MomentSearch is open-source software for finding video moments through visual and transcript search, with answers tied to matching timestamps. Users can upload videos or submit YouTube URLs for indexing. Each search examines both visual frames and transcript text, then combines the results. Answers can point to clickable moments with keyframes, timestamps, transcript synchronization, seen-or-said labels, and match scores. When neither search branch meets its confidence threshold, the system can abstain without calling an LLM. Without an LLM key, it still returns ranked clickable moments but does not generate prose answers. Answer, embedding, reranking, and speech-to-text models can be configured by provider, including hosted and local options. Optional per-video speaker recognition uses Gemini video understanding and requires a Gemini API key. The project ships as a Docker image and documents deployment to Fly, AWS, and Google Cloud. Its API has no authentication, so anyone who can reach its port can upload, ingest, ask, or delete data. MomentSearch recommends localhost binding or an authenticating proxy, as well as private storage buckets. It is single-user by default and released under Apache 2.0.
Who it is for
MomentSearch suits developers or teams building video search and retrieval workflows who can manage deployment and API access controls. Its model options include hosted providers and local choices.
What is good
- Searches visual frames and transcript text
- Citations link to moments with keyframes and timestamps
- Can return ranked moments without an LLM key
- Supports configurable hosted and local models
- Apache 2.0 licensed
What to know first
- API has no authentication
- Single-user by default
- Speaker recognition requires a Gemini API key
- SocialKit YouTube ingestion becomes paid after 20 free credits
Verdict
MomentSearch connects video queries to specific visual and spoken moments and allows model-provider configuration. Its unauthenticated API needs careful access protection before exposure beyond a trusted environment.
Compared on AI video search tools
- Visual search
- Yes
- Audio search
- Yes
- Multimodal search
- Yes
- API access
- Yes
