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This guide walks you through setting up Meilisearch with Swift for iOS, macOS, and server-side Swift applications.

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Prerequisites

  • Swift 5.5 or higher
  • Xcode 13+ (for iOS/macOS development)
  • A Meilisearch instance (Cloud or self-hosted)

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1. Install the SDK

Add the dependency to your Package.swift:
dependencies: [
    .package(url: "https://github.com/meilisearch/meilisearch-swift.git", from: "0.17.0")
]
Or in Xcode: File → Add Packages → Enter the repository URL.

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2. Connect to Meilisearch

import MeiliSearch

let client = try! MeiliSearch(
    host: ProcessInfo.processInfo.environment["MEILISEARCH_URL"]!,
    apiKey: ProcessInfo.processInfo.environment["MEILISEARCH_API_KEY"]
)
Set your environment variables:
export MEILISEARCH_URL="https://your-instance.meilisearch.io"  # or http://localhost:7700
export MEILISEARCH_API_KEY="your_api_key"
Get a free Cloud instance →

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3. Add documents

// Define your document struct
struct Movie: Codable, Equatable {
    let id: Int
    let title: String
    let genres: [String]
    let year: Int
}

// Add documents
let movies = [
    Movie(id: 1, title: "The Matrix", genres: ["Action", "Sci-Fi"], year: 1999),
    Movie(id: 2, title: "Inception", genres: ["Action", "Thriller"], year: 2010),
    Movie(id: 3, title: "Interstellar", genres: ["Drama", "Sci-Fi"], year: 2014)
]

let index = client.index("movies")

// Using async/await
let task = try await index.addDocuments(documents: movies)
try await client.waitForTask(taskUid: task.taskUid)

let searchResult: Searchable<Movie> = try await index.search("matrix")

for hit in searchResult.hits {
    print("\(hit.title) (\(hit.year))")
}
// The Matrix (1999)

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5. Search with filters

First, configure filterable attributes: 
try await index.updateFilterableAttributes(["genres", "year"])
Then search with filters: 
let searchParams = SearchParameters(
    query: "",
    filter: "genres = \"Sci-Fi\" AND year > 2000"
)

let results: Searchable<Movie> = try await index.search(searchParams)

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Full example

import MeiliSearch

// Connect
let client = try! MeiliSearch(
    host: ProcessInfo.processInfo.environment["MEILISEARCH_URL"]!,
    apiKey: ProcessInfo.processInfo.environment["MEILISEARCH_API_KEY"]
)

struct Movie: Codable, Equatable {
    let id: Int
    let title: String
    let year: Int
}

Task {
    // Add documents
    let movies = [
        Movie(id: 1, title: "The Matrix", year: 1999),
        Movie(id: 2, title: "Inception", year: 2010),
        Movie(id: 3, title: "Interstellar", year: 2014)
    ]

    let index = client.index("movies")
    let task = try await index.addDocuments(documents: movies)
    try await client.waitForTask(taskUid: task.taskUid)

    // Search
    let results: Searchable<Movie> = try await index.search("inter")
    for hit in results.hits {
        print(hit.title)
    }
}

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Next steps

Full-text search

Configure ranking and relevancy

Filtering

Add filters and facets

AI-powered search

Add semantic search

API reference

Explore all search parameters

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Resources