UI libraries / Autocomplete / API reference / autocomplete-plugin-recent-searches

createLocalStorageRecentSearchesPlugin

The createLocalStorageRecentSearchesPlugin plugin connects with the user’s local storage to fetch and save recent searches. To plug your own storage, check createRecentSearchesPlugin.

Installation

First, you need to install the plugin.

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yarn add @algolia/autocomplete-plugin-recent-searches
# or
npm install @algolia/autocomplete-plugin-recent-searches

Then import it in your project:

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import { createLocalStorageRecentSearchesPlugin } from '@algolia/autocomplete-plugin-recent-searches';

If you don’t use a package manager, you can use the HTML script element:

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<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@algolia/autocomplete-plugin-recent-searches"></script>
<script>
  const { createLocalStorageRecentSearchesPlugin } = window[
    '@algolia/autocomplete-plugin-recent-searches'
  ];
</script>

Example

This example uses the plugin within autocomplete-js.

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import { autocomplete } from '@algolia/autocomplete-js';
import { createLocalStorageRecentSearchesPlugin } from '@algolia/autocomplete-plugin-recent-searches';

const recentSearchesPlugin = createLocalStorageRecentSearchesPlugin({
  key: 'navbar',
});

autocomplete({
  container: '#autocomplete',
  openOnFocus: true,
  plugins: [recentSearchesPlugin],
});

You can combine this plugin with the Query Suggestions plugin to leverage the empty screen with recent and popular queries.

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import algoliasearch from 'algoliasearch/lite';
import { autocomplete } from '@algolia/autocomplete-js';
import { createLocalStorageRecentSearchesPlugin } from '@algolia/autocomplete-plugin-recent-searches';
import { createQuerySuggestionsPlugin } from '@algolia/autocomplete-plugin-query-suggestions';

const searchClient = algoliasearch(
  'latency',
  '6be0576ff61c053d5f9a3225e2a90f76'
);
const recentSearchesPlugin = createLocalStorageRecentSearchesPlugin({
  key: 'navbar',
});
const querySuggestionsPlugin = createQuerySuggestionsPlugin({
  searchClient,
  indexName: 'instant_search_demo_query_suggestions',
  getSearchParams() {
    return recentSearches.data.getAlgoliaSearchParams();
  },
});

autocomplete({
  container: '#autocomplete',
  openOnFocus: true,
  plugins: [recentSearchesPlugin, querySuggestionsPlugin],
});

To see it in action, check this demo on CodeSandbox.

Parameters

Parameter Description
key
type: string
Required

A local storage key to identify where to save and retrieve the recent searches.

For example:

  • "navbar"
  • "search"
  • "main"

The plugin namespaces all keys to avoid collisions.
limit
type: number

The number of recent searches to display.
type: (params: { query: string; items: TItem[]; limit: number; }) => TItem[]

A search function to retrieve recent searches from. This function is called in storage.getAll to retrieve recent searches and is useful to filter and highlight recent searches when typing a query.

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function highlight({ item, query }) {
  return {
    ...item,
    _highlightResult: {
      query: {
        value: query
          ? item.query.replace(
              new RegExp(query, 'g'),
              `<span class='underline'>aa-highlight</span>${query}<span class='underline'>/aa-highlight</span>`
            )
          : item.query,
      },
    },
  };
}

function search({ query, items, limit }) {
  if (!query) {
    return items.slice(0, limit).map((item) => highlight({ item, query }));
  }

  return items
    .filter((item) => item.query.toLowerCase().includes(query.toLowerCase()))
    .slice(0, limit)
    .map((item) => highlight({ item, query }));
}
transformSource
type: (params: { source: AutocompleteSource, state: AutocompleteState, onRemove: () => void, onTapAhead: () => void })

A function to transform the provided source.

Keeping the panel open on select:

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const recentSearchesPlugin = createLocalStorageRecentSearchesPlugin({
  key: 'navbar',
  transformSource({ source, onRemove }) {
    return {
      ...source,
      onSelect({ setIsOpen }) {
        setIsOpen(true);
      },
    };
  },
});

Opening a link:

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const recentSearchesPlugin = createLocalStorageRecentSearchesPlugin({
  key: 'navbar',
  transformSource({ source, onRemove }) {
    return {
      ...source,
      getItemUrl({ item }) {
        return `https://google.com?q=${item.query}`;
      },
      templates: {
        ...source.templates,
        item(params) {
          const { item, html } = params;

          return html`<a
            class="aa-ItemLink"
            href="https://google.com?q=${item.query}"
          >
            ${source.templates.item(params).props.children}
          </a>`;
        },
      },
    };
  },
});

Returns

data

Parameter Description
getAlgoliaSearchParams
type: SearchParameters => SearchParameters

Optimized Algolia search parameters. This is useful when using the plugin along with the Query Suggestions plugin.

This function enhances the provided search parameters by:

  • Excluding Query Suggestions that are already displayed in recent searches.
  • Using a shared hitsPerPage value to get a group limit of Query Suggestions and recent searches.
addItem
type: (item: TItem) => void

A function that adds an item to the recent searches local storage.
removeItem
type: (id: string) => void

A function that removes an item from the recent searches local storage.
getAll
type: () => TItem[]

A function that returns the items from the recent searches local storage.
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createRecentSearchesPlugin
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autocomplete-plugin-query-suggestions
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