# Search item categories

Operation ID: `searchItemCategories`

Group: Inventory › Item Categories

[Open in the interactive reference](https://docs.api.lensing.ai/lensing/v1/endpoints/searchItemCategories)

`POST /inventory/item-categories/search`

Read-only: A read that takes its filters in the body. Changes nothing, and ignores Idempotency-Key.

Searches item categories. The filters are name, active, and modifiedSince, sent in the request body. The fields are the same as on GET inventory/item-categories/:id.

## Parameters

| Name | In | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `Api-Version` | header | string · v1 | yes | The API version this request targets, named by its public identifier. Required on every request; omitting it, or naming a version this company does not have, is answered with 400. This document describes version `v1`. |

## Request body

Required, `application/json`: searchItemCategoriesInput.

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `filters` | object | yes | The filters to apply. Omit to return all item categories. Example: `{"active":true,"modifiedSince":"2026-08-01T00:00:00.000Z"}`. |
| `filters.name` | string | no | Limits results to item categories with this exact name, for example 'Hardware'. Names are not unique, so this can match several. |
| `filters.active` | boolean | no | Limits results to categories that can be chosen on new items (true) or to retired ones (false). Omit to match both. |
| `filters.modifiedSince` | date-time | no | Limits results to categories changed at or after this time, in UTC. Format YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss.sssZ. |
| `page` | object | no | Pagination controls. Omit for the first page. Example: `{"size":50}`. |
| `page.cursor` | string | no | The cursor from the previous response's pagination.nextCursor. Omit on the first request. |
| `page.size` | number | no | The number of item categories per page. Defaults to 50, capped at 200. |

```json
{
  "filters": {
    "active": true,
    "modifiedSince": "2026-08-01T00:00:00.000Z"
  },
  "page": {
    "size": 50
  }
}
```

## Response

`200` Success

Under `data` (searchItemCategoriesOutput):

| Field | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `items` | array<object> | yes | The item categories on this page, ordered by id. The same schema as GET inventory/item-categories/:id. An empty array when nothing matches. Example: `[{"id":"a2f47b91-0c6d-4e38-95b1-7d3e6a428c50","name":"Hardware","description":"Fasteners, fittings and tooling","active":true,"idealTurnoverRatio":"6.50","lastModifiedDate":"2026-08-03T11:15:00.000Z"}]`. |
| `items[].id` | string | yes | The unique identifier for the item category. |
| `items[].name` | string | yes | The display name of the category, for example 'Hardware'. Not unique: two categories can share a name, so use id to address one. |
| `items[].description` | string | no | A free-form description of what the category covers. Absent when none was set. |
| `items[].active` | boolean | no | Whether the category can be chosen on new items. When false the category is retired: existing items keep it and new ones cannot be assigned to it. |
| `items[].idealTurnoverRatio` | decimal | no | The target inventory turnover for items in this category, in times per year. For analytics only. A ratio rather than an amount, so it has no currency. |
| `items[].lastModifiedDate` | date-time | no | The date and time the category last changed, in UTC. Format YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss.sssZ. |
| `items[].parentId` | string | no | The identifier of the category this one sits under. Absent for a top-level category. See id on GET inventory/item-categories/:id. |
| `pagination` | object | yes | The pagination details for this page. Example: `{"hasMore":false}`. |
| `pagination.nextCursor` | string | no | The cursor for the next page. Pass it as page.cursor. Absent on the last page. |
| `pagination.hasMore` | boolean | yes | Whether more results remain beyond this page. |

```json
{
  "data": {
    "items": [
      {
        "id": "a2f47b91-0c6d-4e38-95b1-7d3e6a428c50",
        "name": "Hardware",
        "description": "Fasteners, fittings and tooling",
        "active": true,
        "idealTurnoverRatio": "6.50",
        "lastModifiedDate": "2026-08-03T11:15:00.000Z"
      }
    ],
    "pagination": {
      "hasMore": false
    }
  },
  "diagnostics": [
    {
      "code": "<code>",
      "message": "<message>",
      "severity": "error",
      "path": [
        "<path>"
      ],
      "details": "<details>"
    }
  ]
}
```

## Statuses

- `400` — Invalid request or business failure
- `401` — The request carries no valid access token.
- `403` — Not authorized
- `404` — Not found
- `429` — Too many requests from this client address. The response has no body and no `Retry-After` header.
- `500` — Internal server error