---
updatedAt: 2026-04-16T09:29:31.000Z
agentTools:
  siteIndex: https://docs.jfrog.com/llms.txt
  projectIndex: https://docs.jfrog.com/artifactory/llms.txt
---

# License Search

Search for artifacts that were already tagged with license information and their respective licenses.
To search by specific license values use Property Search with the `artifactory.licenses` property.

When the `autofind` parameter is specified Artifactory will try to automatically find new license information and return it as part of the result in the `found` field. Please note that this can affect the speed of the search quite dramatically, and will still search only on already-tagged artifacts.

Default parameter values when unspecified: `unapproved=1`, `unknown=1`, `notfound=0`, `neutral=0`, `approved=0`, `autofind=0`.

Can limit search to specific repositories (local, remote-cache or virtual).

**Product:** Requires Artifactory Pro

**Since:** 2.3.0

**Security:** Requires an admin user


# OpenAPI definition

```json
{
  "openapi": "3.1.0",
  "info": {
    "title": "JFrog Artifactory Searches API",
    "description": "REST API for searching artifacts, builds, and other items in JFrog Artifactory using various search methods including AQL, GAVC, property search, checksum search, and more.\n\n> **Important Note on Search Result Limits**\n>\n> All searches return limited results for internal and anonymous users (same limits as in the user interface).\n> To modify the default limit results, edit the `artifactory.system.properties` file with:\n> - `artifactory.search.limitAnonymousUsersOnly=false` (default is `true`)\n> - `artifactory.search.userQueryLimit` (default is `1000`)\n>\n> This applies to the following search APIs: Artifact Search, Archive Entries Search, GAVC Search, Property Search, Checksum Search (limited by UI max results),\n> Artifacts Not Downloaded Since, Artifacts With Date in Date Range, Artifacts Created in Date Range\n",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "contact": {
      "name": "JFrog Support"
    }
  },
  "servers": [
    {
      "url": "https://{jfrog_url}/artifactory/api",
      "description": "JFrog Platform",
      "variables": {
        "jfrog_url": {
          "default": "myserver.jfrog.io",
          "description": "Your JFrog Platform hostname (e.g., mycompany.jfrog.io)"
        }
      }
    }
  ],
  "tags": [
    {
      "name": "Searches",
      "description": "Search operations for artifacts and builds"
    }
  ],
  "paths": {
    "/search/license": {
      "get": {
        "tags": [
          "Searches"
        ],
        "summary": "License Search",
        "operationId": "searchLicense",
        "description": "Search for artifacts that were already tagged with license information and their respective licenses.\nTo search by specific license values use Property Search with the `artifactory.licenses` property.\n\nWhen the `autofind` parameter is specified Artifactory will try to automatically find new license information and return it as part of the result in the `found` field. Please note that this can affect the speed of the search quite dramatically, and will still search only on already-tagged artifacts.\n\nDefault parameter values when unspecified: `unapproved=1`, `unknown=1`, `notfound=0`, `neutral=0`, `approved=0`, `autofind=0`.\n\nCan limit search to specific repositories (local, remote-cache or virtual).\n\n**Product:** Requires Artifactory Pro\n\n**Since:** 2.3.0\n\n**Security:** Requires an admin user\n",
        "parameters": [
          {
            "name": "unapproved",
            "in": "query",
            "schema": {
              "type": "integer",
              "enum": [
                0,
                1
              ],
              "default": 1
            },
            "description": "Include unapproved licenses (1 = yes, 0 = no)"
          },
          {
            "name": "unknown",
            "in": "query",
            "schema": {
              "type": "integer",
              "enum": [
                0,
                1
              ],
              "default": 1
            },
            "description": "Include unknown licenses (1 = yes, 0 = no)"
          },
          {
            "name": "notfound",
            "in": "query",
            "schema": {
              "type": "integer",
              "enum": [
                0,
                1
              ],
              "default": 0
            },
            "description": "Include not found licenses (1 = yes, 0 = no)"
          },
          {
            "name": "neutral",
            "in": "query",
            "schema": {
              "type": "integer",
              "enum": [
                0,
                1
              ],
              "default": 0
            },
            "description": "Include neutral licenses (1 = yes, 0 = no)"
          },
          {
            "name": "approved",
            "in": "query",
            "schema": {
              "type": "integer",
              "enum": [
                0,
                1
              ],
              "default": 0
            },
            "description": "Include approved licenses (1 = yes, 0 = no)"
          },
          {
            "name": "autofind",
            "in": "query",
            "schema": {
              "type": "integer",
              "enum": [
                0,
                1
              ],
              "default": 0
            },
            "description": "Automatically find new license information (1 = yes, 0 = no). Can dramatically slow down the search."
          },
          {
            "$ref": "#/components/parameters/Repos"
          }
        ],
        "responses": {
          "200": {
            "description": "Returns artifacts with their license information, status, and optionally auto-found licenses.",
            "content": {
              "application/json": {
                "schema": {
                  "$ref": "#/components/schemas/LicenseSearchResult"
                },
                "examples": {
                  "licenseSearchResult": {
                    "summary": "License search results",
                    "value": {
                      "results": [
                        {
                          "uri": "http://localhost:8081/artifactory/api/storage/libs-release-local/org/acme/lib/ver/lib-ver.jar",
                          "license": "lgplv2",
                          "found": "lgplv2",
