Meilisearch +

Add native support for the Meilisearch search engine in your BoxLang applications with a fluent, BoxLang-native API wrapper.

This module is only available to +/++ subscribers only but can be installed in conjunction with the bx-plus Module with a limited trial.

The BoxLang Meilisearch module adds native access to the fast, lightweight Meilisearch search engine. It provides a fluent, BoxLang-native wrapper around the Meilisearch HTTP API so you can create indexes, manage documents, run searches, and monitor async tasks from your BoxLang code.

🔎 What Is Meilisearch?

Meilisearch is a lightning-fast, open-source search engine built for instant, relevant full-text search. It is designed to deliver search-as-you-type experiences with typo tolerance, filtering, faceting, and ranking, while remaining simple to deploy and integrate.

This makes it a strong fit for applications that need responsive search across catalogs, content libraries, knowledge bases, internal tools, or customer-facing discovery workflows.

⚡ Key Features

Fast Search Experiences

Meilisearch is optimized for low-latency, search-as-you-type interactions that feel immediate to end users.

Typo Tolerance and Ranking

It can return useful results even when queries are misspelled, while also applying relevance-based ranking to improve result quality.

Filtering and Faceting

You can narrow result sets using filters and build faceted search experiences for categories, tags, status values, or other indexed attributes.

BoxLang-Native Fluent API

The module exposes a fluent DSL for Meilisearch operations, making chained, readable calls easy to write and maintain.

Index and Document Management

The wrapper supports common lifecycle operations such as creating indexes, adding or updating documents, deleting content, and retrieving statistics.

Async Task Tracking

Many write operations return task objects so your application can inspect progress and react to asynchronous indexing work.

🚀 Quick Example

// Create an index
meilisearch()
		.index( "books" )
		.create( "id" )

// Add documents
task = meilisearch()
		.index( "books" )
		.documents()
		.add([
				{ id: 1, title: "BoxLang in Action", author: "Ortus" },
				{ id: 2, title: "Search-Driven Apps", author: "Jane Doe" }
		])
		.orReplace()

// Run a search
results = meilisearch()
		.index( "books" )
		.search( "boxlang" )
		.limit( 10 )
		.send()

💡 Use Cases

Site Search

Add fast, typo-tolerant search to documentation sites, content portals, blogs, and marketing properties.

Product Catalog Search

Support filtered product discovery across categories, brands, pricing, and availability.

Knowledge Bases and Internal Tools

Index internal documentation, tickets, procedures, or support content for quick retrieval.

Application Search Workflows

Enable search-driven dashboards, admin tools, or user-facing experiences where indexed records need to be queried quickly.

Search Prototypes and MVPs

Meilisearch is lightweight enough for teams that want a straightforward path to shipping search without adopting a larger search platform.

🔧 Requirements

• BoxLang 1.13.0+

• A running Meilisearch instance reachable over HTTP or HTTPS

• A Meilisearch master key or API key for authenticated requests

• Java 21+

📦 Installation

Install the module using the standard BoxLang module workflow:

# For Operating Systems using our Quick Installer.
install-bx-module bx-meilisearch

# Using CommandBox to install for web servers.
box install bx-meilisearch

You can configure the module with environment variables:

export MEILISEARCH_URL=http://localhost:7700
export MEILISEARCH_MASTER_KEY=your-master-key

bx-meilisearch will auto-configure using these environment variables, or you can hardcode the values in boxlang.json:

{
    "modules": {
        "meilisearch": {
            "enabled": true,
            "settings": {
                "url"      : "http://localhost:7700",
                "masterKey": "your-master-key"
            }
        }
    }
}

📖 API Documentation

For endpoint coverage and wrapper usage patterns, see the API Documentation section.

📚 Built-In Function Reference

For generated reference documentation covering the module's built-in functions, see the Built-In Function Reference.