UI libraries / Vue InstantSearch / Widgets

ais-hierarchical-menu

Signature 
<ais-hierarchical-menu
  :attributes="string[]"
  // Optional parameters
  :limit="number"
  :show-more="boolean"
  :show-more-limit="number"
  separator="string"
  root-path="string"
  :show-parent-level="boolean"
  :sort-by="string[]|function"
  :transform-items="function"
  :class-names="object"
/>
Import
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import { AisHierarchicalMenu } from 'vue-instantsearch';
// Use 'vue-instantsearch/vue3/es' for Vue 3

export default {
  components: {
    AisHierarchicalMenu
  },
  // ...
};

1. Follow additional steps in Optimize build size to ensure your code is correctly bundled.
2. This imports all the widgets, even the ones you don’t use. Read the Getting started guide for more information.

See code examples
See live example

About this widget

The ais-hierarchical-menu widget is used to create a navigation menu based on a hierarchy of facet attributes. It’s commonly used for categories with subcategories.

By default, the count of the refined root level is updated to match the count of the actively refined parent level. You can choose to keep the root level count intact by setting persistHierarchicalRootCount in ais-instant-search.

Requirements

The objects to use in the hierarchical menu must follow this structure:

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[
  {
    "objectID": "321432",
    "name": "lemon",
    "categories.lvl0": "products",
    "categories.lvl1": "products > fruits"
  },
  {
    "objectID": "8976987",
    "name": "orange",
    "categories.lvl0": "products",
    "categories.lvl1": "products > fruits"
  }
]

You can also provide more than one path for each level:

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[
  {
    "objectID": "321432",
    "name": "lemon",
    "categories.lvl0": ["products", "goods"],
    "categories.lvl1": ["products > fruits", "goods > to eat"]
  }
]

The attributes passed to the attributes prop must be added in attributes for faceting, either on the dashboard) or using attributesForFaceting with the API. By default, the separator is > (with spaces), but you can use a different one by using the separator option.

Examples

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<ais-hierarchical-menu
  :attributes="[
    'categories.lvl0',
    'categories.lvl1',
    'categories.lvl2',
    'categories.lvl3',
  ]"
/>

Props

Parameter Description
attributes
type: string[]
Required

The name of the attributes to generate the menu with.

To avoid unexpected behavior, you can’t use the same attribute prop in a different type of widget.
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<ais-hierarchical-menu
  :attributes="[
    'categories.lvl0',
    'categories.lvl1',
    'categories.lvl2',
    'categories.lvl3',
  ]"
/>
limit
type: number
default: 10
Optional

The number of facet values to retrieve. When you enable the show-more feature, this is the number of facet values to display before clicking the “Show more” button.
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<ais-hierarchical-menu
  [...]
  :limit="20"
/>
show-more
type: boolean
default: false
Optional

Whether to display a button that expands the number of items.
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<ais-hierarchical-menu
  [...]
  show-more
/>
show-more-limit
type: number
default: 20
Optional

The maximum number of displayed items (only used when show-more is set to true).
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<ais-hierarchical-menu
  [...]
  :show-more-limit="30"
/>
separator
type: string
default: >
Optional

The level separator used in the records.
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<ais-hierarchical-menu
  [...]
  separator="-"
/>
root-path
type: string
Optional

The prefix path to use if the first level is not the root level.

Make sure to also include the root path in your UI state—for example, by setting initial-ui-state.
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<ais-instant-search
  [...]
  :initial-ui-state="{
    YourIndexName: {
      hierarchicalMenu: {
        'categories.lvl0': ['Audio > Home Audio'],
      },
    },
  }"
>
  <ais-hierarchical-menu
    [...]
    root-path="Audio > Home Audio"
  />
</ais-instant-search>
show-parent-level
type: boolean
default: true
Optional

Whether to show the siblings of the selected parent level of the current refined value.

