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Alex Kernel
Alex Kernel

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Algolia Search in Nuxt 3: Production-Ready Integration Guide

#webdev #programming #javascript #ai

Algolia is a hosted search engine designed for speed, relevance, and scalability. When combined with Nuxt 3, it allows you to build fast, SEO-friendly search experiences with minimal effort and full SSR support.

This guide walks through a practical, production-ready integration of Algolia in a Nuxt 3 application using the official @nuxtjs/algolia module. The focus is on real usage patterns, not abstractions.

Why Use Algolia with Nuxt 3

Nuxt 3 applications often require advanced search capabilities for blogs, documentation, dashboards, and e-commerce platforms. Algolia fits naturally into this ecosystem because it provides:

  • Extremely fast full-text search
  • Built-in typo tolerance and ranking
  • Seamless SSR compatibility
  • Auto-imported composables in Nuxt
  • Type-safe APIs with first-class TypeScript support

The official Nuxt Algolia module removes most of the boilerplate and exposes clean, composable APIs.

Requirements

Before starting, make sure you have:

  • A Nuxt 3 project
  • An Algolia account
  • At least one Algolia index with data
  • Algolia Application ID and Search API Key

Installing the Algolia Module

Install the official Nuxt module using the Nuxt CLI:

npx nuxi@latest module add algolia
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Or with pnpm:

pnpm add @nuxtjs/algolia
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The module will be registered automatically.

Environment Variables

Store Algolia credentials in environment variables.

ALGOLIA_APPLICATION_ID=YOUR_APP_ID
ALGOLIA_API_KEY=YOUR_SEARCH_API_KEY
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Never commit API keys to version control.

Nuxt Configuration

Enable the module in nuxt.config.ts.

export default defineNuxtConfig({
  modules: ['@nuxtjs/algolia'],

  algolia: {
    // optional configuration
  }
})
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The module automatically reads credentials from environment variables.

Basic Search Implementation

The most common way to query Algolia is via useAlgoliaSearch.

<script setup lang="ts">
const { result, search } = useAlgoliaSearch('products')

await search({ query: 'Laptop' })
</script>

<template>
  <ul>
    <li v-for="item in result.hits" :key="item.objectID">
      {{ item.name }}
    </li>
  </ul>
</template>
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This performs a client-side search against the specified index.

Server-Side Search with SSR

For SEO-critical pages, use useAsyncAlgoliaSearch.

<script setup lang="ts">
const { data, pending } = await useAsyncAlgoliaSearch({
  indexName: 'products',
  query: 'Phone'
})
</script>

<template>
  <div v-if="pending">Loading…</div>
  <pre v-else>{{ data }}</pre>
</template>
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This executes during server rendering and works seamlessly with Nuxt SSR.

Advanced Search Features

The module exposes additional composables:

  • useAlgoliaFacetedSearch for filters and facets
  • useAlgoliaInitIndex for index initialization
  • useAlgoliaRecommend for recommendations
  • useAlgoliaRef for direct client access

These cover most advanced search scenarios without manual client setup.

Edge and Cloudflare Support

When deploying to edge runtimes like Cloudflare Workers, enable fetch-based transport.

algolia: {
  useFetch: true
}
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This ensures compatibility with restricted runtime environments.

Common Problems

No search results

  • Check index name
  • Verify index contains data
  • Confirm API key permissions

SSR errors

  • Use useAsyncAlgoliaSearch
  • Enable useFetch for edge runtimes

TypeScript issues

  • Update to the latest module version

Production Best Practices

  • Use SSR search only where SEO matters
  • Cache popular queries
  • Never expose Admin API keys
  • Index only searchable fields
  • Separate read and write operations

Final Notes

The official Algolia module for Nuxt 3 provides a clean and scalable way to add search to modern applications. With minimal configuration, you get fast search, SSR compatibility, and a composable API that fits naturally into the Nuxt ecosystem.

This setup is suitable for both small projects and large production systems and can be extended with InstantSearch or recommendation features when needed.

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