Record Extractor
Introduction
This page documents the helpers.docsearch method. See the Algolia Crawler documentation for information about the Algolia Crawler.
Set the recordExtractor parameter on an action to extract each page. Its function returns the data to index as an array of JSON objects.
The helpers are functions for extracting content and generating Algolia records.
Useful links
Usage
The most common way to use the DocSearch helper is to return its result to the recordExtractor function.
recordExtractor: ({ helpers }) => {
return helpers.docsearch({
recordProps: {
lvl0: {
selectors: "header h1",
},
lvl1: "article h2",
lvl2: "article h3",
lvl3: "article h4",
lvl4: "article h5",
lvl5: "article h6",
content: "main p, main li",
},
});
},
Manipulate the DOM with Cheerio
The Cheerio instance ($) allows you to manipulate the DOM:
recordExtractor: ({ $, helpers }) => {
// Removing DOM elements we don't want to crawl
$(".my-warning-message").remove();
return helpers.docsearch({
recordProps: {
lvl0: {
selectors: "header h1",
},
lvl1: "article h2",
lvl2: "article h3",
lvl3: "article h4",
lvl4: "article h5",
lvl5: "article h6",
content: "main p, main li",
},
});
},
Provide fallback selectors
Fallback selectors can be useful when retrieving content that might not exist in some pages:
recordExtractor: ({ $, helpers }) => {
return helpers.docsearch({
recordProps: {
// `.exists h1` will be selected if `.exists-probably h1` does not exists.
lvl0: {
selectors: [".exists-probably h1", ".exists h1"],
},
lvl1: "article h2",
lvl2: "article h3",
lvl3: "article h4",
lvl4: "article h5",
lvl5: "article h6",
// `.exists p, .exists li` will be selected.
content: [
".does-not-exists p, .does-not-exists li",
".exists p, .exists li",
],
},
});
},
Provide raw text (defaultValue)
Only the lvl0 and custom variables selectors support this option
You might want to structure your search results differently than your website, or provide a defaultValue to a potentially non-existent selector:
recordExtractor: ({ $, helpers }) => {
return helpers.docsearch({
recordProps: {
lvl0: {
// It also supports the fallback DOM selectors syntax!
selectors: ".exists-probably h1",
defaultValue: "myRawTextIfDoesNotExists",
},
lvl1: "article h2",
lvl2: "article h3",
lvl3: "article h4",
lvl4: "article h5",
lvl5: "article h6",
content: "main p, main li",
// The variables below can be used to filter your search
language: {
// It also supports the fallback DOM selectors syntax!
selectors: ".exists-probably .language",
// Since custom variables are used for filtering, we allow sending
// multiple raw values
defaultValue: ["en", "en-US"],
},
},
});
},
Indexing content for faceting
These selectors also support defaultValue and fallback selectors
To index content for frontend filters, such as version or language, define custom variables in recordProps. The helper adds them to each matching Algolia record:
recordExtractor: ({ helpers }) => {
return helpers.docsearch({
recordProps: {
lvl0: {
selectors: "header h1",
},
lvl1: "article h2",
lvl2: "article h3",
lvl3: "article h4",
lvl4: "article h5",
lvl5: "article h6",
content: "main p, main li",
// The variables below can be used to filter your search
foo: ".bar",
language: {
// It also supports the fallback DOM selectors syntax!
selectors: ".does-not-exists",
// Since custom variables are used for filtering, we allow sending
// multiple raw values
defaultValue: ["en", "en-US"],
},
version: {
// You can send raw values without `selectors`
defaultValue: ["latest", "stable"],
},
},
});
},
The version, language, and foo attributes are then available in your records:
{
"foo": "valueFromBarSelector",
"language": ["en", "en-US"],
"version": ["latest", "stable"]
}
Add every filter attribute to the index's attributesForFaceting, then expose up to five of them with the v5 facets option. If you display one with resultBadgeKey, also add that attribute to attributesToRetrieve; see the resultBadgeKey reference.
V5 result breadcrumbs use the hierarchy.lvl0 through hierarchy.lvl6 values generated from your selectors. Keep the heading levels ordered and include the hierarchy attributes in attributesToRetrieve.
