Conditional display in React InstantSearch
This is the React InstantSearch v7 documentation. React InstantSearch v7 is the latest version of React InstantSearch and the stable version of React InstantSearch Hooks.
If you were using React InstantSearch v6, you can upgrade to v7.
If you were using React InstantSearch Hooks, you can still use the React InstantSearch v7 documentation, but you should check the upgrade guide for necessary changes.
If you want to keep using React InstantSearch v6, you can find the archived documentation.
This guide describes what to do when there are no results, when there’s no query, or when there are errors. Sometimes, though, users may not get any hits if their device can’t access the network or the network connection is slow.
If you want to feature content in your search results based on a set of conditions, you can use Algolia Rules to:
- Feature specific data from within your records to, for example, show promotional prices during a sales period
- Display advertisements or promotional banners.
To learn how to suppress InstantSearch’s initial search query, check out the conditional requests guide.
Handling no results
Since not all queries lead to results, it’s essential to let users know when this happens by providing hints on how to adjust the query.
Display a message
The easiest way to display a fallback message when a query doesn’t return results is to use the useInstantSearch() Hook to create a wrapper component:
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function App(props) {
return (
<InstantSearch {...props}>
<SearchBox />
<NoResultsBoundary fallback={<NoResults />}>
<Hits />
</NoResultsBoundary>
</InstantSearch>
);
}
function NoResultsBoundary({ children, fallback }) {
const { results } = useInstantSearch();
// The `__isArtificial` flag makes sure not to display the No Results message
// when no hits have been returned.
if (!results.__isArtificial && results.nbHits === 0) {
return (
<>
{fallback}
<div hidden>{children}</div>
</>
);
}
return children;
}
function NoResults() {
const { indexUiState } = useInstantSearch();
return (
<div>
<p>
No results for <q>{indexUiState.query}</q>.
</p>
</div>
);
}
The preceding example lets you pass anything to display results, including <InfiniteHits> or a custom component that uses the useHits() Hook.
Let users reset filters and facets
If users apply too many filters, they may not find any results. You should account for this by letting them reset filters from the “no results” display so they can start another search.
Do this with the <ClearRefinements> widget.
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function NoResults() {
const { indexUiState } = useInstantSearch();
return (
<div>
<p>
No results for <q>{indexUiState.query}</q>.
</p>
<ClearRefinements excludedAttributes={[]} />
</div>
);
}
Handling empty queries
By default, InstantSearch always shows you results, even when the query is empty. Depending on your use case and how you build your UI, you may only want to show results when there’s a query.
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function App(props) {
return (
<InstantSearch {...props}>
<SearchBox />
<EmptyQueryBoundary fallback={null}>
<Hits />
</EmptyQueryBoundary>
</InstantSearch>
);
}
function EmptyQueryBoundary({ children, fallback }) {
const { indexUiState } = useInstantSearch();
if (!indexUiState.query) {
return fallback;
}
return children;
}
Handling errors
When an error occurs, you can display a specific piece of content to help users return to the standard state.
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import React, { useEffect, useState } from 'react';
import * as Toast from '@radix-ui/react-toast';
import { useInstantSearch } from 'react-instantsearch';
function SearchErrorToast() {
const { addMiddlewares } = useInstantSearch();
const [error, setError] = useState(null);
useEffect(() => {
const middleware = ({ instantSearchInstance }) => {
function handleError(searchError) {
setError(searchError);
}
return {
subscribe() {
instantSearchInstance.addListener('error', handleError);
},
unsubscribe() {
instantSearchInstance.removeListener('error', handleError);
},
};
};
return addMiddlewares(middleware);
}, [addMiddlewares]);
if (!error) {
return null;
}
return (
<Toast.Provider>
<Toast.Root
onOpenChange={(isOpen) => {
if (!isOpen) {
setError(null);
}
}}
>
<Toast.Title>{error.name}</Toast.Title>
<Toast.Description>{error.message}</Toast.Description>
</Toast.Root>
<Toast.Viewport />
</Toast.Provider>
);
}
function App(props) {
return (
<InstantSearch {...props}>
<SearchErrorToast />
<SearchBox />
<Hits />
</InstantSearch>
);
}
