How to setup Meilisearch with JavaScript
Installation
We recommend installing meilisearch-js in your project with your package manager of choice.
npm install meilisearchmeilisearch-js officially supports node versions >= 14 and <= 18.
Instead of using a package manager, you may also import the library directly into your HTML via a CDN.
Run Meilisearch
To use one of our SDKs, you must first have a running Meilisearch instance. Consult our documentation for instructions on how to download and launch Meilisearch.
Import
After installing meilisearch-js, you must import it into your application. There are many ways of doing that depending on your development environment.
import syntax
Usage in an ES module environment:
import { MeiliSearch } from 'meilisearch'
const client = new MeiliSearch({
host: 'url',
apiKey: 'masterKey',
})<script> tag
Usage in an HTML (or alike) file:
<script src='https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/meilisearch@latest/dist/bundles/meilisearch.umd.js'></script>
<script>
const client = new MeiliSearch({
host: 'url',
apiKey: 'masterKey',
})
</script>require syntax
Usage in a back-end node.js or another environment supporting CommonJS modules:
const { MeiliSearch } = require('meilisearch')
const client = new MeiliSearch({
host: 'url',
apiKey: 'masterKey',
})React Native
To use meilisearch-js with React Native, you must also install react-native-url-polyfill.
Deno
Usage in a Deno environment:
import { MeiliSearch } from "https://esm.sh/meilisearch"
const client = new MeiliSearch({
host: 'url',
apiKey: 'masterKey',
})Getting started
Add documents
const { MeiliSearch } = require('meilisearch')
// Or if you are in a ES environment
import { MeiliSearch } from 'meilisearch'
;(async () => {
const client = new MeiliSearch({
host: 'url',
apiKey: 'masterKey',
})
// An index is where the documents are stored.
const index = client.index('movies')
const documents = [
{ id: 1, title: 'Carol', genres: ['Romance', 'Drama'] },
{ id: 2, title: 'Wonder Woman', genres: ['Action', 'Adventure'] },
{ id: 3, title: 'Life of Pi', genres: ['Adventure', 'Drama'] },
{ id: 4, title: 'Mad Max: Fury Road', genres: ['Adventure', 'Science Fiction'] },
{ id: 5, title: 'Moana', genres: ['Fantasy', 'Action']},
{ id: 6, title: 'Philadelphia', genres: ['Drama'] },
]
// If the index 'movies' does not exist, Meilisearch creates it when you first add the documents.
let response = await index.addDocuments(documents)
console.log(response) // => { "uid": 0 }
})()Tasks such as document addition always return a unique identifier. You can use this identifier taskUid to check the status (enqueued, processing, succeeded or failed) of a task.
Basic search
// Meilisearch is typo-tolerant:
const search = await index.search('philoudelphia')
console.log(search)Output:
{
"hits": [
{
"id": "6",
"title": "Philadelphia",
"genres": ["Drama"]
}
],
"offset": 0,
"limit": 20,
"estimatedTotalHits": 1,
"processingTimeMs": 1,
"query": "philoudelphia"
}Using search parameters
meilisearch-js supports all search parameters described in our main documentation website.
await index.search(
'wonder',
{
attributesToHighlight: ['*']
}
){
"hits": [
{
"id": 2,
"title": "Wonder Woman",
"genres": ["Action", "Adventure"],
"_formatted": {
"id": "2",
"title": "<em>Wonder</em> Woman",
"genres": ["Action", "Adventure"]
}
}
],
"offset": 0,
"limit": 20,
"estimatedTotalHits": 1,
"processingTimeMs": 0,
"query": "wonder"
}Custom search with filters
To enable filtering, you must first add your attributes to the `filterableAttributes` index setting.
await index.updateAttributesForFaceting([
'id',
'genres'
])You only need to perform this operation once per index.
Note that Meilisearch rebuilds your index whenever you update filterableAttributes. Depending on the size of your dataset, this might take considerable time. You can track the process using the tasks API).
After you configured filterableAttributes, you can use the `filter` search parameter to refine your search:
await index.search(
'wonder',
{
filter: ['id > 1 AND genres = Action']
}
){
"hits": [
{
"id": 2,
"title": "Wonder Woman",
"genres": ["Action","Adventure"]
}
],
"offset": 0,
"limit": 20,
"estimatedTotalHits": 1,
"processingTimeMs": 0,
"query": "wonder"
}Placeholder search
Placeholder search makes it possible to receive hits based on your parameters without having any query (q). For example, in a movies database you can run an empty query to receive all results filtered by genre.
await index.search(
'',
{
filter: ['genres = fantasy'],
facets: ['genres']
}
){
"hits": [
{
"id": 2,
"title": "Wonder Woman",
"genres": ["Action","Adventure"]
},
{
"id": 5,
"title": "Moana",
"genres": ["Fantasy","Action"]
}
],
"offset": 0,
"limit": 20,
"estimatedTotalHits": 2,
"processingTimeMs": 0,
"query": "",
"facetDistribution": {
"genres": {
"Action": 2,
"Fantasy": 1,
"Adventure": 1
}
}
}Note that to enable faceted search on your dataset you need to add genres to the filterableAttributes index setting. For more information on filtering and faceting, consult our documentation settings.
