> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.tella.com/docs/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # List available backgrounds > Returns personal uploads, workspace uploads, and Tella's default image and animated backgrounds in named categories. Each item includes a preview URL and a background value that can be passed directly to the clip update endpoint. ## OpenAPI ````yaml /openapi.json get /v1/backgrounds openapi: 3.0.3 info: description: >- The Tella Public API allows you to programmatically access your videos and playlists, including transcripts, chapters, and thumbnails. ## Authentication All requests require a Bearer token in the Authorization header: ``` Authorization: Bearer tella_pk_xxxxx... ``` API keys can be generated in your Tella workspace settings. ## Rate Limiting The API is rate-limited to 100 requests per minute per user within a workspace. Rate limit information is returned in response headers: - `RateLimit-Policy`: Named quota, request limit, and window in seconds - `RateLimit`: Remaining quota and seconds until reset - `X-RateLimit-Limit`: Maximum requests per window - `X-RateLimit-Remaining`: Remaining requests in current window - `X-RateLimit-Reset`: Unix timestamp in milliseconds when the window resets A `429 Too Many Requests` response also includes `Retry-After` in seconds. title: Tella Public API version: 1.0.0 servers: - description: Production url: https://api.tella.com security: [] tags: - description: Video operations name: Videos - description: Sections of a video name: Clips - description: Playlist operations name: Playlists - description: Sidebar groups for organizing playlists name: Playlist Groups - description: Tags for categorizing and filtering videos name: Tags - description: Personal, workspace, and default video backgrounds name: Backgrounds - description: >- Reusable media saved to a workspace, plus Tella's curated sound effect catalog — the same items the editor's media panels show name: Library - description: Webhook endpoint management name: Webhooks externalDocs: description: API versioning and deprecation policy url: https://www.tella.com/docs/versioning paths: /v1/backgrounds: get: tags: - Backgrounds summary: List available backgrounds description: >- Returns personal uploads, workspace uploads, and Tella's default image and animated backgrounds in named categories. Each item includes a preview URL and a background value that can be passed directly to the clip update endpoint. operationId: listBackgrounds parameters: - description: Filter by scope in: query name: scope schema: allOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/BackgroundScope' description: Filter by scope - description: >- Filter by category ID, such as personal, workspace, default:tella, default:macos, or default:animated in: query name: categoryId schema: description: >- Filter by category ID, such as personal, workspace, default:tella, default:macos, or default:animated type: string responses: '200': content: application/json: schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ListBackgroundsResponse' description: OK headers: Deprecation: $ref: '#/components/headers/Deprecation' RateLimit: $ref: '#/components/headers/RateLimit' RateLimit-Policy: $ref: '#/components/headers/RateLimitPolicy' Sunset: $ref: '#/components/headers/Sunset' X-RateLimit-Limit: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitLimit' X-RateLimit-Remaining: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitRemaining' X-RateLimit-Reset: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitReset' '400': content: application/json: example: docsUrl: https://docs.tella.com/ error: bad_request message: The request was malformed or contained invalid parameters. schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse' description: The request was malformed or contained invalid parameters. headers: Deprecation: $ref: '#/components/headers/Deprecation' RateLimit: $ref: '#/components/headers/RateLimit' RateLimit-Policy: $ref: '#/components/headers/RateLimitPolicy' Sunset: $ref: '#/components/headers/Sunset' X-RateLimit-Limit: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitLimit' X-RateLimit-Remaining: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitRemaining' X-RateLimit-Reset: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitReset' '401': content: application/json: example: docsUrl: https://docs.tella.com/ error: unauthorized message: Authentication is required. Provide a valid API key. schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse' description: Authentication is required. Provide a valid API key. headers: Deprecation: $ref: '#/components/headers/Deprecation' RateLimit: $ref: '#/components/headers/RateLimit' RateLimit-Policy: $ref: '#/components/headers/RateLimitPolicy' Sunset: $ref: '#/components/headers/Sunset' X-RateLimit-Limit: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitLimit' X-RateLimit-Remaining: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitRemaining' X-RateLimit-Reset: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitReset' '403': content: application/json: example: docsUrl: https://docs.tella.com/ error: forbidden message: You don't have permission to access this resource. schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse' description: You don't have permission to access this resource. headers: Deprecation: $ref: '#/components/headers/Deprecation' RateLimit: $ref: '#/components/headers/RateLimit' RateLimit-Policy: $ref: '#/components/headers/RateLimitPolicy' Sunset: $ref: '#/components/headers/Sunset' X-RateLimit-Limit: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitLimit' X-RateLimit-Remaining: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitRemaining' X-RateLimit-Reset: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitReset' '404': content: application/json: example: docsUrl: https://docs.tella.com/ error: not_found message: The requested resource was not found. schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse' description: The requested resource was not found. headers: Deprecation: $ref: '#/components/headers/Deprecation' RateLimit: $ref: '#/components/headers/RateLimit' RateLimit-Policy: $ref: '#/components/headers/RateLimitPolicy' Sunset: $ref: '#/components/headers/Sunset' X-RateLimit-Limit: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitLimit' X-RateLimit-Remaining: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitRemaining' X-RateLimit-Reset: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitReset' '429': content: application/json: example: docsUrl: https://docs.tella.com/ error: rate_limited message: You have exceeded the rate limit. Please slow down. schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse' description: You have exceeded the rate limit. Please slow down. headers: Deprecation: $ref: '#/components/headers/Deprecation' RateLimit: $ref: '#/components/headers/RateLimit' RateLimit-Policy: $ref: '#/components/headers/RateLimitPolicy' Retry-After: $ref: '#/components/headers/RetryAfter' Sunset: $ref: '#/components/headers/Sunset' X-RateLimit-Limit: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitLimit' X-RateLimit-Remaining: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitRemaining' X-RateLimit-Reset: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitReset' '500': content: application/json: example: docsUrl: https://docs.tella.com/ error: server_error message: An unexpected error occurred schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse' description: An unexpected error occurred headers: Deprecation: $ref: '#/components/headers/Deprecation' RateLimit: $ref: '#/components/headers/RateLimit' RateLimit-Policy: $ref: '#/components/headers/RateLimitPolicy' Sunset: $ref: '#/components/headers/Sunset' X-RateLimit-Limit: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitLimit' X-RateLimit-Remaining: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitRemaining' X-RateLimit-Reset: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitReset' '501': content: application/json: example: docsUrl: https://docs.tella.com/ error: not_implemented message: The requested operation is not implemented. schema: $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse' description: The requested operation is not implemented. headers: Deprecation: $ref: '#/components/headers/Deprecation' RateLimit: $ref: '#/components/headers/RateLimit' RateLimit-Policy: $ref: '#/components/headers/RateLimitPolicy' Sunset: $ref: '#/components/headers/Sunset' X-RateLimit-Limit: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitLimit' X-RateLimit-Remaining: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitRemaining' X-RateLimit-Reset: $ref: '#/components/headers/XRateLimitReset' security: - BearerAuth: [] components: schemas: BackgroundScope: description: >- Where the background comes from: the authenticated user's uploads, workspace uploads, or Tella's default catalog enum: - personal - workspace - default type: string ListBackgroundsResponse: additionalProperties: false description: Background categories visible to the authenticated user properties: categories: items: $ref: '#/components/schemas/BackgroundCategory' type: array required: - categories type: object ErrorResponse: additionalProperties: false description: Standard error response format properties: docsUrl: description: Link to Tella API documentation example: https://docs.tella.com/ format: uri type: string error: description: Machine-readable error code enum: - bad_request - unauthorized - forbidden - not_found - rate_limited - server_error - not_implemented example: not_found type: string message: description: Human-readable error message example: Resource not found type: string required: - error - message - docsUrl type: object BackgroundCategory: additionalProperties: false description: A named group of selectable backgrounds properties: backgrounds: items: $ref: '#/components/schemas/BackgroundItem' type: array id: description: Stable category identifier example: default:tella type: string name: description: Human-readable category name example: Tella type: string scope: $ref: '#/components/schemas/BackgroundScope' required: - id - name - scope - backgrounds type: object BackgroundItem: additionalProperties: false description: A selectable background and its preview metadata properties: background: allOf: - $ref: '#/components/schemas/ClipBackgroundOutput' description: >- Background value that can be passed directly to PATCH /v1/videos/{id}/clips/{clipId} name: description: Human-readable display name within the category example: Red Horizon type: string thumbnailUrl: description: >- Preview image requested at 192x108 when the image host supports resizing format: uri type: string required: - name - thumbnailUrl - background type: object ClipBackgroundOutput: additionalProperties: false description: >- Clip background. Use type = 'solid' with `color`, type = 'image' or 'video' with `sourceId` (from `POST /v1/sources`) or an exact catalog URL from `GET /v1/backgrounds`, or type = 'gradient' with `gradientColor1`, `gradientColor2`, `gradientAngle`. properties: color: description: Hex color string. Required when type = 'solid'. example: '#000000ff' nullable: true type: string gradientAngle: description: Linear gradient angle in degrees. Required when type = 'gradient'. example: 45 maximum: 9007199254740991 minimum: -9007199254740991 nullable: true type: integer gradientColor1: description: Hex color string. Required when type = 'gradient'. example: '#ff0080ff' nullable: true type: string gradientColor2: description: Hex color string. Required when type = 'gradient'. example: '#7928caff' nullable: true type: string imageUrl: description: >- Hosted image URL. Present in responses and accepted as input only when copied exactly from `GET /v1/backgrounds`; otherwise pass `sourceId`. format: uri nullable: true type: string sourceId: description: >- Source ID from `POST /v1/sources` (`kind: image` for type = 'image', `kind: video` for type = 'video'). Required for image/video backgrounds unless using an exact URL from `GET /v1/backgrounds`. Input-only. example: su_abc123 nullable: true type: string type: description: Background variant enum: - solid - gradient - image - video example: solid type: string videoDurationSeconds: description: >- Video background duration in seconds. Read-only: derived from the uploaded source or catalog entry on input. example: 12.4 minimum: 0 nullable: true type: number videoUrl: description: >- Hosted video URL. Present in responses and accepted as input only when copied exactly from `GET /v1/backgrounds`; otherwise pass `sourceId`. format: uri nullable: true type: string required: - type type: object headers: Deprecation: description: Indicates that an API operation is deprecated, following RFC 9745 example: '@1767225600' schema: type: string RateLimit: description: >- Current quota with remaining requests (`r`) and seconds until reset (`t`) example: '"public-api";r=95;t=42' schema: type: string RateLimitPolicy: description: >- Named quota policy with the request limit (`q`) and window in seconds (`w`) example: '"public-api";q=100;w=60' schema: type: string Sunset: description: >- Indicates when a deprecated API operation will become unavailable, following RFC 8594 example: Tue, 30 Jun 2026 23:59:59 GMT schema: type: string XRateLimitLimit: description: Maximum requests allowed in the current window example: 100 schema: type: integer XRateLimitRemaining: description: Requests remaining in the current window example: 95 schema: type: integer XRateLimitReset: description: Unix timestamp in milliseconds when the window resets example: 1704067200000 schema: format: int64 type: integer RetryAfter: description: Seconds to wait before retrying a rate-limited request example: 45 schema: minimum: 1 type: integer securitySchemes: BearerAuth: description: API key obtained from your Tella account settings scheme: bearer type: http ```` ## Related topics - [Model Context Protocol (MCP)](/docs/mcp-server.md) - [Backgrounds](/docs/help/editing/pick-a-background.md) - [List library items](/docs/api-reference/library/list-library-items.md) - [Add background music to your video](/docs/help/editing/add-background-music-to-your-video.md) - [List clips for a video](/docs/api-reference/clips/list-clips-for-a-video.md)