Configuring index settings with the Meilisearch API

This tutorial shows how to check and change an index setting using one of the setting subroutes of the Meilisearch API.

If you are Meilisearch Cloud user, you may also configure index settings using the Meilisearch Cloud interface.

• a new Meilisearch Cloud project or a self-hosted Meilisearch instance with at least one index
• a command-line terminal with curl installed

Start by checking the value of the searchable attributes index setting.

Use the GET endpoint of the /settings/searchable-attributes subroute, replacing INDEX_NAME with your index:

curl \
  -X GET 'http://localhost:7700/indexes/INDEX_NAME/settings/searchable-attributes'

Depending on your setup, you might also need to replace localhost:7700 with the appropriate address and port.

You should receive a response immediately:

[
  "*"
]

If this is a new index, you should see the default value, ["*"]. This indicates Meilisearch looks through all document attributes when searching.

All documents include a primary key attribute. In most cases, this attribute does not contain any relevant data, so you can improve your application search experience by explicitly removing it from your searchable attributes list.

Use the PUT endpoint of the /settings/searchable-attributes subroute, replacing INDEX_NAME with your index and the sample attributes "title" and "overview" with attributes present in your dataset:

curl \
  -X PUT 'http://localhost:7700/indexes/INDEX_NAME/settings/searchable-attributes' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-binary '[
    "title",
    "overview"
  ]'

This time, Meilisearch will not process your request immediately. Instead, you will receive a summarized task object while the search engine works on updating your index setting as soon as it has enough resources:

{
  "taskUid": 1,
  "indexUid": "INDEX_NAME",
  "status": "enqueued",
  "type": "settingsUpdate",
  "enqueuedAt": "2021-08-11T09:25:53.000000Z"
}

Processing the index setting change might take some time, depending on how many documents you have in your index. Wait a few seconds and use the task object's taskUid to monitor the status of your request:

curl \
  -X GET 'http://localhost:7700/tasks/TASK_UID'

Meilisearch will respond with a task object:

{
  "uid":1,
  "indexUid":"INDEX_NAME",
  "status":"succeeded",
  "type":"settingsUpdate",
  …
}

If status is enqueued or processed, wait a few more moments and check the task status again. If status is failed, make sure you have used a valid index and attributes, then try again.

If task status is succeeded, you successfully updated your index's searchable attributes. Use the subroute to check the new setting's value:

curl \
  -X GET 'http://localhost:7700/indexes/INDEX_NAME/settings/searchable-attributes'

Meilisearch should return an array with the new values:

[
  "title",
  "overview"
]

You have used the Meilisearch API to check the value of an index setting. This revealed an opportunity to improve your project's performance, so you updated this index setting to make your application better and more responsive.

This tutorial used the searchable attributes setting, but the procedure is the same no matter which index setting you are editing.

For a comprehensive reference of all index settings, consult the settings API reference.