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How to Use Autocomplete with Atlas Search

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  • Define an Index with Autocomplete
  • Run an Autocomplete Query

This tutorial describes how to create an Atlas Search index that enables autocomplete queries. In the following examples, the index enables autocomplete operators to query the specified field values.

Both examples take you through the following steps:

  1. Set up an Atlas Search index with autocomplete data type for the sample_mflix.movies collection.

  2. Run Atlas Search queries against the specified fields in the sample_mflix.movies collection for an inputted sequence of characters.

Before you begin, ensure that your Atlas cluster meets the requirements described in the Prerequisites.

To create an Atlas Search index, you must have Project Data Access Admin or higher access to the project.

Define an Index with Autocomplete

You can use the Atlas Search autocomplete type to index text values in string fields for autocompletion. You can configure an autocomplete type to satisfy a variety of use cases. To learn more about the configuration options available for the autocomplete type, such as tokenization strategy and diacritic folding, see Configure autocomplete Field Properties. You can query fields indexed as autocomplete type only using the autocomplete operator.

In this section, you will create an Atlas Search index that indexes the title and plot fields for autocompletion using the edgeGram tokenization strategy.

1

Navigate to the Atlas Search page for your project.

  1. If it is not already displayed, select the organization that contains your desired project from the Organizations menu in the navigation bar.

  2. If it is not already displayed, select your desired project from the Projects menu in the navigation bar.

  3. Click your cluster's name.

  4. Click the Atlas Search tab.

2

Click Create Search Index.

3

Select an Atlas Search Configuration Method and click Next.

  • For a guided experience, select the Atlas Search Visual Editor.

  • To edit the raw index definition, select the Atlas Search JSON Editor.

4

Enter the Index Name, and set the Database and Collection.

  1. In the Index Name field, enter autocomplete-tutorial.

    Note

    If you name your index default, you don't need to specify an index parameter when using the $search pipeline stage. Otherwise, you must specify the index name using the index parameter.

  2. In the Database and Collection section, find the sample_mflix database, and select the movies collection.

5

Specify an index definition with the autocomplete field type.

You can use the Atlas Search Visual Editor or the Atlas Search JSON Editor in the Atlas user interface to create the index.

6

Click Create Search Index.

7

Close the You're All Set! Modal Window.

A modal window appears to let you know your index is building. Click the Close button.

8

Wait for the index to finish building.

The index should take about one minute to build. While it is building, the Status column reads Build in Progress. When it is finished building, the Status column reads Active.

Run an Autocomplete Query

➤ Use the Select your language drop-down menu to set the language of the example on this page.

The autocomplete operator performs a search for a word or phrase that contains a sequence of characters from an incomplete input string. The fields that you intend to query with the autocomplete operator must be indexed with the autocomplete data type in the collection's index definition.

← How to Sort Your Atlas Search Results
How to Use Facets with Atlas Search →

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