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Autocomplete

When to Use

Use this when adding search-as-you-type suggestions to search forms.

Decision

Setting Recommendation Why
Min characters 3 Prevents excessive queries on 1-2 chars
Max suggestions 5-10 UX best practice
Suggester Backend-specific Solr Terms for Solr, default for DB

Pattern

composer require drupal/search_api_autocomplete
drush en search_api_autocomplete

Configuration: 1. Navigate to your Search API index → "Autocomplete" tab 2. Enable autocomplete for specific search views/pages 3. Configure: max suggestions, minimum characters, suggester plugins

Solr autocomplete — use the Solr Terms component for blazing-fast autocompletion. Queries the Solr terms component directly instead of running full searches.

Enhanced module — search_api_autocomplete_improved provides: - Optimized caching - Accurate result counting - Auto-discovers views config from autocomplete entities

Common Mistakes

  • Wrong: Autocomplete on String fields → Right: Use Fulltext fields for autocomplete. String fields require exact match.
  • Wrong: min_characters = 1 → Right: Causes excessive backend load on large indexes. Set to 3+.

See Also