Suggestions
Suggestions are as-you-type search: the suggest endpoint returns matching records after every keystroke. Type “run” and see “running shoes” before you finish the word.
- Full search tuned for partial queries: fast, matches the start of words, forgives typos.
- Powers the autocomplete component.
- An API feature — the requests below are the reference.
As-you-type, after every keystroke
This is suggest doing its job on a live list of 9,700 films and actors: four letters typed, and the record is already on screen. Suggestions match the start of words and forgive typos, which is what makes them usable before anybody has finished typing one. Try it yourself on the movies demo.
The request
The query text goes in the path (not the query string), after the list and version — so a visitor who has typed “incep” triggers:
GET https://api.searchstack.dev/suggest/acme/movies/3/incep/suggest/group/{account}/{group}/{version}/{query}runs over every list in a group at once, exactly as full search does.- A record held by two of the group's lists is suggested once — the same rule, and the same conditions, as group search. Because of it a group can return slightly fewer than
sizesuggestions. - Both forms have a
POSTform taking the same settings as a JSON body.
| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
size | How many suggestions to return. Keep it small for a dropdown — 5–8 is typical. |
filter | A facet filter, written exactly as for full search. |
radius | Only records near a point (latitude,longitude,distance), for suggestions that depend on where the visitor is. |
cache | Set false to skip the cache when you need the very latest records. |
select | Which of your fields to return, comma-separated. Omit for all. A suggestion row is flat, so only your own fields narrow — id, name and the scores always come back. Worth setting here more than anywhere: a suggestion box renders one line per row, and a wide list otherwise sends every field of every suggestion on every keystroke. |
The response is a ranked list of records, each with its searchable, facet and resource fields, ready to draw in a dropdown. Every parameter, with its type and default, is in the API reference under Suggest — generated from the API itself, so it cannot drift.
Use the component instead of calling it yourself
The @searchstack/autocomplete component connects an ordinary <input> to this endpoint for you:
- Waits for a pause in typing before calling.
- Drops replies that arrive out of date.
- Handles the arrow keys, and draws each row with your own template.
Where the suggestions come from
- Whatever records are in the list or group you point at — often your real data, so suggesting over
productsgives product suggestions. - Or a separate list of search phrases. User Generated Suggestions fills such a list automatically from the phrases your visitors search successfully.