---
description: 'Learn how to integrate MeiliSearch with the Medusa backend. Learn how to install the MeiliSearch plugin on the Medusa backend and integrate it into the storefront.'
addHowToData: true
---

# MeiliSearch

In this document, you’ll learn how to install the [MeiliSearch plugin](https://github.com/medusajs/medusa/tree/master/packages/medusa-plugin-meilisearch) and use it on both your Medusa Backend and your storefront.

## Overview

[MeiliSearch](https://www.meilisearch.com/) is a super-fast, open source search engine built in Rust. It comes with a wide range of features including typo-tolerance, filtering, and sorting.

MeiliSearch also provides a pleasant developer experience, as it is extremely intuitive and newcomer-friendly. So, even if you're new to the search engine ecosystem, [their documentation](https://docs.meilisearch.com/) is resourceful enough for everyone to go through and understand.

Through Medusa's flexible plugin system, it is possible to add a search engine to your Medusa backend and storefront using MeiliSearch with just a few steps.

---

## Prerequisites

### Medusa Components

It is required to have a Medusa backend installed before starting with this documentation. If not, please follow along with the [quickstart guide](../../development/backend/install.mdx) to get started in minutes. The Medusa backend must also have an event bus module installed, which is available when using the default Medusa backend starter.

### MeiliSearch Instance

You must install MeiliSearch to use it with Medusa. You can follow [this documentation to install MeiliSearch](https://docs.meilisearch.com/learn/getting_started/quick_start.html#setup-and-installation) either locally or on a cloud.

Furthermore, you should create a master key for your MeiliSearch instance. If you don’t have one created, follow [this guide](https://docs.meilisearch.com/learn/security/master_api_keys.html#protecting-a-meilisearch-instance) to create a master key.

---

## Install the MeiliSearch Plugin

In the directory of your Medusa backend, run the following command to install the MeiliSearch plugin:

```bash npm2yarn
npm install medusa-plugin-meilisearch
```

Then, add the following environment variables to your Medusa backend:

```bash
MEILISEARCH_HOST=<YOUR_MEILISEARCH_HOST>
MEILISEARCH_API_KEY=<YOUR_MASTER_KEY>
```

Where `<YOUR_MEILISEARCH_HOST>` is the host of your MeiliSearch instance. By default, if MeiliSearch is installed locally, the host is `http://127.0.0.1:7700`.

`<YOUR_MASTER_KEY>` is the master key of your MeiliSearch instance.

Finally, in `medusa-config.js` add the following item into the `plugins` array:

```jsx title=medusa-config.js
const plugins = [
  // ...
  {
    resolve: `medusa-plugin-meilisearch`,
    options: {
      // config object passed when creating an instance
      // of the MeiliSearch client
      config: {
        host: process.env.MEILISEARCH_HOST,
        apiKey: process.env.MEILISEARCH_API_KEY,
      },
      settings: {
        // index settings...
      },
    },
  },
]
```

### Index Settings

Under the `settings` key of the plugin's options, you can add settings specific to each index. The settings are of the following format:

```js
const plugins = [
  // ...
  {
    resolve: `medusa-plugin-meilisearch`,
    options: {
      // other options...
    settings: {
      indexName: {
        indexSettings: {
          searchableAttributes,
          displayedAttributes,
        },
        primaryKey,
        transformer,
      },
    },
    },
  },
]
```

Where:

- `indexName`: the name of the index to create in MeiliSearch. For example, `products`. Its value is an object containing the following properties:
  - `indexSettings`: an object that includes the following properties:
    - `searchableAttributes`: an array of strings indicating the attributes in the product entity that can be searched.
    - `displayedAttributes`: an array of strings indicating the attributes in the product entity that should be displayed in the search results.
  - `primaryKey`: an optional string indicating which property acts as a primary key of a document. It's used to enforce unique documents in an index. The default value is `id`. You can learn more in [MeiliSearch's documentation](https://docs.meilisearch.com/learn/core_concepts/primary_key.html#primary-field).
  - `transformer`: an optional function that accepts a product as a parameter and returns an object to be indexed. This allows you to have more control over what you're indexing. For example, you can add details related to variants or custom relations, or you can filter out certain products.

Using this index settings structure, you can add more than one index.

:::tip

These settings are just examples of what you can pass to the MeiliSearch provider. If you need to pass more settings to the MeiliSearch SDK you can pass it inside `indexSettings`.

