KS. See individual component guides for exact privilege requirements.
  • HTTPS hosting: All component embed URLs and host pages must use HTTPS for WebRTC, iframe security, and ES module loading.
  • Session management: See Session Guide for KS generation and privilege scoping.

3. Components

Component Embed Format Auth Standalone Guide
Player (PlayKit) iframe or JS KS in provider config Player Embed Guide
Express Recorder JS (<script>) KS in config object Express Recorder
Captions Editor iframe KS as URL param Captions Editor
Conversational Avatar JS (iframe via SDK) Client ID + Flow ID Conversational Avatar
Chat & Collaborate Managed by Events Platform Event session context Chat & Collaborate
Genie Widget ES module KS in runtime settings Genie Widget
Media Manager ES module KS in runtime settings Media Manager
Content Lab ES module KS in runtime settings Content Lab
Agents Widget ES module KS in runtime settings Agents Widget
VOD Avatar Studio ES module KS in runtime settings VOD Avatar Studio
Embeddable Analytics iframe + postMessage ADMIN KS via postMessage Embeddable Analytics

Each component creates, modifies, or interacts with Kaltura content and services — Express Recorder creates new media entries, Captions Editor modifies caption assets, the Player delivers content, and the Avatar drives AI conversations.

4. Component Summaries

Player (PlayKit) — The most widely used component. Adaptive video/audio playback with 30+ plugins for interactivity, accessibility, and analytics. Supports iframe and JavaScript embed modes with a rich event API and plugin ecosystem. See Player Embed Guide.

Express Recorder — Browser-based WebRTC recording for video, audio, and screen sharing. Creates Kaltura entries automatically upon upload. Supports Chrome, Firefox, and Opera. See Express Recorder Guide.

Captions Editor (Captions Studio) — Interactive caption editing with synchronized video playback and audio waveform visualization. Embedded as an iframe with URL parameters. Requires an existing caption asset. See Captions Editor Guide.

Conversational Avatar — AI-powered video avatars for real-time conversations. The embed creates a sandboxed iframe and communicates via postMessage. Supports Dynamic Page Prompts to configure persona and behavior at runtime. See Conversational Avatar Guide. Kaltura also offers a full Avatar SDK (@unisphere/models-sdk-js) for direct WebRTC rendering and backend API control — the standalone guide covers both approaches.

Chat & Collaborate (CnC) — Real-time chat, Q&A, polls, announcements, and reactions alongside video content. Activated through the Events Platform — not a standalone embed. See Chat & Collaborate Guide.

Genie Widget — Conversational AI search over your video library. Users ask natural-language questions and receive structured answers with video clip citations. Loaded as an ES module via the Unisphere loader. See Genie Widget Guide.

Media Manager — Browsable media library for selecting, uploading, and managing Kaltura entries. Supports inline table and modal dialog visual modes with select and manage modes. Scoped to categories for content organization. Loaded as an ES module via the Unisphere loader. See Media Manager Guide.

Content Lab — AI-powered content repurposing from video entries. Generates summaries, chapters, clips, quizzes, and other derived content. Uses dual runtimes — an application runtime for the main UI and an ai-consent runtime for the AI approval flow. Loaded as an ES module via the Unisphere loader. See Content Lab Guide.

Agents Widget — UI for managing automated content-processing agents. Users create and configure agents with triggers (new upload, category assignment) and actions (captions, translation, summary, moderation). Renders as a drawer panel. Loaded as an ES module via the Unisphere loader. See Agents Widget Guide. For AI moderation policies, rules, and scoring, see the Moderation API Guide.

VOD Avatar Studio — Studio for creating pre-recorded avatar video presentations from scripts. Users select an AI avatar, enter a script, and generate a professional video saved as a Kaltura entry. For real-time conversational avatars, see the Conversational Avatar guide instead. See VOD Avatar Studio Guide.

Embeddable Analytics — Analytics visualization dashboards embedded via iframe with a postMessage protocol. Provides the same views as the KMC — engagement, technology, geo, contributors, live stream health, and entity drill-downs. See Embeddable Analytics Guide.

5. Shared Best Practices

  • Scope the KS for each component. Express Recorder needs editadmintags:*. Captions Editor needs edit permissions for caption assets. Genie needs setrole:PLAYBACK_BASE_ROLE. Analytics needs ADMIN KS (type=2). Use the minimum privileges required for each component.
  • Handle session expiry for long-lived embeds. Recording, caption editing, and avatar conversations can last longer than a typical KS TTL. Generate a KS with sufficient expiry for the expected session duration, or implement KS renewal in your application. For Embeddable Analytics, send an updateConfig message with a fresh KS.
  • Verify entry readiness. After Express Recorder uploads, the entry goes through transcoding. Poll media.get for status=2 (READY) before redirecting users to playback or caption editing.
  • Use HTTPS for all embed URLs. All component embed URLs must use HTTPS for WebRTC, secure media access, iframe security policies, and ES module imports.
  • Generate client-facing KS tokens server-side. Components like Genie and the Player expose the KS in client-side code. Generate USER sessions (type=0) with minimal privileges on your backend. Never embed admin secrets in client-side code.

6. Error Handling Overview

Each standalone guide includes component-specific error handling. Common patterns across all components:

  • KS expiry during long sessions — Components do not automatically renew expired sessions. Uploads, saves, and API calls fail silently when the KS expires. Generate tokens with sufficient expiry or implement renewal logic.
  • Missing permissions — Components that require specific KS privileges (e.g., editadmintags:* for Express Recorder, analytics role for Embeddable Analytics) fail silently or show empty UIs when permissions are missing.
  • Container/iframe not rendered — Verify CSS selectors match existing DOM elements, iframe src URLs are accessible over HTTPS, and container elements have explicit dimensions.

7. Related Guides