Abortable search
You can abort a pending search request by providing an AbortSignal to the request.
const controller = new AbortController()
index
.search('wonder', {}, {
signal: controller.signal,
})
.then((response) => {
/** ... */
})
.catch((e) => {
/** Catch AbortError here. */
})
controller.abort()API resources
Search
Make a search request
client.index<T>('xxx').search(query: string, options: SearchParams = {}, config?: Partial<Request>): Promise<SearchResponse<T>>Make a search request using the GET method (slower than the search method)
client.index<T>('xxx').searchGet(query: string, options: SearchParams = {}, config?: Partial<Request>): Promise<SearchResponse<T>>Multi Search
Make multiple search requests
client.multiSearch(queries?: MultiSearchParams, config?: Partial<Request>): Promise<Promise<MultiSearchResponse<T>>>multiSearch uses the POST method when performing its request to Meilisearch.
Search For Facet Values
Search for facet values
client.index<T>('myIndex').searchForFacetValues(params: SearchForFacetValuesParams, config?: Partial<Request>): Promise<SearchForFacetValuesResponse>Documents
Add or replace multiple documents
client.index('myIndex').addDocuments(documents: Document<T>[]): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Add or replace multiple documents in string format
client.index('myIndex').addDocumentsFromString(documents: string, contentType: ContentType, queryParams: RawDocumentAdditionOptions): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Add or replace multiple documents in batches
client.index('myIndex').addDocumentsInBatches(documents: Document<T>[], batchSize = 1000): Promise<EnqueuedTask[]>Add or update multiple documents
client.index('myIndex').updateDocuments(documents: Array<Document<Partial<T>>>): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Add or update multiple documents in string format
client.index('myIndex').updateDocumentsFromString(documents: string, contentType: ContentType, queryParams: RawDocumentAdditionOptions): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Add or update multiple documents in batches
client.index('myIndex').updateDocumentsInBatches(documents: Array<Document<Partial<T>>>, batchSize = 1000): Promise<EnqueuedTask[]>Get Documents
client.index.getDocuments(parameters: DocumentsQuery = {}): Promise<DocumentsResults<T>>>Get one document
client.index('myIndex').getDocument(documentId: string): Promise<Document<T>>Delete one document
client.index('myIndex').deleteDocument(documentId: string | number): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Delete multiple documents
client.index('myIndex').deleteDocuments(params: DocumentsDeletionQuery | DocumentsIds): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Delete all documents
client.index('myIndex').deleteAllDocuments(): Promise<Types.EnqueuedTask>Tasks
Get all tasks
client.getTasks(parameters: TasksQuery): Promise<TasksResults>Get one task
client.getTask(uid: number): Promise<Task>Delete tasks
client.deleteTasks(parameters: DeleteTasksQuery = {}): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Cancel tasks
client.cancelTasks(parameters: CancelTasksQuery = {}): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Get all tasks of an index
client.index('myIndex').getTasks(parameters: TasksQuery): Promise<TasksResults>Get one task of an index
client.index('myIndex').getTask(uid: number): Promise<Task>Wait for one task
Using the client
client.waitForTask(uid: number, { timeOutMs?: number, intervalMs?: number }): Promise<Task>Using the index
client.index('myIndex').waitForTask(uid: number, { timeOutMs?: number, intervalMs?: number }): Promise<Task>Wait for multiple tasks
Using the client
client.waitForTasks(uids: number[], { timeOutMs?: number, intervalMs?: number }): Promise<Task[]>Using the index
client.index('myIndex').waitForTasks(uids: number[], { timeOutMs?: number, intervalMs?: number }): Promise<Task[]>Indexes
Get all indexes in Index instances
client.getIndexes(parameters: IndexesQuery): Promise<IndexesResults<Index[]>>Get all indexes
client.getRawIndexes(parameters: IndexesQuery): Promise<IndexesResults<IndexObject[]>>Create a new index
client.createIndex<T>(uid: string, options?: IndexOptions): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Create a local reference to an index
client.index<T>(uid: string): Index<T>Get an index instance completed with information fetched from Meilisearch
client.getIndex<T>(uid: string): Promise<Index<T>>Get the raw index JSON response from Meilisearch
client.getRawIndex(uid: string): Promise<IndexObject>Get an object with information about the index
client.index('myIndex').getRawInfo(): Promise<IndexObject>Update Index
Using the client
client.updateIndex(uid: string, options: IndexOptions): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Using the index object
client.index('myIndex').update(data: IndexOptions): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Delete index
Using the client
client.deleteIndex(uid): Promise<void>Using the index object
client.index('myIndex').delete(): Promise<void>Get specific index stats
client.index('myIndex').getStats(): Promise<IndexStats>Return Index instance with updated information
client.index('myIndex').fetchInfo(): Promise<Index>Get Primary Key of an Index
