Laravel Scout Algolia Search: The Complete Guide

Laravel Algolia Search Example

By Krunal Last updated Sep 23, 2020

Laravel Scout is search engine-agnostic, it keeps things basic. For indexing, this isn’t an issue, as Scout will help keep everything in sync and format your data the way you want. But for search, it’s limited. If you need to get more information, then go to Laravel.

Laravel Scout Algolia Search

In this example, we use the scout package that provides full-text search functionality. Let’s Configure Laravel Project.

Step 1: Download Laravel Project

Establish a Laravel Project by the typing following command.

composer create-project --prefer-dist laravel/laravel scout

Step 2: Setup SQL Database

Now we can set up database credentials.

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=scout
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=

Step 3: Install Scout Package

First, install Scout via the Composer package manager.

composer require laravel/scout

After installing Scout, you should publish the Scout configuration using the vendor: publish Artisan command.

php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Laravel\Scout\ScoutServiceProvider"

Running a queue worker will allow Scout to queue all operations that sync your model information to your search indexes, providing much better response times for your application’s web interface.

Set the value of the queue in the .env file.

SCOUT_QUEUE = true

Step 4: Install the Algolia Driver.

You will also want to install the Algolia PHP SDK via the Composer package manager,

composer require algolia/algoliasearch-client-php

Next, we have to set the id and secret of Algolia. So move to this website Algolia and then create your account.

After login, You can get id and secret from this link: https://www.algolia.com/api-keys

You can set id and secret in your .env file.

ALGOLIA_APP_ID = Enter your Application ID
ALGOLIA_SECRET = Enter your Admin API Key

Step 5: Register Trait in Model

Finally, add the Laravel\Scout\Searchable trait to the model you would like to make searchable. To modify the model file.

//User.php

<?php

namespace App;

use Illuminate\Notifications\Notifiable;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Auth\User as Authenticatable;
use Laravel\Scout\Searchable;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;


class User extends Model
{
    use Notifiable;
    use Searchable;


    /**
     * The attributes that are mass assignable.
     *
     * @var array
     */
    protected $fillable = [
        'name', 'email', 'password',
    ];
    public function searchableAs()
    {
        return 'users_index';
    }

    /**
     * The attributes that should be hidden for arrays.
     *
     * @var array
     */
    protected $hidden = [
        'password', 'remember_token',
    ];
}

Step 6: Batch Import

In this example, we have no records So first we will create a dummy record by typing the following command.

php artisan tinker

factory(App\User::class, 100)->create();

Database records need to import into your search driver. Scout provides an Artisan command that you may use to import all of your existing records into your search indexes.

php artisan scout:import "App\User"

Step 7: Create a View File

Create a file in resources >> views >> index.blade.php and put this following code in it.

//index.blade.php

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <title>Laravel Scout Search Tutorial</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="{{asset('css/app.css')}}">
    <link href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.6/css/bootstrap.min.css" rel="stylesheet">    
    </head>

   <body>
    <div class="container">
        <h1>Laravel Scout Search Tutorial</h1>
      <form method="GET" action="{{ url('index') }}">
            <div class="row">
                <div class="col-md-6">
                    <input type="text" name="search" class="form-control" placeholder="Search">
                </div>
                <div class="col-md-6">
                    <button class="btn btn-info">Search</button>
                </div>
            </div>
        </form>
   <br/>
      <table class="table table-bordered">
            <tr>
                <th>Id</th>
                <th>Name</th>
                <th>Email</th>
            </tr>
            @if(count($users) > 0)
                @foreach($users as $user)
                <tr>
                    <td>{{ $user->id }}</td>
                    <td>{{ $user->name }}</td>
                    <td>{{ $user->email }}</td>
                </tr>
                @endforeach
            @else
            <tr>
                <td colspan="3" class="text-danger">Result not found.</td>
            </tr>
            @endif
        </table>
   </div>
</body>
</html>

Step 8: Create a Controller and route

 php artisan make:controller SearchController

It will build a controller file called SearchController.php.

Add the following code into the controller.

<?php

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use App\User;

class SearchController extends Controller
{
    public function search(Request $request)
    {
    	if($request->has('search')){
    		$users = User::search($request->get('search'))->get();	
    	}else{
    		$users = User::get();
    	}
        return view('index', compact('users'));
    }
}

We register route in a web.php file.

Route::get('index','SearchController@search');

If you search like Vince, then you can see the result like the below image.

Finally, Our Laravel Scout Algolia Search Example is over. Thanks for taking it.