algoliasearch

What is algoliasearch?

The algoliasearch npm package is a JavaScript client for Algolia, a hosted search API that provides a fast and accurate search experience for websites and mobile applications. The package allows developers to integrate Algolia's search capabilities into their JavaScript applications, enabling features such as full-text search, faceting, filtering, and geolocation queries.

What are algoliasearch's main functionalities?

Search

Perform a search query on an Algolia index and retrieve the results.

const algoliasearch = require('algoliasearch');
const client = algoliasearch('YourApplicationID', 'YourAdminAPIKey');
const index = client.initIndex('your_index_name');
index.search('query string').then(({ hits }) => {
  console.log(hits);
});

Indexing

Add or update a record in an Algolia index.

const algoliasearch = require('algoliasearch');
const client = algoliasearch('YourApplicationID', 'YourAdminAPIKey');
const index = client.initIndex('your_index_name');
index.saveObject({ objectID: '1', name: 'Foo' }).then(() => {
  console.log('Object indexed');
});

Configure Index Settings

Configure settings of an Algolia index to define ranking, attributes for faceting, etc.

const algoliasearch = require('algoliasearch');
const client = algoliasearch('YourApplicationID', 'YourAdminAPIKey');
const index = client.initIndex('your_index_name');
index.setSettings({
  searchableAttributes: ['name', 'description'],
  customRanking: ['desc(popularity)']
}).then(() => {
  console.log('Settings updated');
});

Manage Indices

List all indices in your Algolia application and manage them.

const algoliasearch = require('algoliasearch');
const client = algoliasearch('YourApplicationID', 'YourAdminAPIKey');
client.listIndices().then(({ items }) => {
  console.log(items);
});

Other packages similar to algoliasearch

elasticsearch

Elasticsearch is a distributed, RESTful search and analytics engine capable of solving a growing number of use cases. The elasticsearch npm package is the official Elasticsearch client for Node.js. It provides similar search capabilities but is typically self-hosted, unlike Algolia which is a managed service.

solr-node

Solr-node is a client library for interacting with Apache Solr, which is an open-source search platform. Similar to Algolia, it provides full-text search, but it requires self-hosting and manual scaling, whereas Algolia offers a fully managed service.

typesense

Typesense is an open-source, typo-tolerant search engine that provides a similar developer experience to Algolia. The typesense npm package allows you to integrate Typesense into your JavaScript applications. It is designed to be easy to use and deploy, offering an alternative to Algolia with a focus on simplicity and speed.

README

The perfect starting point to integrate Algolia within your JavaScript project

Documentation • InstantSearch • Community Forum • Stack Overflow • Report a bug • FAQ • Support

✨ Features

• Thin & minimal low-level HTTP client to interact with Algolia's API
• Works both on the browser and node.js
• UMD and ESM compatible, you can use it with any module loader
• Built with TypeScript

💡 Getting Started

To get started, you first need to install algoliasearch (or any other available API client package). All of our clients comes with type definition, and are available for both browser and node environments.

With a package manager

yarn add algoliasearch@5.25.0
# or
npm install algoliasearch@5.25.0
# or
pnpm add algoliasearch@5.25.0

Without a package manager

Add the following JavaScript snippet to the of your website:

// for the full client
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/algoliasearch@5.25.0/dist/algoliasearch.umd.js"></script>

// for the lite client
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/algoliasearch@5.25.0/dist/lite/builds/browser.umd.js"></script>

Usage

You can now import the Algolia API client in your project and play with it.

import { algoliasearch } from 'algoliasearch';

const client = algoliasearch('YOUR_APP_ID', 'YOUR_API_KEY');

// or with the lite client
import { liteClient } from 'algoliasearch/lite';

const client = liteClient('YOUR_APP_ID', 'YOUR_API_KEY');

For full documentation, visit the Algolia JavaScript API Client.

❓ Troubleshooting

Encountering an issue? Before reaching out to support, we recommend heading to our FAQ where you will find answers for the most common issues and gotchas with the client. You can also open a GitHub issue

📄 License

The Algolia JavaScript API Client is an open-sourced software licensed under the MIT license.

Changelog

5.25.0

• e5387adf09 chore(deps): dependencies 2025-05-05 (#4804) by @algolia-bot
• d26cbaa311 feat(specs): enrich response for list composition endpoint (#4819) by @ClaraMuller
• 95f3208e92 feat(specs): make response fields required for composition list endpoint (#4821) by @ClaraMuller
• bebb56e0b9 fix(specs): add x-acl to insights endpoints (#4822) by @kai687
• d29371295f chore(deps): dependencies 2025-05-12 (#4823) by @algolia-bot
• 7e226c4559 feat(scripts): add push to mcp-node on release (#4784) by @shortcuts