Meilisearch

Consume Meilisearch API

Actions24

Overview

The Meilisearch node's "Search" resource with the "Search Index" operation allows you to perform advanced search queries on a specified Meilisearch index. This is useful for retrieving documents that match complex criteria, filtering, faceting, sorting, and customizing which fields are returned or highlighted. Common scenarios include building search features for web applications, filtering product catalogs, or implementing full-text search in content management systems.

Practical examples:

Searching a movie database for horror films directed by a specific person.
Retrieving paginated and sorted results from a product catalog.
Highlighting matching terms in search results for a user-facing search bar.

Properties

Name	Meaning
UID	Name of the index to search within. (Required)
Additional Fields	Collection of optional parameters to refine your search. Includes:
- Search Query	The query string to search for.
- Offset	Number of results to skip (for pagination).
- Limit	Maximum number of results to return.
- Hits Per Page	Maximum number of results per page.
- Page	Specific page of results to request.
- Filter String	Query string to filter results, e.g., `(genres = horror OR genres = mystery) AND director = 'Jordan Peele'`.
- Facets String	Comma-separated list of facets to display counts for; use `*` for all facets.
- Attributes To Retrieve	Comma-separated list of document attributes to include in results.
- Attributes To Crop	Comma-separated list of attributes whose values should be cropped.
- Crop Length	Maximum length (in words) for cropped attribute values.
- Crop Marker	String used to mark crop boundaries.
- Attributes To Highlight	Comma-separated list of attributes where matching terms will be highlighted.
- Highlight Pre Tag	String inserted at the start of a highlighted term (default: `<em>`).
- Highlight Post Tag	String inserted at the end of a highlighted term (default: `</em>`).
- Show Matches Position	Boolean; whether to return the location of matching terms.
- Sort	Comma-separated list of attributes and sort directions, e.g., `price:asc,release_date:desc`.
- Matching Strategy	Strategy for matching query terms: `Last` or `All`.

Output

The output is a JSON object containing the search results as returned by the Meilisearch API.
Typical structure includes:
- hits: Array of matched documents.
- offset, limit, nbHits, exhaustiveNbHits, processingTimeMs, query, etc.
- If highlighting or cropping is enabled, additional fields such as _formatted may appear in each hit.
No binary data is produced by this operation.

Example output:

{
  "hits": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "title": "Get Out",
      "_formatted": {
        "title": "<em>Get</em> Out"
      }
    }
  ],
  "offset": 0,
  "limit": 20,
  "nbHits": 1,
  "exhaustiveNbHits": true,
  "processingTimeMs": 2,
  "query": "get out"
}

Dependencies

External Service: Requires access to a running Meilisearch instance.
API Key: Needs valid Meilisearch credentials configured in n8n (meilisearchApi).
Environment Variable: The base URL for Meilisearch must be set in the credentials (host_url).

Troubleshooting

Invalid Index Name: If the provided UID does not exist, an error will occur. Double-check the index name.
Authentication Errors: Missing or incorrect API key/host URL will result in authentication failures.
Malformed Query: Incorrect syntax in filter or facet strings can cause errors. Refer to Meilisearch documentation for correct formats.
Empty Results: If no documents match the query or filters, the hits array will be empty.

Common error messages:

"Index not found": Ensure the UID matches an existing index.
"Invalid API key": Check your credentials.
"Bad request": Review your filter, facets, or other advanced parameters for typos or unsupported options.