> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.meilisearch.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Performing personalized search queries

> Search personalization uses context about the person performing the search to provide results more relevant to that specific user. This article guides you through configuring and performing personalized search queries.

## Generating a user profile

Search personalization requires a profile of the user performing the search. Meilisearch does not yet provide automated generation of user profiles.

You'll need to **dynamically generate a user profile** for each search request. This should summarize relevant traits, such as:

* Category preferences, like brand or size
* Price sensitivity, like budget-conscious
* Possible use cases, such as fitness and sport
* Other assorted information, such as general interests or location

The re-ranking model only processes positive signals. It cannot interpret negative statements like "dislikes blue" or "is not interested in luxury brands". Always use affirmatively stated preferences instead: "likes the color red", "prefers cheaper brands".

## Perform a personalized search

Once search personalization is active and you have a pipeline in place to generate user profiles, you are ready to perform personalized searches.

Submit a search query and include the `personalize` search parameter. `personalize` must be an object with a single field, `userContext`. Use the profile you generated in the previous step as the value for `userContext`:

<CodeGroup>
  ```bash cURL theme={null}
  curl \
    -X POST 'MEILISEARCH_URL/indexes/INDEX_NAME/search' \
    -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
    --data-binary '{
      "q": "wireless keyboard",
      "personalize": {
        "userContext": "The user prefers compact mechanical keyboards from Keychron or Logitech, with a mid-range budget and quiet keys for remote work."
      }
    }'
  ```
</CodeGroup>

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Generate user context" href="/capabilities/personalization/how_to/generate_user_context">
    Build dynamic user profiles for more relevant personalized results.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Personalize e-commerce search" href="/capabilities/personalization/how_to/personalize_ecommerce_search">
    Apply search personalization to an e-commerce product catalog.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Recommendations" href="/capabilities/personalization/getting_started/recommendations">
    Build a recommendation system with the similar documents endpoint.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>