client.index('myIndex').fetchPrimaryKey(): Promise<string | undefined>Swap two indexes
client.swapIndexes(params: SwapIndexesParams): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Settings
Get settings
client.index('myIndex').getSettings(): Promise<Settings>Update settings
client.index('myIndex').updateSettings(settings: Settings): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Reset settings
client.index('myIndex').resetSettings(): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Pagination Settings
Get pagination
client.index('myIndex').getPagination(): Promise<PaginationSettings>Update pagination
client.index('myIndex').updatePagination(pagination: PaginationSettings): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Reset pagination
client.index('myIndex').resetPagination(): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Synonyms
Get synonyms
client.index('myIndex').getSynonyms(): Promise<Synonyms>Update synonyms
client.index('myIndex').updateSynonyms(synonyms: Synonyms): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Reset synonyms
client.index('myIndex').resetSynonyms(): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Stop words
Get stop words
client.index('myIndex').getStopWords(): Promise<string[]>Update stop words
client.index('myIndex').updateStopWords(stopWords: string[] | null ): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Reset stop words
client.index('myIndex').resetStopWords(): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Ranking rules
Get ranking rules
client.index('myIndex').getRankingRules(): Promise<string[]>Update ranking rules
client.index('myIndex').updateRankingRules(rankingRules: string[] | null): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Reset ranking rules
client.index('myIndex').resetRankingRules(): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Distinct Attribute
Get distinct attribute
client.index('myIndex').getDistinctAttribute(): Promise<string | void>Update distinct attribute
client.index('myIndex').updateDistinctAttribute(distinctAttribute: string | null): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Reset distinct attribute
client.index('myIndex').resetDistinctAttribute(): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Searchable attributes
Get searchable attributes
client.index('myIndex').getSearchableAttributes(): Promise<string[]>Update searchable attributes
client.index('myIndex').updateSearchableAttributes(searchableAttributes: string[] | null): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Reset searchable attributes
client.index('myIndex').resetSearchableAttributes(): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Displayed attributes
Get displayed attributes
client.index('myIndex').getDisplayedAttributes(): Promise<string[]>Update displayed attributes
client.index('myIndex').updateDisplayedAttributes(displayedAttributes: string[] | null): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Reset displayed attributes
client.index('myIndex').resetDisplayedAttributes(): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Filterable attributes
Get filterable attributes
client.index('myIndex').getFilterableAttributes(): Promise<string[]>Update filterable attributes
client.index('myIndex').updateFilterableAttributes(filterableAttributes: string[] | null): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Reset filterable attributes
client.index('myIndex').resetFilterableAttributes(): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Sortable attributes
Get sortable attributes
client.index('myIndex').getSortableAttributes(): Promise<string[]>Update sortable attributes
client.index('myIndex').updateSortableAttributes(sortableAttributes: string[] | null): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Reset sortable attributes
client.index('myIndex').resetSortableAttributes(): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Faceting
Get faceting
client.index('myIndex').getFaceting(): Promise<Faceting>Update faceting
client.index('myIndex').updateFaceting(faceting: Faceting): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Reset faceting
client.index('myIndex').resetFaceting(): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Typo tolerance
Get typo tolerance
client.index('myIndex').getTypoTolerance(): Promise<TypoTolerance>Update typo tolerance
client.index('myIndex').updateTypoTolerance(typoTolerance: TypoTolerance | null): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Reset typo tolerance
client.index('myIndex').resetTypoTolerance(): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Keys
Get keys
client.getKeys(parameters: KeysQuery): Promise<KeysResults>Get one key
client.getKey(keyOrUid: string): Promise<Key>Create a key
client.createKey(options: KeyCreation): Promise<Key>Update a key
client.updateKey(keyOrUid: string, options: KeyUpdate): Promise<Key>Delete a key
client.deleteKey(keyOrUid: string): Promise<void>isHealthy
Return true or false depending on the health of the server
client.isHealthy(): Promise<boolean>Health
Check if the server is healthy
client.health(): Promise<Health>Stats
Get database stats
client.getStats(): Promise<Stats>Version
Get binary version
client.getVersion(): Promise<Version>Dump
Trigger a dump creation process
client.createDump(): Promise<EnqueuedTask>Updated on: 23/08/2023
Thank you!