Client-Side Search

Client side search

Indexing operations aside, you should perform searches directly from your front end, using JavaScript. This drastically improves search response times, and reduces the load and traffic on your servers.

Generate search keys

With client-side implementations, remember to use the search-only API keys. You should never share your admin API key with anyone, it must remain strictly confidential.

Scout Extended provides the searchKey method to generate a search key for each searchable class:

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use Algolia\ScoutExtended\Facades\Algolia;

$searchKey = Algolia::searchKey(Article::class);

The $searchKey this method returns restricts searches to the given Searchable class, and no other Searchable classes.

The searchKey method uses the application cache to return the same search key until its expiry, 24 hours after generation.

Integration with Vue InstantSearch

Scout Extended doesn’t dictate which JavaScript solution to use. You’re free to pick your favorite InstantSearch flavor. The example below covers the Vue InstantSearch integration.

Installing Vue InstantSearch

Since Laravel ships with Vue by default, there’s nothing to set up. You only have to add vue-instantsearch as a dependency with npm and register it as a Vue plugin:

$
npm install vue-instantsearch algoliasearch

Then, open up your resources/js/app.js and add the following lines just after the window.Vue = require('vue'); line:

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import algoliasearch from 'algoliasearch/lite';
window.algoliasearch = algoliasearch;

import InstantSearch from 'vue-instantsearch';
Vue.use(InstantSearch);

To compile the JavaScript into the app.js bundle file while working on it, run:

$
npm run watch

Scaffolding a search interface

The following example shows a small search interface with a minimal design. Since the template needs access to the application ID and API key, you need to move the Vue initialization into a Blade template.

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<div id="app">
  <!-- In a default Laravel app, Vue will render inside an #app div -->
  <ais-instant-search
    :search-client="searchClient"
    index-name="{{ (new App\Article)->searchableAs() }}"
  >
    <ais-search-box placeholder="Search articles..."></ais-search-box>

    <ais-hits>
      <template slot="item" slot-scope="{ item }">
        <div>
          <h1>@{{ item.title }}</h1>
          <h4>@{{ item.summary }}</h4>
        </div>
      </template>
    </ais-hits>
  </ais-instant-search>
</div>

<script>
new Vue({
  data: function() {
    return {
      searchClient: algoliasearch(
        '{{ config('scout.algolia.id') }}',
        '{{ Algolia\ScoutExtended\Facades\Algolia::searchKey(App\Article::class) }}',
      ),
    };
  },
  el: '#app',
});
</script>

You can refer to the Vue InstantSearch documentation to learn more about Vue InstantSearch and its components.

InstantSearch is also available for Angular, React and vanilla JavaScript.