Question 1

Why can't I just use my database for search?

Accepted Answer

Databases handle exact matches well but struggle with relevance ranking, typo tolerance, and speed at scale. Search engines are optimized for finding relevant text quickly. The user experience difference is significant.

Question 2

Algolia, Typesense, or Meilisearch?

Accepted Answer

Algolia is the most polished but expensive. Typesense and Meilisearch are open-source alternatives with generous hosted plans. Typesense has excellent documentation. Meilisearch is simpler to start with.

Question 3

How does search-as-a-service work?

Accepted Answer

You push your data to the search service (indexing). When users search, your frontend queries the search service directly. Results return in milliseconds. Keep the index synced as your data changes.

Question 4

How much does search cost?

Accepted Answer

Algolia's free tier covers 10K searches/month. Typesense and Meilisearch offer more generous free tiers. Self-hosting is free but requires infrastructure management. Most startups can start free.

Question 5

What is an index?

Accepted Answer

A search index is an optimized data structure for fast text lookup. You define what fields to index and how to weight them. Different from your database—the index is derived from your data and optimized for search.

Question 6

How do I keep search in sync with my database?

Accepted Answer

Trigger index updates when data changes: create, update, delete. Most search services have APIs for incremental updates. Some integrate with databases directly. Batch re-index for major data changes.

Question 7

What is typo tolerance?

Accepted Answer

Finding results even when users misspell words. "restraunt" still finds "restaurant." Search engines handle this automatically by finding similar words. Essential for good user experience.

Question 8

What is faceted search?

Accepted Answer

Filtering results by categories/attributes while showing counts. "100 results: Electronics (60), Clothing (40)." Users can drill down by clicking facets. E-commerce sites rely heavily on this.

Question 9

How do I implement autocomplete?

Accepted Answer

Search services return results as users type. Query on every keystroke (debounced). Show suggestions in a dropdown. The search service returns fast enough for real-time feel. Most have autocomplete-specific APIs.

Question 10

What about search relevance and ranking?

Accepted Answer

Search engines rank by text relevance, but you can boost by other factors: popularity, recency, custom attributes. Configure ranking rules to match what "best result" means for your users.

Question 11

Should I search on the backend or frontend?

Accepted Answer

Frontend (client-side) is faster—no round trip to your server. Most search services provide frontend SDKs. Backend search is needed if you need to filter by user permissions or augment results.

Question 12

How do I handle sensitive search data?

Accepted Answer

Only index what should be searchable. Use API keys with restricted permissions for frontend. Some services offer field-level security. Don't expose internal IDs or private fields in search results.

Question 13

What is vector search?

Accepted Answer

Semantic search using AI embeddings—understanding meaning, not just keywords. "running shoes" finds "athletic footwear." Emerging technology, increasingly available in search services. Powerful but more complex.

Question 14

Can I self-host search instead?

Accepted Answer

Yes, Typesense and Meilisearch are self-hostable. ElasticSearch is the traditional option but complex. Self-hosting saves cost at scale but requires infrastructure expertise. Start hosted, consider self-hosting later.

Question 15

How do I measure search quality?

Accepted Answer

Track click-through rate on results, searches with no results, search refinements. A/B test ranking changes. Watch for common searches that return poor results. User feedback is valuable.

Question 16

What is instant search?

Accepted Answer

Showing results immediately as users type, updating with each keystroke. The UI pattern made famous by Google. Search services are fast enough for this. Delightful UX when implemented well.

Question 17

How do I handle multilingual search?

Accepted Answer

Search services support language-specific analysis (stemming, stop words). Configure the right analyzer for each language. Some services auto-detect language. Important for international products.

Question 18

What about searching PDFs and documents?

Accepted Answer

Extract text from documents and index that text. Tools like Tika or cloud services extract text. The search engine searches the extracted content. Store a reference to the original file.

I need to add search to my application

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