This option doesn’t impact the root level. All root items are always visible.
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<ais-hierarchical-menu
  [...]
  :show-parent-level="false"
/>
sort-by
type: string[]|function
default: Uses facetOrdering if set, ["name:asc"]

How to sort refinements. Must be one or more of the following strings:

  • "count" (same as "count:desc")
  • "count:asc"
  • "count:desc"
  • "name" (same as "name:asc")
  • "name:asc"
  • "name:desc"
  • "isRefined" (same as "isRefined:asc")
  • "isRefined:asc"
  • "isRefined:desc"

You can also give a function that receives items two by two, like JavaScript’s Array.sort.

If this facet’s facetOrdering is set in renderingContent, and no sortBy value is passed to the widget, facetOrdering is used with default ordering as a fallback.
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<ais-hierarchical-menu
  [...]
  :sort-by="['isRefined', 'count:desc']"
/>
transform-items
type: function
Optional

Receives the items and is called before displaying them. Should return a new array with the same shape as the original array. This is helpful when transforming, removing, or reordering items.

In addition, the full results data is available, which includes all regular response parameters, as well as parameters from the helper (for example disjunctiveFacetsRefinements).
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  <template>
    <!-- ... -->
    <ais-hierarchical-menu
      [...]
      :transform-items="transformItems"
    />
  </template>

  <script>
    export default {
      methods: {
        transformItems(items) {
          return items.map(item => ({
            ...item,
            label: item.label.toUpperCase(),
          }));
        },

        /* or, combined with results */
        transformItems(items, { results }) {
          return items.map(item => ({
            ...item,
            label: item.isRefined
              ? `${item.label} (page ${results.page + 1}/${results.nbPages})`
              : item.label,
          }));
        },
      },
    };
  </script>
class-names
type: object
Optional

The CSS classes you can override:

  • ais-HierarchicalMenu: the root element of the widget
  • ais-HierarchicalMenu--noRefinement: the root element of the widget with no refinement.
  • ais-HierarchicalMenu-list: the list of menu items.
  • ais-HierarchicalMenu-list--child: the child list of menu items.
  • ais-HierarchicalMenu-list--lvl0: the level 0 list of menu items.
  • ais-HierarchicalMenu-list--lvl1: the level 1 list of menu items (and so on).
  • ais-HierarchicalMenu-item: the menu list item.
  • ais-HierarchicalMenu-item--selected: the selected menu list item.
  • ais-HierarchicalMenu-item--parent: the menu list item containing children.
  • ais-HierarchicalMenu-link: the clickable menu element.
  • ais-HierarchicalMenu-link--selected: the clickable element of a selected menu list item.
  • ais-HierarchicalMenu-label: the label of each item.
  • ais-HierarchicalMenu-count: the count of each item.
  • ais-HierarchicalMenu-showMore: the button used to display more categories.
  • ais-HierarchicalMenu-showMore--disabled: this button is used to display more categories.
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<ais-hierarchical-menu
  [...]
  :class-names="{
    'ais-HierarchicalMenu': 'MyCustomHierarchicalMenu',
    'ais-HierarchicalMenu-list': 'MyCustomHierarchicalMenuList',
  }"
/>

Customize the UI

Parameter Description
default

The slot to override the complete DOM output of the widget.

Note that when you implement this slot, none of the other slots will change the output, as the default slot surrounds them.

Scope

  • items: object[]: the list of available items.
  • canToggleShowMore: boolean: whether users can click the “Show more” button.
  • isShowingMore: boolean: whether the list is expanded.
  • refine: (value: string) => void: sets the path of the hierarchical filter and triggers a new search.
  • createURL: (value: string) => string: the function to generate a URL for the next state.
  • toggleShowMore: () => void: toggles the number of displayed values between limit and show-more-limit.
  • sendEvent: (eventType, facetValue) => void: the function to send click events.
    • The view event is automatically sent when the facets are rendered.
    • The click event is automatically sent when refine is called.
    • You can learn more about the insights middleware.
    • eventType: 'click'
    • facetValue: string

Where each item is an object containing:

  • label: string: the label of the item.
  • value: string: the value of the item.
  • count: number: the number results matching this value.
  • isRefined: boolean: whether the item is selected.
  • data: object[]|null: the list of children for the current item.
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<ais-hierarchical-menu
  :attributes="[
    'categories.lvl0',
    'categories.lvl1',
    'categories.lvl2',
    'categories.lvl3',
  ]"
  show-more
>
  <template
    v-slot="{
      items,
      canToggleShowMore,
      isShowingMore,
      refine,
      toggleShowMore,
      createURL,
      sendEvent,
    }"
  >
    <hierarchical-menu-list
      :items="items"
      :refine="refine"
      :createURL="createURL"
    />
    <button
      @click="toggleShowMore()"
      :disabled="!canToggleShowMore"
    >
      {{ isShowingMore ? 'Show less' : 'Show more' }}
    </button>
  </template>
</ais-hierarchical-menu>
showMoreLabel

The slot to override the show more label

Scope

  • isShowingMore: boolean: whether the list is expanded.
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<ais-hierarchical-menu
  :attributes="[
    'categories.lvl0',
    'categories.lvl1',
    'categories.lvl2',
    'categories.lvl3',
  ]"
  show-more
>
  <template v-slot:showMoreLabel="{ isShowingMore }">
    {{ isShowingMore ? 'Less' : 'More' }}
  </template>
</ais-hierarchical-menu>

HTML output

Default

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<div class="ais-HierarchicalMenu">
  <ul class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-list ais-HierarchicalMenu-list--lvl0">
    <li class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-item ais-HierarchicalMenu-item--parent ais-HierarchicalMenu-item--selected">
      <a class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-link ais-HierarchicalMenu-link--selected" href="#">
        <span class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-label">Appliances</span>
        <span class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-count">4,306</span>
      </a>
      <ul class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-list ais-HierarchicalMenu-list--child ais-HierarchicalMenu-list--lvl1">
        <li class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-item ais-HierarchicalMenu-item--parent">
          <a class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-link" href="#">
            <span class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-label">Dishwashers</span>
            <span class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-count">181</span>
          </a>
        </li>
        <li class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-item">
          <a class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-link" href="#">
            <span class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-label">Fans</span>
            <span class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-count">91</span>
          </a>
        </li>
      </ul>
    </li>
    <li class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-item ais-HierarchicalMenu-item--parent">
      <a class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-link" href="#">
        <span class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-label">Audio</span>
        <span class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-count">1,570</span>
      </a>
    </li>
  </ul>
  <button class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-showMore">Show more</button>
</div>

Show more disabled

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<div class="ais-HierarchicalMenu">
  <ul class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-list ais-HierarchicalMenu-list--lvl0">
    <li class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-item ais-HierarchicalMenu-item--parent ais-HierarchicalMenu-item--selected">
      <a class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-link ais-HierarchicalMenu-link--selected" href="#">
        <span class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-label">Appliances</span>
        <span class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-count">4,306</span>
      </a>
      <ul class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-list ais-HierarchicalMenu-list--child ais-HierarchicalMenu-list--lvl1">
        <li class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-item ais-HierarchicalMenu-item--parent">
          <a class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-link" href="#">
            <span class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-label">Dishwashers</span>
            <span class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-count">181</span>
          </a>
        </li>
        <li class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-item">
          <a class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-link" href="#">
            <span class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-label">Fans</span>
            <span class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-count">91</span>
          </a>
        </li>
      </ul>
    </li>
    <li class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-item ais-HierarchicalMenu-item--parent">
      <a class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-link" href="#">
        <span class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-label">Audio</span>
        <span class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-count">1,570</span>
      </a>
    </li>
  </ul>
  <button class="ais-HierarchicalMenu-showMore ais-HierarchicalMenu-showMore--disabled" disabled>Show more</button>
</div>

If SEO is critical to your search page, your custom HTML markup needs to be parsable:

  • use plain <a> tags with href attributes for search engines bots to follow them,
  • use semantic markup with structured data when relevant, and test it.

Refer to our SEO checklist for building SEO-ready search experiences.

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