---
title: "Search the vector library"
method: POST
path: "/vector_library_search"
tags: ["Enzymes & cloning"]
---

# Search the vector library

`POST /vector_library_search`

## Request

- Base URL: `https://seqbench.com/api/v1`
- URL: `https://seqbench.com/api/v1/vector_library_search`
- Auth: none required

Browse a curated library of publicly deposited, feature-annotated cloning and expression vectors — by name, category (E. coli cloning/expression, yeast, mammalian, plant binary, BAC/fosmid, recombineering, phage/M13), length window, or annotated feature (e.g. 'T7 promoter', 'ori', 'AmpR'). Each hit reports the vector's accession, length, topology and feature count; vector_library_get returns the sequence and the full feature table. A curated public-record set, NOT a vendor catalog — see the gate's notChecked.

## Request body

- object
  - `query` string: Substring of the vector name or its GenBank definition (case- and punctuation-insensitive, min 2 characters).
  - `category` string: Restrict to one category. An unknown category is an error, not an empty result.
  - `feature` string: Substring of an annotated feature's label, type or note (min 2 characters), e.g. "T7 promoter", "kanR", "rep_origin".
  - `minLength` integer: Smallest vector length in bp.
  - `maxLength` integer: Largest vector length in bp.
  - `limit` integer: Maximum hits to return. Capped at 100; asking for more is an error, not a silent truncation.

## Response `200`

Tool ran successfully.

- SuccessResponse: Standard success envelope returned by every single-tool call.
  - `ok` unknown, required
  - `tool` string, required: The tool slug that ran.
  - `result` object, required: Tool-specific output object. Its shape depends on the tool — call `GET /{tool}` or see the docs for each tool's fields.
  - `gate` GateResult
    - `pass` boolean, required: True if and only if every hard check passed.
    - `checks` GateCheck[], required
      - `id` string, required
      - `label` string, required
      - `severity` 'hard' | 'soft', required
      - `pass` boolean, required
      - `message` string, required
      - `value` number
      - `threshold` string
    - `notChecked` string[], required: Honest list of what this gate does NOT verify.
  - `provenance` Provenance, required
    - `apiVersion` string, required
    - `tool` union, required: Tool slug, or an array of slugs (one per step) for a workflow.
      - string
      - string[]
    - `generatedAt` string, date-time, required: ISO 8601 timestamp of when the result was generated.

## Other responses

- `400`: Invalid argument or the tool could not run.
- `404`: Unknown tool.
- `429`: Rate limited (metered tools only). Body carries code `rate_limited` and retryable `true`; honor the Retry-After header.
- `503`: A metered tool is momentarily at capacity. The identical request should succeed after Retry-After; body carries code `upstream_unavailable`.

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/seqbench/apis/seqbench-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/seqbench/apis/seqbench-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc.dev/seqbench/apis/seqbench-api/revisions/132575216865?raw)