---
title: "Create a thumbnail"
method: POST
path: "/v2/sites/{site_id}/thumbnails/"
tags: ["thumbnails"]
---

# Create a thumbnail

`POST /v2/sites/{site_id}/thumbnails/`

Create a thumbnail

## Path parameters

- `site_id` string, required — Unique identifier for a resource

## Request body

- object — Payload body used when creating a custom thumbnail resource
  - `relationships` object, required — Specifies the relationships of the thumbnail being created to the associated media
    - `media` object[], required — List of media objects related to the thumbnail
      - `id` string — Unique identifier for a resource
  - `upload` object
    - `method` 'direct' | 'multipart' | 'fetch' — Upload method **Possible values**: - `direct`: Can upload media files up to **25GB** and on a local machine - `fetch`: Can upload media files up to **100GB** and hosted on another platform (**only** if using the v2 Management API) - `multipart`: Can upload media files up to **100GB** and on a local machine (**only** if using the v2 Management API)
    - `thumbnail_type` 'static' | 'video' — Style of the thumbnail **Possible values**: - `static`: Non-moving image - `video`: Video with a maximum duration of 10 seconds
    - `download_url` unknown
    - `source_type` 'thumbstrip_image' | 'custom_upload' — Source of the thumbnail **Possible values**: * `custom_upload`: User-provided thumbnail * `thumbstrip_image`: Thumbnail selected from the thumbstrip images via `video_position` or `thumbstrip_index`
    - `source_media_id` string — ID of a media from which to create a thumbnail This is **required** for the `thumbstrip_image` source type
    - `video_position` number — Video frame position in seconds from which thumbnail should be generated This field is only relevant when `source_type` is set to `thumbstrip_image` and **cannot** be included if `thumbstrip_index` is included in the request. Seconds can be given as a whole number only (such as `7`) or as a whole number with parts of a second (such as `7.42`). A thumbnail will be generated from the nearest frame of the video.
    - `thumbstrip_index` number — Index of the image in the thumbnail strip to use as the video's thumbnail This field is only relevant when `source_type` is set to `thumbstrip_image` and **cannot** be included if `video_position` is also included in the request. Thumbnail index starts from `1`.

## Response `201`

Resource successfully created

- ThumbnailResourceRead
  - `schema` string
  - `id` string — Unique identifier for a resource
  - `created` string — Date and time at which the resource was created
  - `last_modified` string — Date and time at which the resource was most recently modified
  - `type` string — Name of the type of resource.
  - `relationships` object — Ancilliary resources associated to the primary resource being read
    - `media` object[], required
      - `id` RelationshipRead
        - `id` string — Unique identifier for a resource
        - `type` string — Resource type
  - `delivery_url` string — Link to retrieve thumbnail The value of this parameter will be `null` until it has been successfully uploaded and `status` is set to `ready`.
  - `file_type` 'jpeg' | 'mp4' — File extension used for this thumbnail
  - `status` 'created' | 'processing' | 'failed' | 'ready' — Readiness state of this thumbnail
  - `thumbnail_type` 'static' | 'video'
  - `source_type` 'custom_upload' | 'default' | 'generic_audio' | 'generic_video' | 'thumbstrip_image' — Source of the thumbnail upload **Possible Values**: - `custom_upload`: User-provided thumbnail - `default`: Default thumbnail automatically pulled from 10 seconds into the video - `generic_audio`: Default thumbnail created for externally hosted media with `media_type` set to `audio` - `generic_video`: Default thumbnail created for externally hosted media with `media_type` set to `video` - `thumbstrip_image`: Thumbnail selected from the thumbstrip images via `video_position` or `thumbstrip_index`
  - `metadata` ThumbnailResourceMetadata

## Other responses

- `400` — Bad Request The request either lacks certain attributes or contains malformed/invalid attributes.

---

[API](https://skmtc.net/jwplayer/apis/management-api-v2.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.net/jwplayer/apis/management-api-v2/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc-service-staging.skmtc.workers.dev/v1/apis/jwplayer/management-api-v2/revisions/180db7cada27/schema)