Performing a Search with the API

This is a reference on how to perform a full-text search using the Searchcraft API. This reference is intended for developers that intend to build out their own custom applications or desire to programmatically test search queries. If you are using the SDK components, building search queries is handled for you. All of the provided examples may be run against your Searchcraft cluster, the data_test index is available on all clusters for query testing. Just make sure to replace the read-key-value with your key and the searchcraft-cluster-url with your cluster URL.

API Endpoint Reference

POST /index/:index/search Returns search results data that match the query criteria.

Query Modes

There are currently two types of search queries that Searchcraft accepts.

fuzzy This mode is typo-tolerant but may be rank less relevant content further up in the results due to it matching on more than the original term tokens. A good fit for humans as humans are terrible at spelling. Fuzzy utilizes levenshtein distance to match typos within a certains distance of errors from the original term.
exact This is an excellent fit for when you want exact matches only. exact should always be used on filters.

Queries will run against the fields marked as searchable defaults in the index schema. You do not need to specify the field name in those cases unless you want to restrict the search to just a single field. You may choose specific fields to search against in your query using the query language syntax.

Order_By, Limit, Offset, and Sort Parameters

The order_by, limit, and offset parameters are optional, top level payload parameters.

limit sets the number of results to return. If you do not set a value the default is 20.

offset sets the offset of the first result to return. This can be used to paginate through results.

order_by by allows you to specify a field to order the results by. This will discard relevance scoring. If you need a combination of relevance and recency its recommended to instead keep the default order with a date value or date range query.

sort Allows you to change the sort of the results to either ascending or descending. Options are asc and desc. If you do not set a value the default is desc.

Example request

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"limit":2, "offset": 2, "order_by": "title", "sort": "asc", "query":{"fuzzy":{"ctx":"human"}}}' http://<searchcraft-url>/index/data_test/search

Occur Parameter

The occur parameter is optional and defaults to should if a value is not provided. Underneath, the should and must settings are used to define the behavior of clauses in Boolean queries, controlling how documents are matched based on specified conditions. Here’s the difference:

`should` Clause

Purpose: Specifies clauses that are optional but influence the relevance scoring.

Behavior:

Documents that match should clauses are ranked higher in the results.
If no must clause is present, at least one should clause must match for a document to be included in the results.
If must clauses are present, should clauses act as a boost to relevance scoring without being required for matching. Example: Searching for documents where a certain keyword is preferred but not required.

let query = BooleanQuery::new(vec![
    (Occur::Should, term_query_1), // Optional but boosts relevance
    (Occur::Must, term_query_2),   // Required match
]);

`must` Clause

Purpose: Specifies clauses that are mandatory for a document to be included in the results.

Behavior:

Documents that do not match a must clause are excluded from the results.
Used to enforce strict conditions that documents must satisfy.
Example: Searching for documents where a keyword is required.

let query = BooleanQuery::new(vec![
    (Occur::Must, term_query_1), // Mandatory match
    (Occur::Should, term_query_2), // Optional but boosts relevance
]);

Key Differences

Aspect	should	must
Result Criteria Requirement	Optional (but boosts score)	Mandatory
Matching	At least one should must match if no must clause is defined	All must clauses must match
Purpose	Adjusts relevance ranking	Enforces strict matching

When using a combination of a filter with a string query you typically want to combine must clause queries. This will function as a logical AND.

Example must request

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"query":[{"occur":"must","exact":{"ctx":"category: IN [/science-fiction]"}},{"occur":"must","fuzzy":{"ctx":"world"}}],"limit":20}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search | jq

The reason this example uses an array of queries instead of a single query is due to the desire to have fuzzy matching on the query term combined with a filter. This forms a logical AND query. If these used occur: "should" then it would function as a logical OR query.

By combining should and must clauses you can build complex queries that balance precision (with must) and recall/relevance (with should).