Boost search results with pageRank
This parameter allows you to boost records using a custom ranking attribute built from the current pathsToMatch. Pages with highest pageRank will be returned before pages with a lower pageRank. The default value is 0 and you can pass any numeric value as a string, including negative values.
Search results are sorted by weight (desc), so you can have both boosted and non boosted results. The weight of each result will be computed for a given query based on multiple factors: match level, position, etc. and the pageRank value will be added to this final weight. The pageRank on its own may not be enough to influence the results of your query depending on how your overall ranking is set up. If changing the pageRank value doesn't influence your search results enough, even with large values, move weight.pageRank higher in the Ranking and Sorting page for your index.
You can view the computed weight directly from the Algolia dashboard (dashboard.algolia.com->search->perform a search->mouse hover over the "ranking criteria" icon bottom right of each record). That will give you an idea of what pageRank value is acceptable for your case.
{
indexName: "YOUR_INDEX_NAME",
pathsToMatch: ["https://YOUR_WEBSITE_URL/api/**"],
recordExtractor: ({ $, helpers, url }) => {
const isDocPage = /\/[\w-]+\/docs\//.test(url.pathname);
const isBlogPage = /\/[\w-]+\/blog\//.test(url.pathname);
return helpers.docsearch({
recordProps: {
lvl0: {
selectors: "header h1",
},
lvl1: "article h2",
lvl2: "article h3",
lvl3: "article h4",
lvl4: "article h5",
lvl5: "article h6",
content: "article p, article li",
pageRank: isDocPage ? "-2000" : isBlogPage ? "-1000" : "0",
},
});
},
},
Reduce the number of records
If you encounter the Extractors returned too many records error when your page outputs more than 750 records, the aggregateContent option helps you reduce the number of records at the content level of the extractor.
{
indexName: "YOUR_INDEX_NAME",
pathsToMatch: ["https://YOUR_WEBSITE_URL/api/**"],
recordExtractor: ({ $, helpers }) => {
return helpers.docsearch({
recordProps: {
lvl0: {
selectors: "header h1",
},
lvl1: "article h2",
lvl2: "article h3",
lvl3: "article h4",
lvl4: "article h5",
lvl5: "article h6",
content: "article p, article li",
},
aggregateContent: true,
});
},
},
Reduce the record size
If you encounter the Records extracted are too big error, your records or source page might contain too much information. The recordVersion option reduces record size by removing fields used only by the DocSearch v2 UI.
{
indexName: "YOUR_INDEX_NAME",
pathsToMatch: ["https://YOUR_WEBSITE_URL/api/**"],
recordExtractor: ({ $, helpers }) => {
return helpers.docsearch({
recordProps: {
lvl0: {
selectors: "header h1",
},
lvl1: "article h2",
lvl2: "article h3",
lvl3: "article h4",
lvl4: "article h5",
lvl5: "article h6",
content: "article p, article li",
},
recordVersion: "v3",
});
},
},
recordProps API Reference
lvl0
type: Lvl0| required
type Lvl0 = {
selectors: string | string[];
defaultValue?: string;
};
lvl1, content
type: string | string[]| required
lvl2, lvl3, lvl4, lvl5, lvl6
type: string | string[]| optional
pageRank
type: number| optional
See the live example
Custom variables
type: string | string[] | CustomVariable| optional
type CustomVariable =
| {
defaultValue: string | string[];
}
| {
selectors: string | string[];
defaultValue?: string | string[];
};
Define custom variables in recordProps. You can use them with v5 facets and per-index filters.
helpers.docsearch API Reference
aggregateContent
type: boolean| default:true| optional
This option groups the Algolia records created at the content level of the selector into a single record for its matching heading.
recordVersion
type: 'v3' | 'v2'| default:v2| optional
This option selects the crawler record schema. It doesn't select the DocSearch UI package version. Set it to v3 to remove fields used only by the DocSearch v2 UI. The v3 value is also the current record schema for DocSearch v5 frontends.
indexHeadings
type: boolean | { from: number, to: number }| default:true| optional
This option tells the crawler if the headings (lvlX) should be indexed.
- When
false, only records for thecontentlevel will be created. - When
from, tois provided, only records for thelvlXtolvlYwill be created.