> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.roboflow.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.roboflow.com/datasets/universe/universe/what-is-roboflow-universe.md).

# What is Roboflow Universe?

An introduction to the Roboflow Universe platform.

## About

[Roboflow Universe](https://universe.roboflow.com/) is the world's largest community of people sharing computer vision datasets and models.

You can use Universe to find data for use in training a model. You can also use Universe to find a pre-trained model to use in a Workflow.

Over one million datasets have been shared on Universe, and 50,000 models have been trained and made available for use.

Private projects are not publicly listed on Roboflow Universe. You can [control project privacy](/datasets/manage/make-a-project-public.md).

<figure><img src="https://2252499186-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FNVfRxNsvCh4GOyqrjmzX%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-bf9f1035dc7028dec742efcdd59b43792908947c%2FScreenshot%202025-05-20%20at%2009.59.20.png?alt=media" alt=""><figcaption><p>The Roboflow Universe home page.</p></figcaption></figure>

This section of documentation walks through how to use Universe in your computer vision projects.

## HTTP API

[`Roboflow Universe`](https://universe.roboflow.com/) provides the following endpoints:

* [Search public datasets](#search-universe-datasets)

### Search Universe datasets

## GET /universe/search

> Search publicly available datasets on Roboflow Universe. Supports inline filter syntax in the query string (e.g. \`images>100\`, \`dog+stars>=5\`, \`class:cat\`, \`model:yolov8\`, \`object detection\`).

```json
{"openapi":"3.0.3","info":{"title":"Roboflow Universe API","version":"1.0.0"},"servers":[{"url":"https://api.roboflow.com"}],"security":[{"ApiKeyQuery":[]},{"BearerAuth":[]}],"components":{"securitySchemes":{"ApiKeyQuery":{"type":"apiKey","in":"query","name":"api_key"},"BearerAuth":{"type":"http","scheme":"bearer"}}},"paths":{"/universe/search":{"get":{"description":"Search publicly available datasets on Roboflow Universe. Supports inline filter syntax in the query string (e.g. `images>100`, `dog+stars>=5`, `class:cat`, `model:yolov8`, `object detection`).","parameters":[{"schema":{"type":"string"},"name":"q","in":"query","required":true},{"schema":{"type":"integer"},"name":"page","in":"query"}],"responses":{"200":{"description":"OK"},"400":{"description":"Bad Request"},"401":{"description":"Unauthorized"},"429":{"description":"Too Many Requests"},"502":{"description":"Bad Gateway"}}}}}}
```

#### Thumbnail fields

Each result in the response includes two thumbnail fields:

| Field                 | Type             | Description                                                                                   |
| --------------------- | ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `thumbnail`           | `string \| null` | URL to the project's thumbnail image. `null` when the project has no icon set.                |
| `annotationThumbnail` | `string \| null` | URL to a sample annotated image from the project. `null` when annotation data is unavailable. |

Example result snippet:

```json
{
  "name": "Cars",
  "url": "https://universe.roboflow.com/growth-plan/cars-8q9vz",
  "thumbnail": "https://source.roboflow.com/.../thumb.jpg",
  "annotationThumbnail": "https://source.roboflow.com/.../annotation-cars.png"
}
```

## MCP Server

Connect your AI agent to the [MCP Server](https://docs.roboflow.com/agents/mcp-server) and it can explore Universe with these tools:

<table data-search="false"><thead><tr><th width="290">Tool</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code>universe_search</code></td><td>Search Roboflow Universe for datasets or models.</td></tr><tr><td><code>universe_dataset_images_search</code></td><td>Search images inside a public Universe dataset given its URL.</td></tr><tr><td><code>projects_fork</code></td><td>Enqueue an async fork of a public Universe project into your workspace.</td></tr></tbody></table>