Using the Searchcraft Query Language

Searchcraft’s query language is a powerful tool for crafting complex search queries. It allows you to specify the fields to search, the operator to use, and the value to search for. It’s inspired by Lucene’s query syntax but is Searchcraft does not utilize Lucene.

You can combine search queries against multiple fields using AND or OR operators. You can also do exclusion queries using -.

You can also use IN queries. field:IN [foo bar] will match ‘foo’ or ‘bar’, but nothing else. Range queries are possible using the TO operator.

Refer to the specific query type sections below for more details.

IMPORTANT

In order to use the query language you need to search in exact mode. You may combine fuzzy matching with a query language exact query via the API by making a mutiple-query request like so:

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"query": [{ "occur": "must", "exact": {"ctx": "active:false"} }, { "fuzzy": {"ctx": "galaxy"} }]}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search

Query Writing Guidelines

Escape Special Characters

Some characters need to be escaped in non quoted terms because they are used as part of the query language syntax. Special reserved characters are: + , ^, `, :, {, }, ", [, ], (, ), ~, !, \\, *, SPACE. If these characters are desired in a query term, they need to be escaped by prefixing them with an back slash \.

Within quoted terms, the quote character in use ' or " needs to be escaped.

Datetime Format

Datetime values must be provided in rfc3339 format, such as 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z or as Unix epoch timestamps 1736367048.

`AND` logical operator

An AND query will match only if both conditions match.

Example:

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"query": { "exact": {"ctx": "active:false AND rating:>9.0"} }}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search

`OR` logical operator

An OR query will match if either conditions match.

Example:

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"query": { "exact": {"ctx": "active:false AND rating:>9.0"} }}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search

`-` exclusion operator

Using the - operator will exclude results that match the term.

{"query": { "exact": {"ctx": "searchterm -excludedterm} }}

Grouping ()

Parentheses are may be used to force the order of evaluation of operators. For instance, if a query should match if ‘field1’ is ‘one’ or ‘two’, and ‘field2’ is ‘three’, you can use (field1:one OR field1:two) AND field2:three.

Operator Precedence

Without parentheses, AND takes precedence over OR. That is, a AND b OR c is interpreted as (a AND b) or c.

Exclusion operator - takes precedence over everything, such that -a AND b means (-a) AND b, not -(a AND B).

Field Queries

You are not limited to searching across just the default fields. You can also search against specific field values. This is often useful for filtering results or narrowing down the scope of a search.

Field Term Match

Returns results where a field value matches the provided term.

field:term

Example:

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"query": { "exact": {"ctx": "title:\"cybernetic rebellion\""} }}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search

This example uses quotes around the phrase because it wants to match the exact phrase “cybernetic rebellion”. You could also send it without quotes and it would match any documents with the word “cybernetic” or “rebellion” in the title.

Field `IN` Query

Returns results where a field value is one of the provided terms. The term array can be a list of terms or a single term.

field:IN [term1 term2 term3]

Example:

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"query": { "exact": {"ctx": "tags:IN [evolution colonization]"} }}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search

Field `TO` Query

Returns results where a value is within a range.

`field:value TO value`

Bounding Range Queries

You can set both inclusive and exclusive bounds when performing a range query. Inclusive bounds are represented by square brackets []. They will match tokens equal to the bound term. Exclusive bounds are represented by curly brackets {}. They will not match tokens equal to the bound term.

Example:

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"query": { "exact": {"ctx": "rating:[6 TO 9]"} }}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search

This example will return any documents that have a rating between 6 and 9, including 6 and 9.

Field Value Comparison Queries

You can also use the following operators to compare field values.

Operator	Description
`>`	Greater than
`<`	Less than
`>=`	Greater than or equal to
`<=`	Less than or equal to

field:>=value

Example:

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"query": { "exact": {"ctx": "reviews:>=3000"} }}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search

This example will return any documents that have 3000 or more reviews.

Match All `*` Query

Matches every document. Does not require a field name. The match all query is only compatible with exact matching via exact query mode. You will likely want to specify a limit. It is rare that you will want to use this query.

