Welcome to the Meilisearch specifications!

# Stop Words Setting API

# 1. Summary

This specification describes the stopWords index setting API endpoints.

# 2. Motivation

N/A

# 3. Functional Specification

# 3.1. Explanations

The stopWords index setting allows the configuration of a list of words to be ignored in search queries. The stop words contained in a search query will be ignored by the engine when matching and ranking search results.

# 3.1.1. Usage Example

Suppose a database contains articles written in English. Countless occurrences of the and of could deteriorate the relevancy of search results. To set the and of words as stop words, it can be specified the following way.

Request payload PUT- /indexes/articles/settings/stop-words

["the", "of"]

By adding common English words such as the or of to the stop-words list, Meilisearch will not take them into consideration when calculating how relevant a result is.

# 3.2. Global Settings API Endpoints Definition

stopWords is a sub-resource of /indexes/:index_uid/settings.

See Settings API.

# 3.3. API Endpoints Definition

Manipulate the stopWords setting of a Meilisearch index.

# 3.3.1. GET - indexes/:index_uid/settings/stop-words

Fetch the stopWords setting of a Meilisearch index.

# 3.3.1.1. Response Definition
  • Type: Array of String
  • Default: []
# 3.3.1.2. Errors
  • 🔴 Sending an invalid index uid format for the :index_uid path parameter returns an invalid_index_uid error.
  • 🔴 If the requested index_uid does not exist, the API returns an index_not_found error.

# 3.3.2. PUT - indexes/:index_uid/settings/stop-words

Modify the stopWords setting of a Meilisearch index.

# 3.3.2.1. Request Payload Definition
  • Type: Array of String / null

Setting null is equivalent to using the 3.3.3. DELETE - indexes/:index_uid/settings/stop-words API endpoint.

# 3.3.2.2. Response Definition

When the request is successful, Meilisearch returns the HTTP code 202 Accepted. The response's content is the summarized representation of the received asynchronous task.

See Summarized task Object for 202 Accepted.

# 3.3.2.3. Errors
# 3.3.2.3.1. Async Errors

Otherwise, Meilisearch will create the index in a lazy way. See 3.2.2.4. Lazy Index Creation.

# 3.3.2.4. Lazy Index Creation

If the requested index_uid does not exist, and the authorization layer allows it (See 3.3.2.3.1. Async Errors), Meilisearch will create the index when the related asynchronous task resource is executed. See 3.3.2.2. Response Definition.

# 3.3.3. DELETE - indexes/:index_uid/settings/stop-words

Reset the stopWords setting of a Meilisearch index to the default value [].

# 3.3.3.1. Response Definition

When the request is in a successful state, Meilisearch returns the HTTP code 202 Accepted. The response's content is the summarized representation of the received asynchronous task.

See Summarized task Object for 202 Accepted.

# 3.3.3.3. Errors
  • 🔴 Sending an invalid index uid format for the :index_uid path parameter returns an invalid_index_uid error.
# 3.3.3.3.1. Asynchronous Index Not Found Error

# 3.3.4. General Errors

These errors apply to all endpoints described here.

# 3.3.4.1 Auth Errors

The auth layer can return the following errors if Meilisearch is secured (a master-key is defined).

  • 🔴 Accessing this route without the Authorization header returns a missing_authorization_header error.
  • 🔴 Accessing this route with a key that does not have permissions (i.e. other than the master-key) returns an invalid_api_key error.

# 4. Technical Details

# 4.1. Triggering Documents Re-Indexing

Meilisearch favors search speed and makes a trade-off on indexing speed by computing internal data structures to get search results as fast as possible.

Modifying this index setting cause documents to be re-indexed.

# 5. Future Possibilities

n/a

← Synonyms setting api →