> ## 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.

# Meilisearch Importer

> Efficiently import large CSV, NDJSON, or JSON datasets into Meilisearch using the official CLI tool.

The official [meilisearch-importer](https://github.com/meilisearch/meilisearch-importer) is a high-performance CLI tool for bulk importing large datasets into Meilisearch. It handles millions of documents with automatic retry logic and progress tracking.

## Features

* Import CSV, NDJSON, and JSON (array of objects) files
* Handle datasets from thousands to 40+ million documents
* Automatic retry logic for failed batches
* Real-time progress tracking with ETA
* Configurable batch sizes for performance tuning

## Prerequisites

* A Meilisearch instance ([Cloud](https://cloud.meilisearch.com) or [self-hosted](/resources/self_hosting/getting_started/quick_start))
* One of:
  * [Rust/Cargo](https://rustup.rs/) installed (for building from source)
  * Pre-built binary from releases

## Installation

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Cargo (Rust)">
    ```bash theme={null}
    cargo install meilisearch-importer
    ```
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Pre-built binary">
    Download the latest release from [GitHub Releases](https://github.com/meilisearch/meilisearch-importer/releases) for your platform.

    ```bash theme={null}
    # Example for Linux
    wget https://github.com/meilisearch/meilisearch-importer/releases/latest/download/meilisearch-importer-linux-amd64
    chmod +x meilisearch-importer-linux-amd64
    mv meilisearch-importer-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/meilisearch-importer
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Basic usage

Import a CSV file:

```bash theme={null}
meilisearch-importer \
  --url "${MEILISEARCH_URL}" \
  --api-key "${MEILISEARCH_KEY}" \
  --index movies \
  --file movies.csv
```

<Note>
  **Set your environment variables:**

  ```bash theme={null}
  export MEILISEARCH_URL="https://your-instance.meilisearch.io"
  export MEILISEARCH_KEY="your_api_key"
  ```
</Note>

## Supported formats

### CSV

```bash theme={null}
meilisearch-importer --index products --file products.csv
```

CSV files must have a header row. The importer automatically detects column types.

### NDJSON (Newline-delimited JSON)

```bash theme={null}
meilisearch-importer --index products --file products.ndjson
```

Each line must be a valid JSON object:

```json theme={null}
{"id": 1, "title": "Product A", "price": 29.99}
{"id": 2, "title": "Product B", "price": 39.99}
```

### JSON array

```bash theme={null}
meilisearch-importer --index products --file products.json
```

File must contain an array of objects:

```json theme={null}
[
  {"id": 1, "title": "Product A", "price": 29.99},
  {"id": 2, "title": "Product B", "price": 39.99}
]
```

## Configuration options

| Option          | Description         | Default                 |
| --------------- | ------------------- | ----------------------- |
| `--url`         | Meilisearch URL     | `http://localhost:7700` |
| `--api-key`     | Meilisearch API key | None                    |
| `--index`       | Target index name   | Required                |
| `--file`        | Input file path     | Required                |
| `--batch-size`  | Documents per batch | `1000`                  |
| `--primary-key` | Primary key field   | Auto-detected           |

## Performance tuning

### Batch size

Adjust batch size based on your document size and network:

```bash theme={null}
# Smaller documents: larger batches
meilisearch-importer --index logs --file logs.ndjson --batch-size 5000

# Larger documents: smaller batches
meilisearch-importer --index articles --file articles.json --batch-size 100
```

### Primary key

Specify the primary key if auto-detection fails:

```bash theme={null}
meilisearch-importer --index products --file products.csv --primary-key product_id
```

## Example: Import a large dataset

Import 10 million products with progress tracking:

```bash theme={null}
meilisearch-importer \
  --url "https://ms-xxx.meilisearch.io" \
  --api-key "your_master_key" \
  --index products \
  --file products.ndjson \
  --batch-size 2000
```

Output:

```
Importing products.ndjson to index 'products'...
[████████████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░] 52% (5.2M/10M) ETA: 12m 34s
```

## After import

Verify your import:

```bash theme={null}
curl "${MEILISEARCH_URL}/indexes/products/stats" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${MEILISEARCH_KEY}"
```

Test a search:

```bash theme={null}
curl "${MEILISEARCH_URL}/indexes/products/search" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer ${MEILISEARCH_KEY}" \
  -d '{"q": "test"}'
```

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Configure settings" icon="gear" href="/reference/api/settings/list-all-settings">
    Set up searchable and filterable attributes
  </Card>

  <Card title="Debug performance" icon="bolt" href="/capabilities/indexing/tasks_and_batches/monitor_tasks">
    Identify and fix indexing bottlenecks
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Resources

* [meilisearch-importer on GitHub](https://github.com/meilisearch/meilisearch-importer)
* [Releases](https://github.com/meilisearch/meilisearch-importer/releases)