Example:

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"limit": 100, "query": { "exact": {"ctx": "*"} }}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search

Additional Examples Using Query Language Syntax and the `data_test` index

Fuzzy query against default search fields

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"query":{"fuzzy":{"ctx":"Wintess"}}}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search

Fuzzy query combined with a field filter

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"query": [{ "occur": "must", "exact": {"ctx": "active:false"} }, { "fuzzy": {"ctx": "galaxy"} }]}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search

exact query against default search fields

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"query":{"exact":{"ctx":"Alien"}}}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search

Exclusion example

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"query":{"exact":{"ctx":"planet -solar"}}}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"query": { "exact": {"ctx": "category:/science-fiction/cyberpunk"} }}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"query": { "exact": {"ctx": "category:/science-fiction"} }}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search

Using limit and offset

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"limit":2, "offset": 2, "query":{"fuzzy":{"ctx":"human"}}}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search

Within a group of tags

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"query": { "exact": {"ctx": "tags:IN [evolution colonization]"} }}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search | jq

By a date greater than

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"query": { "exact": {"ctx": "created_at:>=2020-06-01T00:00:00Z AND created_at:>=2022-01-01T00:00:00Z"} }}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search

By a date range

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"query": { "exact": {"ctx": "created_at:[2021-01-01T00:00:00Z TO 2022-12-31T23:59:59Z]"} }}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search

boolean queries

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"query": { "exact": {"ctx": "active:false"} }}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"query": { "exact": {"ctx": "active:true"} }}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search

Range query with float field

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"query": { "exact": {"ctx": "rating:[6 TO 9]"} }}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search

Greater than or equal query with integer field

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"query": { "exact": {"ctx": "reviews:>=3000"} }}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search

Float field exact value

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"query": { "exact": {"ctx": "rating:9.4"} }}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search

By an ID value

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"query": { "exact": {"ctx": "id:2"} }}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search

Sorting by date in descending order

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: read-key-value" --data '{"query": { "exact": {"ctx": "category:/fantasy/epic-fantasy"} }, "sort":"desc", "order_by": "created_at"}' https://searchcraft-cluster-url/index/data_test/search

Tips for better search results

Remember, your application’s search results are only as good as the information that you give to it. You have full control over the weighting of fields and what field data gets ingested so if you find the results are not to your liking you can always adjust. Not every field that is displayed in the search result documents needs to be searchable and there can always be additional fields added such as keyword fields that you do not display but affect the results.

Notes

If your index uses a stopword dictionary any stopwords included in the search term will not afffect the results. For example if you utilize the default en stopword dictionary and search for “the” without any other search terms the results will be empty.

Performing a Search with the API

API Endpoint Reference

Query Modes

Order_By, Limit, Offset, and Sort Parameters

Example request

Occur Parameter

should Clause

must Clause

Key Differences

Example must request

Using the Searchcraft Query Language

IMPORTANT

Query Writing Guidelines

Escape Special Characters

Datetime Format

AND logical operator

OR logical operator

- exclusion operator

Grouping ()

Operator Precedence

Field Queries

Field Term Match

Field IN Query

Field TO Query

Bounding Range Queries

Field Value Comparison Queries

Match All * Query

Additional Examples Using Query Language Syntax and the data_test index

Fuzzy query against default search fields

Fuzzy query combined with a field filter

exact query against default search fields

Exclusion example

By a full category facet

By a parent level category facet

Using limit and offset

Within a group of tags

By a date greater than

By a date range

boolean queries

Range query with float field

Greater than or equal query with integer field

Float field exact value

By an ID value

Sorting by date in descending order

Tips for better search results

Notes

`should` Clause

`must` Clause

`AND` logical operator

`OR` logical operator

`-` exclusion operator

Field `IN` Query

Field `TO` Query

Match All `*` Query

Additional Examples Using Query Language Syntax and the `data_test` index