Ruby on Rails quick start

Integrate Meilisearch into your Ruby on Rails app.

Integrate Meilisearch into your Ruby on Rails app.

1. Create a Meilisearch project

Create a project in the Meilisearch Cloud dashboard. Check out our getting started guide for step-by-step instructions.

If you prefer to use the self-hosted version of Meilisearch, you can follow the quick start tutorial.

2. Create a Rails app

Ensure your environment uses at least Ruby 2.7.0 and Rails 6.1.

rails new blog

3. Install the meilisearch-rails gem

Navigate to your Rails app and install the meilisearch-rails gem.

bundle add meilisearch-rails

4. Add your Meilisearch credentials

Run the following command to create a config/initializers/meilisearch.rb file.

bin/rails meilisearch:install

Then add your Meilisearch URL and Default Admin API Key. On Meilisearch Cloud, you can find your credentials in your project settings.

MeiliSearch::Rails.configuration = {
  meilisearch_url: '<your Meilisearch URL>',
  MEILISEARCH_KEY: '<your Meilisearch API key>'
}

5. Generate the model and run the database migration

Create an example Article model and generate the migration files.

bin/rails generate model Article title:string body:text

bin/rails db:migrate

6. Index your model into Meilisearch

Include the MeiliSearch::Rails module and the meilisearch block.

class Article < ApplicationRecord
    include MeiliSearch::Rails
    
    meilisearch do
    # index settings
 # all attributes will be sent to Meilisearch if block is left empty
    end
end

This code creates an Article index and adds search capabilities to your Article model.

Once configured, meilisearch-rails automatically syncs your table data with your Meilisearch instance.

7. Create new records in the database

Use the Rails console to create new entries in the database.

bin/rails console

# Use a loop to create and save 5 unique articles with predefined titles and bodies
titles = ["Welcome to Rails", "Exploring Rails", "Advanced Rails", "Rails Tips", "Rails in Production"]
bodies = [
  "This is your first step into Ruby on Rails.",
  "Dive deeper into the Rails framework.",
  "Explore advanced features of Rails.",
  "Quick tips for Rails developers.",
  "Managing Rails applications in production environments."
]

titles.each_with_index do |title, index|
  article = Article.new(title: title, body: bodies[index])
  article.save # Saves the entry to the database
end

8. Start searching

Backend search

The backend search returns ORM-compliant objects reloaded from your database.

# Meilisearch is typo-tolerant:
hits = Article.search('deepre')
hits.first

We strongly recommend using the frontend search to enjoy the swift and responsive search-as-you-type experience.

Frontend search

For testing purposes, you can explore the records using our built-in search preview.

We also provide resources to help you quickly build your own frontend interface.

Next steps

When you’re ready to use your own data, make sure to configure your index settings first to follow best practices. For a full configuration example, see the meilisearch-rails gem README.