---
title: Generate Video Thumbnail Job API
slug: generate-video-thumbnail
url: https://apyverse.com/apyhub/service/generate-video-thumbnail
provider: ApyHub
categories: [File Conversion, File Manipulation]
tags: [video-thumbnail, video-processing, thumbnail-generation, media-clipping, video-url]
auth: api_key
---

# Generate Video Thumbnail Job API

Create short video thumbnail clips from a file or URL. Returns a job_id, then a downloadable url when processing finishes.

## Endpoints

| Method | Path | Description | Atoms |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| POST | `/generate/video-thumbnail/file` | What it does Submits a video file to start an asynchronous video-thumbnail generation job. The requ… | 400 |
| POST | `/job/generate/video-thumbnail/url` | What it does Submits an asynchronous job to generate a video thumbnail from a source video URL. The… | 400 |
| GET | `/job/generate/video-thumbnail/status/:job_id` | What it does Checks the status of a generate video thumbnail job by jobid and returns the job metad… | 5 |

## About

## What it does
Video Thumbnail Generator creates a thumbnail clip from a source video and returns a job you can poll for completion. Send either a video file or a video_url, then optionally set size, duration, and start_time to control the output clip.

Use the multipart file endpoint when you already have the video in hand, or the URL endpoint when you need ApyHub to download the source first. In both cases, the request accepts an optional persistent flag and returns a job_id immediately after submission.

When the job finishes, check the job status with job_id. The status response includes status, job_id, and, when successful, a url for the clipped video output. Failed and pending jobs also include a human-readable message.

This is useful when you need a short preview asset for a media library, product page, upload flow, or content moderation pipeline without processing video locally.

## Usage

Authenticate with an ApyHub API key in the `apy-token` header.
Full docs and a live playground: https://apyverse.com/apyhub/service/generate-video-thumbnail