Search Bring a Trailer API

Endpoint facts

Method

GET

API path

/bringatrailer/search

Auth

apiKey

Credits

2 credits/request

Charged on

Successful 2xx responses only

Platform

Bring a Trailer

Response schema

#/definitions/bringatrailer.searchResponseDoc

How this endpoint behaves

q is required: 2 to 100 characters without double quotes (for example turbo, sunroof delete or 1955). The search matches words across titles, descriptions and story text; it is not a filtered listing query, so use bringatrailer-results with make, model_id, era and the other filters when you need to narrow the archive, and this endpoint when you want what the site search box returns.

Parameters:

• section chooses what to return. all (default) returns every list; live_listings, models, previous_auctions, events and stories return only that list and page through it.
• page starts at 1. Models, events and stories show 12 rows per page and previous auctions 24; per_page in the response states this. With section=all, page advances every list together.
• phrase=true matches q as an exact phrase.

Notable response behavior:

• Exact make, model and category names redirect. A term that is exactly a make, a model or a category (Ferrari, BMW 2002, boat) makes the site answer with that page instead of results. The response then has redirect (kind is make, model or page, with the page's url and path) and empty lists. Send the same term with phrase=true to run the search anyway, or use bringatrailer-makes and bringatrailer-results for the make or model.
• totals has a key only for lists the search matched: live_listings, models, previous_auctions, events, stories. total is their sum for section=all and the list's own count otherwise. A term with no hits returns total: 0, empty lists and an empty totals.
• live_listings come back only on page 1 (the site repeats them on every page), at most 100; live_listings_truncated is true when more matched. They have the same shape as bringatrailer-live rows.
• previous_auctions rows are the search-page cards: status is sold, reserve_not_met or withdrawn, price and currency are the final or high bid, and ends_at is a calendar date (2026-11-02), not a timestamp, because the card shows only the date. Year, era, categories, comments, watchers and views are not on the card; open the listing with bringatrailer-listing for those.
• models rows give make and model slugs and the page path. The slugs are the URL segments, not the numeric model_id that bringatrailer-results takes; look the model up in bringatrailer-makes.
• stories carry published_date from the story URL, and events carry the date text the page shows.
• Member profiles that the site search also lists are never returned.
• A page past the last one returns empty lists with the same totals.

Example request: /api/v1/bringatrailer/search?q=sunroof%20delete&section=stories

Example response (trimmed):

{
  "code": 200,
  "data": {
    "query": "sunroof delete",
    "phrase": false,
    "section": "stories",
    "page": 1,
    "per_page": {
      "events": 12,
      "models": 12,
      "previous_auctions": 24,
      "stories": 12
    },
    "total": 4,
    "totals": {
      "stories": 4
    },
    "live_listings": [],
    "models": [],
    "previous_auctions": [],
    "events": [],
    "stories": [
      {
        "title": "One Owner 5-Speed/Sunroof Delete: 1980 Porsche 928",
        "url": "https://bringatrailer.com/2017/01/05/1980-porsche-928-all-original-california-car/",
        "published_date": "2017-01-05",
        "image_url": "https://bringatrailer.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/example.jpg?w=470&h=318&crop=1"
      }
    ]
  },
  "msg": "OK"
}

A previous-auction row from section=previous_auctions:

{
  "id": 5194332,
  "title": "1996 BMW M3 Coupe 5-Speed w/ Sunroof Delete",
  "url": "https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1996-bmw-m3-17/",
  "status": "reserve_not_met",
  "price": 11800,
  "price_text": "USD $11,800",
  "currency": "USD",
  "result_text": "Bid to USD $11,800 on 10/3/2018",
  "ends_at": "2018-10-03",
  "country": "United States",
  "country_code": "US",
  "no_reserve": false,
  "premium": false,
  "repeat": true
}

A redirected term (q=ferrari, no phrase):

{
  "code": 200,
  "data": {
    "query": "ferrari",
    "phrase": false,
    "section": "all",
    "page": 1,
    "total": 0,
    "totals": {},
    "redirect": {
      "url": "https://bringatrailer.com/ferrari/",
      "path": "ferrari",
      "kind": "make"
    },
    "live_listings": [],
    "models": [],
    "previous_auctions": [],
    "events": [],
    "stories": []
  },
  "msg": "OK"
}

Section values: all, live_listings, models, previous_auctions, events, stories.

Sampled response

Request, 6 Nov 2026

GET /bringatrailer/search?q=turbo&section=previous_auctions

Items in previous_auctions

24

Fields filled in every checked item

16

Shared guides

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