                          "status": "approved"
                        },
                        {
                          "uri": "http://localhost:8081/artifactory/api/storage/staging/org/acme/lib/ver2/lib-ver2.jar",
                          "license": "gplv3",
                          "found": "gplv3",
                          "status": "unapproved"
                        }
                      ]
                    }
                  }
                }
              },
              "application/vnd.org.jfrog.artifactory.search.LicenseResult+json": {
                "schema": {
                  "$ref": "#/components/schemas/LicenseSearchResult"
                }
              }
            }
          },
          "400": {
            "$ref": "#/components/responses/BadRequest"
          },
          "401": {
            "$ref": "#/components/responses/Unauthorized"
          },
          "403": {
            "$ref": "#/components/responses/Forbidden"
          },
          "500": {
            "$ref": "#/components/responses/InternalServerError"
          }
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "security": [
    {
      "BasicAuth": []
    },
    {
      "ApiKeyAuth": []
    },
    {
      "BearerAuth": []
    }
  ],
  "components": {
    "securitySchemes": {
      "BasicAuth": {
        "type": "http",
        "scheme": "basic",
        "description": "Username and password or username and API key."
      },
      "ApiKeyAuth": {
        "type": "apiKey",
        "in": "header",
        "name": "X-JFrog-Art-Api",
        "description": "JFrog API key passed in the `X-JFrog-Art-Api` header."
      },
      "BearerAuth": {
        "type": "http",
        "scheme": "bearer",
        "description": "Access token obtained from JFrog Platform."
      }
    },
    "parameters": {
      "Repos": {
        "name": "repos",
        "in": "query",
        "schema": {
          "type": "string"
        },
        "description": "Comma-separated list of repository keys to limit search to"
      }
    },
    "responses": {
      "BadRequest": {
        "description": "The request is invalid. Check the error message for details.",
        "content": {
          "application/json": {
            "schema": {
              "$ref": "#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse"
            },
            "example": {
              "errors": [
                {
                  "status": 400,
                  "message": "Missing required parameters or invalid query."
                }
              ]
            }
          }
        }
      },
      "Unauthorized": {
        "description": "Authentication credentials are missing or invalid.",
        "content": {
          "application/json": {
            "schema": {
              "$ref": "#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse"
            },
            "example": {
              "errors": [
                {
                  "status": 401,
                  "message": "Bad credentials"
                }
              ]
            }
          }
        }
      },
      "Forbidden": {
        "description": "The authenticated user does not have the required permissions.",
        "content": {
          "application/json": {
            "schema": {
              "$ref": "#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse"
            },
            "example": {
              "errors": [
                {
                  "status": 403,
                  "message": "User is not an admin"
                }
              ]
            }
          }
        }
      },
      "InternalServerError": {
        "description": "An unexpected server error occurred. If this persists, contact [JFrog Support](https://jfrog.com/help).",
        "content": {
          "application/json": {
            "schema": {
              "$ref": "#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse"
            },
            "example": {
              "errors": [
                {
                  "status": 500,
                  "message": "An unexpected error occurred"
                }
              ]
            }
          }
        }
      }
    },
    "schemas": {
      "ErrorResponse": {
        "type": "object",
        "description": "Standard JFrog Platform error response envelope.",
        "required": [
          "errors"
        ],
        "properties": {
          "errors": {
            "type": "array",
            "description": "One or more error details.",
            "items": {
              "$ref": "#/components/schemas/ErrorDetail"
            }
          }
        },
        "example": {
          "errors": [
            {
              "status": 400,
              "message": "Invalid request"
            }
          ]
        }
      },
      "ErrorDetail": {
        "type": "object",
        "required": [
          "message"
        ],
        "properties": {
          "status": {
            "type": "integer",
            "description": "HTTP status code.",
            "example": 400
          },
          "message": {
            "type": "string",
            "description": "Human-readable error description.",
            "minLength": 1,
            "example": "Invalid request"
          }
        }
      },
      "LicenseSearchResult": {
        "type": "object",
        "description": "Search result for artifacts with license information.",
        "properties": {
          "results": {
            "type": "array",
            "items": {
              "type": "object",
              "properties": {
                "uri": {
                  "type": "string",
                  "description": "URI of the artifact"
                },
                "license": {
                  "type": "string",
                  "description": "Tagged license name"
                },
                "found": {
                  "type": "string",
                  "description": "Auto-found license name (when autofind is enabled)"
                },
                "status": {
                  "type": "string",
                  "enum": [
                    "approved",
                    "unapproved",
                    "neutral",
                    "unknown"
                  ],
                  "description": "License approval status"
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "x-readme": {
    "explorer-enabled": false
  }
}
```