Multi-index search

Federated Search

Let users search everything you offer in a single experience. Products, content, help articles, all unified into one ranked result set.

Trusted by leading companies

How federated search works

One query searches every index in parallel. Results are merged and ranked into a single list, no client-side logic required.

User query
""
Parallel queries
Products50K docs
Articles12K docs
FAQ3K docs
Merged results
1Running Shoes ProProducts
2Best Running Shoes GuideArticles
3How to choose running shoes?FAQ
4Trail Running ShoesProducts

Without federation

3 requests
POST /indexes/products/searchPOST /indexes/articles/searchPOST /indexes/faq/search
  • 3 round trips
  • Client-side merging
  • No cross-index ranking

With federation

1 request
POST /multi-search {federation: true}
  • 1 round trip
  • Server-side cross-index ranking
  • Unified pagination & deduplication

One query, every answer

Everything you need to search across multiple data sources, without the complexity.

One query, every source

Search products, articles, FAQs, and more in a single request. Users never see the seams.

One ranked list of results

The most relevant result wins, no matter which index it came from. No tabs to hop between.

Boost what matters

Promote results from any source per query. Push products in commerce, articles in support.

No new concepts to learn

Filters, sorting, and pagination work the same as a normal search. Just more sources.

Fast even at scale

Sources are searched together, so latency stays flat whether you span 2 or 10 of them.

Pagination handled for you

Page through merged results like a single list. No client-side bookkeeping required.

Built for every use case

From e-commerce to enterprise, federated search unifies data across your entire organization.

E-commerce

Search products, categories, brands, and buying guides in one query. Shoppers get the most relevant result whether it's a product page or a size guide.

Frequently asked questions

Federated search lets you query multiple indexes (e.g., products, articles, FAQs) in a single API request and receive a single, merged list of results. Instead of making separate searches and combining them on the client, Meilisearch handles merging and ranking server-side for better relevance and performance.

Ready to get started?

Run Federated Search on Meilisearch Cloud, or self-host the open-source engine.