Fork Notice: This is an enhanced fork of strapi-plugin-meilisearch with added features for managing Meilisearch index settings directly from the Strapi admin panel.

Table of Contents

• What's New in This Fork
• Features
• Installation
• Configuration
• Usage
• API Endpoints
• Troubleshooting
• Contributing

What's New in This Fork

This fork extends the original plugin with powerful admin UI features for managing Meilisearch index settings:

🎨 Index Settings Admin Interface

A dedicated admin panel for configuring Meilisearch settings without code changes:

• Visual UI: Organize settings by content-type with tabbed interface
• Filterable Attributes: Choose which fields support filtering
• Sortable Attributes: Choose which fields support sorting
• Pagination: Configure max total hits per search

🔍 Key Improvements

• ✅ Persistent settings stored in Strapi database
• ✅ Automatic application to all configured indexes
• ✅ Real-time updates without server restart
• ✅ Unified settings model (merged across content-types)
• ✅ Minimal logging to keep info logs clean

Features

Original Features (from strapi-plugin-meilisearch)

• Automatic indexing of Strapi content-types to Meilisearch
• Real-time synchronization on create, update, delete operations
• Customizable transformation of entries before indexing
• Support for multiple indexes per content-type
• Locale support with configurable entry queries

New Features in This Fork

• Index Settings UI - Manage all settings visually in admin panel
• Filterable Attributes Management - Set searchable/filterable fields
• Sortable Attributes Management - Choose which fields can be sorted
• Max Total Hits Configuration - Control pagination limits
• Automatic Settings Application - Apply changes to all indexes instantly
• Persistent Settings - Settings survive server restarts

Installation

Install this fork version with npm or yarn:

npm install strapi-plugin-meilisearch-fork
# or
yarn add strapi-plugin-meilisearch-fork

Rebuild Strapi:

npm run build
# or
yarn build

Configuration

Configure the plugin in config/plugins.js:

// config/plugins.js
module.exports = () => ({
  'meilisearch-fork': {
    config: {
      host: 'http://localhost:7700',
      apiKey: 'your_master_key',
      indexName: 'content',
      // Specify which content-types to index (optional)
      includeContentTypes: ['post', 'page', 'home-page', 'job', 'job-overview'],
      // Additional Meilisearch settings
      settings: {
        maxTotalHits: 10000,
      },
    },
  },
})

Usage

Admin Panel Setup

1. Navigate to Settings: Go to Plugins → Meilisearch in the Strapi admin panel
2. Add Credentials (if not using config file):
   • Enter Meilisearch host URL (e.g., http://localhost:7700)
   • Enter Master or Private API key
3. Index Content Types: Check the content-types you want to index

Managing Index Settings

Once content-types are indexed, use the Index Settings tab to configure Meilisearch behavior:

🔍 Filterable Attributes

Choose which fields can be used in filters:

• Click the Filterable tab
• Check fields you want to be searchable/filterable
• Example: If you check title and category, users can filter by: /search?filters=title="My Post" AND category="News"
• Special: The _contentType field is always filterable by default

🔀 Sortable Attributes

Choose which fields can be sorted:

• Click the Sortable tab
• Check fields you want to allow sorting
• Example: If you check createdAt and title, users can sort by: /search?sort=createdAt:desc

📄 Pagination Limits

Configure the maximum number of results:

• Set Max Total Hits to control pagination limits
• Default: 10000 (Meilisearch default)
• Common values: 1000, 10000, 100000

💾 Saving Settings

• Select your field configuration
• Click Save Settings
• Settings are automatically applied to all configured Meilisearch indexes
• No server restart needed

API Endpoints

This fork adds three new REST endpoints for programmatic settings management:

GET /api/meilisearch/index-settings/content-types

Fetch all indexed content-types with their available fields and current settings.

Request:

GET /api/meilisearch/index-settings/content-types

Response:

{
  "contentTypes": [
    {
      "name": "post",
      "fields": ["id", "title", "description", "createdAt", "author"],
      "filterableAttributes": ["title"],
      "sortableAttributes": ["createdAt"],
      "maxTotalHits": 10000
    }
  ]
}

POST /api/meilisearch/index-settings/save

Save filterable/sortable attributes and max total hits for all indexes.

