Laravel Scout
Introduction
Laravel Scout provides a simple, driver based solution for adding full-text search to your Eloquent models. Using model observers, Scout will automatically keep your search indexes in sync with your Eloquent records.
Currently, Scout ships with an Algolia driver; however, writing custom drivers is simple and you are free to extend Scout with your own search implementations.
Installation
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. This command will publish the scout.php
configuration file to your config
directory:
php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Laravel\Scout\ScoutServiceProvider"
Finally, add the Laravel\Scout\Searchable
trait to the model you would like to make searchable. This trait will register a model observer to keep the model in sync with your search driver:
<?php
namespace App;
use Laravel\Scout\Searchable;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
class Post extends Model
{
use Searchable;
}
Queueing
While not strictly required to use Scout, you should strongly consider configuring a queue driver before using the library. 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.
Once you have configured a queue driver, set the value of the queue
option in your config/scout.php
configuration file to true
:
'queue' => true,
Driver Prerequisites
Algolia
When using the Algolia driver, you should configure your Algolia id
and secret
credentials in your config/scout.php
configuration file. Once your credentials have been configured, you will also need to install the Algolia PHP SDK via the Composer package manager:
composer require algolia/algoliasearch-client-php
Configuration
Configuring Model Indexes
Each Eloquent model is synced with a given search "index", which contains all of the searchable records for that model. In other words, you can think of each index like a MySQL table. By default, each model will be persisted to an index matching the model's typical "table" name. Typically, this is the plural form of the model name; however, you are free to customize the model's index by overriding the searchableAs
method on the model:
<?php
namespace App;
use Laravel\Scout\Searchable;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
class Post extends Model
{
use Searchable;
/**
* Get the index name for the model.
*
* @return string
*/
public function searchableAs()
{
return 'posts_index';
}
}
Configuring Searchable Data
By default, the entire toArray
form of a given model will be persisted to its search index. If you would like to customize the data that is synchronized to the search index, you may override the toSearchableArray
method on the model:
<?php
namespace App;
use Laravel\Scout\Searchable;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
class Post extends Model
{
use Searchable;
/**
* Get the indexable data array for the model.
*
* @return array
*/
public function toSearchableArray()
{
$array = $this->toArray();
// Customize array...
return $array;
}
}
Configuring The Model ID
By default, Scout will use the primary key of the model as the unique ID stored in the search index. If you need to customize this behavior, you may override the getScoutKey
method on the model:
<?php
namespace App;
use Laravel\Scout\Searchable;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
class User extends Model
{
use Searchable;
/**
* Get the value used to index the model.
*
* @return mixed
*/
public function getScoutKey()
{
return $this->email;
}
}
Indexing
Batch Import
If you are installing Scout into an existing project, you may already have database records you need to import into your search driver. Scout provides an import
Artisan command that you may use to import all of your existing records into your search indexes:
php artisan scout:import "App\Post"
The flush
command may be used to remove all of a model's records from your search indexes:
php artisan scout:flush "App\Post"
Adding Records
Once you have added the Laravel\Scout\Searchable
trait to a model, all you need to do is save
a model instance and it will automatically be added to your search index. If you have configured Scout to use queues this operation will be performed in the background by your queue worker:
$order = new App\Order;
// ...
$order->save();
Adding Via Query
If you would like to add a collection of models to your search index via an Eloquent query, you may chain the searchable
method onto an Eloquent query. The searchable
method will chunk the results of the query and add the records to your search index. Again, if you have configured Scout to use queues, all of the chunks will be added in the background by your queue workers:
// Adding via Eloquent query...
App\Order::where('price', '>', 100)->searchable();
// You may also add records via relationships...
$user->orders()->searchable();
// You may also add records via collections...
$orders->searchable();
The searchable
method can be considered an "upsert" operation. In other words, if the model record is already in your index, it will be updated. If it does not exist in the search index, it will be added to the index.
Updating Records
To update a searchable model, you only need to update the model instance's properties and save
the model to your database. Scout will automatically persist the changes to your search index:
$order = App\Order::find(1);
// Update the order...
$order->save();
You may also use the searchable
method on an Eloquent query to update a collection of models. If the models do not exist in your search index, they will be created:
// Updating via Eloquent query...
App\Order::where('price', '>', 100)->searchable();
// You may also update via relationships...
$user->orders()->searchable();
// You may also update via collections...
$orders->searchable();
Removing Records
To remove a record from your index, delete
the model from the database. This form of removal is even compatible with soft deleted models:
$order = App\Order::find(1);
$order->delete();
If you do not want to retrieve the model before deleting the record, you may use the unsearchable
method on an Eloquent query instance or collection:
// Removing via Eloquent query...
App\Order::where('price', '>', 100)->unsearchable();
// You may also remove via relationships...
$user->orders()->unsearchable();
// You may also remove via collections...
$orders->unsearchable();
Pausing Indexing
Sometimes you may need to perform a batch of Eloquent operations on a model without syncing the model data to your search index. You may do this using the withoutSyncingToSearch
method. This method accepts a single callback which will be immediately executed. Any model operations that occur within the callback will not be synced to the model's index:
App\Order::withoutSyncingToSearch(function () {
// Perform model actions...
});
Conditionally Searchable Model Instances
Sometimes you may need to only make a model searchable under certain conditions. For example, imagine you have App\Post
model that may be in one of two states: "draft" and "published". You may only want to allow "published" posts to be searchable. To accomplish this, you may define a shouldBeSearchable
method on your model:
public function shouldBeSearchable()
{
return $this->isPublished();
}
Searching
You may begin searching a model using the search
method. The search method accepts a single string that will be used to search your models. You should then chain the get
method onto the search query to retrieve the Eloquent models that match the given search query:
$orders = App\Order::search('Star Trek')->get();
Since Scout searches return a collection of Eloquent models, you may even return the results directly from a route or controller and they will automatically be converted to JSON:
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
Route::get('/search', function (Request $request) {
return App\Order::search($request->search)->get();
});
If you would like to get the raw results before they are converted to Eloquent models, you should use the raw
method:
$orders = App\Order::search('Star Trek')->raw();
Search queries will typically be performed on the index specified by the model's searchableAs
method. However, you may use the within
method to specify a custom index that should be searched instead:
$orders = App\Order::search('Star Trek')
->within('tv_shows_popularity_desc')
->get();