Search

Recommended Title Search Flow

To provide the best search experience, call both exact search and broader search, then combine the results:

1. Use exact search first for strong title matches.
2. Use broader search second for fuzzy and expanded matches.
3. De-duplicate results by Trakt ID.
4. Show exact matches first, followed by broader results.

This matches how Trakt's own frontend search works.

Exact Search

Use exact search when the user is looking for a known movie or show title.

GET /search/movie/exact?query=weapons

For shows:

GET /search/show/exact?query=from

Exact search is best for title-first results and should be the first request in an autocomplete or search results UI.

Broader Search

Use the broader search endpoint to include fuzzy matches and other relevant results.

GET /search/movie?query=weapons

For shows:

GET /search/show?query=from

Broader search can return useful related results, but ranking may differ from exact title expectations.

Example Combined Flow

exactResults = GET /search/movie/exact?query=weapons&extended=full&page=1&limit=1
broadResults = GET /search/movie?query=weapons&extended=full&page=1&limit=50

results = dedupeByTraktId([
  ...exactResults,
  ...broadResults,
])

Display the combined results in that order.