:::

Here's an example of the settings you can use:

```js title=medusa-config.js
const plugins = [
  // ...
  {
    resolve: `medusa-plugin-meilisearch`,
    options: {
      // other options...
      settings: {
        products: {
          indexSettings: {
            searchableAttributes: [
              "title", 
              "description",
              "variant_sku",
            ],
            displayedAttributes: [
              "title", 
              "description", 
              "variant_sku", 
              "thumbnail", 
              "handle",
            ],
          },
          primaryKey: "id",
          transformer: (product) => ({
            id: product.id, 
            // other attributes...
          }),
        },
      },
    },
  },
]
```

---

## Test MeiliSearch Plugin

Make sure your MeiliSearch instance is running. If you’re unsure how to run it, you can check the [installation documentation](https://docs.meilisearch.com/learn/getting_started/quick_start.html#setup-and-installation) for the command to run the MeiliSearch instance.

Then, run the Medusa backend:

```bash npm2yarn
npx medusa develop
```

The quickest way to test that the integration is working is by sending a `POST` request to `/store/products/search`. This endpoint accepts a `q` body parameter of the query to search for and returns in the result the products that match this query.

![Postman request to search endpoint that shows results returned from the search engine](https://res.cloudinary.com/dza7lstvk/image/upload/v1668000265/Medusa%20Docs/MeiliSearch/RCGquxU_um3dvn.png)

You can also check that the products are properly indexed by opening the MeiliSearch host URL in your browser, which is `http://127.0.0.1:7700/` by default. You’ll find your products that are on your Medusa backend added there.

![MeiliSearch dashboard showing products from the Medusa backend indexed](https://res.cloudinary.com/dza7lstvk/image/upload/v1668000277/Medusa%20Docs/MeiliSearch/5sk3jyP_i3swkn.png)

### Add or Update Products

If you add or update products on your Medusa backend, the addition or update will be reflected in the MeiliSearch indices.

:::note

This feature is only available if you have an event module installed in your Medusa backend, as explained in the Prerequisites section.

:::

---

## Add Search to your Storefront

In this section, you’ll learn how to add the UI on your storefront to allow searching with MeiliSearch. This section has instructions for Medusa’s [Next.js Starter Template](../../starters/nextjs-medusa-starter.mdx) as well as React-based frameworks.

### Storefront Prerequisites

It is assumed you already have a storefront set up and working with the Medusa backend, as this section only covers how to add the search UI.

:::tip

If you don’t have a storefront set up, you can use the [Next.js Starter Template](../../starters/nextjs-medusa-starter.mdx) that Medusa provides.

:::

Furthermore, you must create an API key in your MeiliSearch instance that will be used to search on the storefront. To do that, run the following command in your terminal while the MeiliSearch instance is running:

```bash
curl \
  -X POST '<MEILISEARCH_HOST>/keys' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer <MEILISEARCH_MASTER_KEY>' \
  --data-binary '{
    "description": "Search products",
    "actions": ["search"],
    "indexes": ["products"],
    "expiresAt": "2024-01-01T00:00:00Z"
  }'
```

Make sure to replace `<MEILISEARCH_HOST>` and `<MEILISEARCH_MASTER_KEY>` accordingly.

If this request is successful, the API key will be available under the `key` property returned in the JSON response.

### Add to Next.js Starter Template

The Next.js Starter Template has the MeiliSearch integration available out of the box. To get it working, you just need to follow two steps.

First, ensure that the search feature is enabled in `store.config.json`:

```json title=store.config.json
{
  "features": {
    "search": true
  }
}
```

Then, add the necessary environment variables:

```bash
NEXT_PUBLIC_SEARCH_ENDPOINT=<YOUR_MEILISEARCH_HOST>
NEXT_PUBLIC_SEARCH_API_KEY=<YOUR_API_KEY>
NEXT_PUBLIC_SEARCH_INDEX_NAME=products
```

Make sure to replace `<YOUR_MEILISEARCH_HOST>` with your MeiliSearch host and `<YOUR_API_KEY>` with the API key you created as instructed in the [Storefront Prerequisites](#storefront-prerequisites) section.

If you run your Next.js Starter Template now while the Medusa backend and the MeiliSearch services are running, the search functionality will be available in your storefront.

:::note

To make sure the Next.js Starter Template properly displays the products in the search result, include in the `displayedAttributes` setting of the MeiliSearch plugin on the Medusa backend at least the fields `title`, `handle`, `description`, and `thumbnail`.

:::

![Search Result on Next.js Starter Template](https://res.cloudinary.com/dza7lstvk/image/upload/v1668000298/Medusa%20Docs/MeiliSearch/gQVWvH2_datei5.png)

### Add to Other Storefronts

To integrate MeiliSearch's search functionalities in your storefront, please refer to [MeiliSearch's documentation](https://docs.meilisearch.com/learn/what_is_meilisearch/sdks.html#front-end-tools). They offer different tools that you can use based on the frontend framework of your storefront.

---

## See Also

- [Deploy your Medusa backend](../../deployments/server/index.mdx).
- [Deploy your storefront](../../deployments/storefront/index.mdx).
