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DocSearch migration

· 3 min read
Clément Vannicatte
Clément Vannicatte
Software Engineer @ Algolia
Sébastien Lorber
Sébastien Lorber
Docusaurus maintainer, This Week In React editor

DocSearch is migrating to a new, more powerful system, which gives users their own Algolia application and new credentials.

Docusaurus site owners should upgrade their configuration with their new credentials by February 1, 2022, existing search indexes will be frozen and become read-only after this date.

Upgrading your Docusaurus site​

In the next few weeks, Docusaurus site owners will receive an email inviting them to join their personal Algolia application.

This email will include a new appId and apiKey to use in your Docusaurus configuration.

The only things you have to do:

  • Join the Algolia application (eventually creating a new Algolia account)
  • Update your site configuration.
docusaurus.config.js
const config = {
  themeConfig: {
    algolia: {
      appId: '<NEW_APP_ID>',
      apiKey: '<NEW_SEARCH_API_KEY>',
    },
  },
};

module.exports = config;
info

appId is now required.

These keys are not secrets and can be added to your Git repository.

DocSearch has a new home!​

What is DocSearch?​

DocSearch is a program created by Algolia, which offers search to technical documentation of Open Source projects and technical blogs for free.

You can read more here, and apply if you'd like to give it a try!

What is this migration about?​

Motivation​

With the upcoming stable release of DocSearch UI, we wanted to go further and provide better tooling for our users to improve their search, but also leverage the full potential of Algolia.

What's new?​

DocSearch now leverages the Algolia Crawler, which includes a web interface that will allow you to:

  • Start, schedule and monitor your crawls
  • Edit your config file from a live editor
  • Test your results with DocSearch v3

The Algolia crawler front page showing the project&#39;s overview, such as last complete crawl and indices

The Algolia config editor opened to the docusaurus-2 config. The right pane shows the results for index and various facet filters.

But also, more Algolia features in your own Algolia app:

  • Team management
  • Browse and see how your records are indexed in Algolia
  • Try other Algolia features with free trials

The Algolia index overview page, showing various filters and the details of every single index

The Algolia index analytics page, showing trends for total users, total searches, etc.

And of course, a lot more, for free.

FAQ​

I'm using Docusaurus and DocSearch, can I migrate?​

At the time we are writing this, we are still at an early stage of the migration. We are doing small batches every week but will increase the load shortly, so please be patient and keep an eye out in your mailbox, you'll be contacted as soon as your Algolia app is ready!

Where can I read more about this?​

We wrote a small migration guide but you'll have more detailed information in the migration email.

I received the migration email but the invite expired​

Please contact us via either email or DocSearch's Discord or on Docusaurus's Discord #algolia channel

I have feedback!​

For any feedback regarding our documentation or the DocSearch UI component, you can open an issue on our GitHub repository, but also contact us via the methods above.

Can I still run my own DocSearch instance?​

In favor of the new infrastructure and DocSearch v3, we will no longer maintain our beloved DocSearch scraper and DocSearch v2, but the repositories will still be available and open to pull requests.

The previous documentation (now called legacy) remains available as well as our run your own guide.