---
title: "Import Media from URL"
method: POST
path: "/medias/import_url"
tags: ["Media"]
---

# Import Media from URL

`POST /medias/import_url`

## Request

- Base URL: `https://api.wistia.com/modern`
- URL: `https://api.wistia.com/modern/medias/import_url`
- Auth: HTTP bearer

This endpoint imports a media file from a given URL. The import is processed
asynchronously and will return a background_job_status object rather than the
typical Media response object. You can poll the background job status endpoint
to check on the progress of the import.

If no folder_id is provided, a new folder called "Untitled Folder" will be
created and the imported media will be placed there.

The URL must be publicly accessible — Wistia's servers need to be able to fetch the file directly.

Note: imports from certain domains (e.g. vimeo.com, wistia.com) are not permitted.


## Requires api token with one of the following permissions
```
Read, update & delete anything
```

Tokens with the "Act with a team member's permissions" permission
(`all:delegate_to_contact_permissions` scope) can also be used. Requests
made with such a token are authorized using the permissions of the
contact assigned to the token.

## Headers

- `X-Wistia-API-Version` string, required

## Request body

- object
  - `url` string, uri, required: The publicly accessible URL of the media file to import.
  - `folder_id` string: The hashed ID of the folder (project) to import the media into. If not provided, a new folder will be created.

## Response `201`

Successfully queued background job for URL import.

- object
  - `message` string, required: A confirmation message that the background job has been queued.
  - `background_job_status` object, required: A background job keeps track of the progress of an asynchronous task, e.g bulk archiving media, translating media, etc.
    - `id` integer, required: The ID of the background job that's been queued for the request.
    - `hashed_id` string, required: The unguessable hashed ID of the background job. Prefer this over the numeric ID when polling for status.
    - `status` 'queued' | 'started' | 'finished' | 'failed', required: The status of the background job that's been queued for the request.

## Other responses

- `400`: Bad request
- `401`: Unauthorized, invalid or missing token
- `403`: Forbidden, token is valid but account does not have access to feature
- `404`: Resource not found
- `422`: Unprocessable entity, the URL domain is not permitted for import.
- `500`: Internal server error

## Changes

- **2026-11-03** `b86cb2a7b420`: 1 info
  - endpoint added

[Operation history](https://skmtc.dev/wistia/apis/data-api/changes/medias/import_url/post.md)

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/wistia/apis/data-api.md) - [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/wistia/apis/data-api/llms.txt) - [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc.dev/wistia/apis/data-api/revisions/b86cb2a7b420?raw)