Request:

POST /api/meilisearch/index-settings/save
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "settings": {
    "filterableAttributes": ["title", "_contentType"],
    "sortableAttributes": ["createdAt"],
    "maxTotalHits": 100000
  }
}

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Saved merged index settings: filterable=[title,_contentType], sortable=[createdAt]"
}

POST /api/meilisearch/index-settings/apply

Apply saved settings to all configured Meilisearch indexes.

Request:

POST /api/meilisearch/index-settings/apply

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "message": "Applied settings to all configured indexes"
}

Architecture

Unified Settings Model

Unlike the original plugin, this fork uses a unified settings model where all settings are merged across content-types. This approach has several advantages:

• Meilisearch-appropriate: Meilisearch treats indexes globally, not per-content-type
• Simpler UI: Tab-based interface for clarity, but stored as unified settings
• Consistent behavior: Same filterable fields across all indexes
• Easier maintenance: Single source of truth for settings

Settings Storage

Settings are persisted in Strapi's store service:

• Key: meilisearch-index-settings - Contains merged filterable/sortable arrays
• Key: meilisearch-max-total-hits - Contains pagination limit
• Survives server restarts
• Can be backed up with other Strapi data

Automatic Application

Settings are applied to Meilisearch in two ways:

1. On Index Operations: When documents are published/updated, settings are applied before indexing
2. Manual: Via the admin UI "Save Settings" button or /apply endpoint

Field Validation

The system validates stored field names against available fields:

• Removes invalid fields if content-type structure changes
• Prevents corruption from stale data
• Ensures settings always match current schema

Troubleshooting

Settings Not Showing in Admin UI

Problem: The Index Settings tab is empty

Solution:

1. Ensure content-types are indexed (checked in main tab)
2. Check browser console for errors
3. Verify Meilisearch connection in Credentials tab
4. Check server logs for API errors

Settings Not Applying to Meilisearch

Problem: Settings are saved but not appearing in Meilisearch admin

Solution:

1. Click "Save Settings" first (saves to Strapi database)
2. Click "Apply Settings" button (applies to Meilisearch)
3. Or use POST /api/meilisearch/index-settings/apply endpoint
4. Check that content-types are in includeContentTypes config

Only Configured Content-Types Affected

Note: The plugin only applies settings to content-types in your includeContentTypes configuration. This prevents accidental modification of unintended indexes.

Excessive Logging

Info: The plugin uses debug-level logging for repeated operations (e.g., ensureIndexSettings on every index operation). To see these logs:

# Set Strapi log level to debug
strapi develop --log-level debug

Migration from Original Plugin

If you're upgrading from strapi-plugin-meilisearch:

1. Install This Fork

npm uninstall strapi-plugin-meilisearch
npm install strapi-plugin-meilisearch-fork
npm run build

2. Update Configuration

Change your config/plugins.js:

// Before
meilisearch: { ... }

// After
'meilisearch-fork': { ... }

3. Settings Migration

Automatic: Your existing indexes and content will continue to work. No data migration needed.

Manual (optional): Configure new Index Settings UI:

• Go to admin panel
• Navigate to Meilisearch plugin
• Click "Index Settings" tab
• Configure filterable/sortable attributes
• Click "Save Settings"

4. No Breaking Changes

• All original plugin functionality is preserved
• Existing indexes continue working unchanged
• New features are opt-in via the admin UI
• Can revert to original plugin if needed

Contributing

To contribute improvements to this fork:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/your-feature
3. Make your changes
4. Test thoroughly
5. Submit a pull request

This fork is maintained separately from the original. For original plugin issues, refer to strapi-plugin-meilisearch.

License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details

Related Links

• Meilisearch Documentation
• Strapi Documentation
• Original Plugin
• Fork Repository
• npm Package

Support

For issues with this fork:

• Check the Troubleshooting section
• Open an issue on GitHub
• Review Meilisearch and Strapi documentation

For issues with the original plugin, refer to strapi-plugin-meilisearch