Python quick start

Get started with Meilisearch using the Python SDK in 5 minutes.

This guide walks you through setting up Meilisearch with Python.

Prerequisites

• Python 3.8 or higher
• A Meilisearch instance (Cloud or self-hosted)

1. Install the SDK

pip install meilisearch

2. Connect to Meilisearch

import meilisearch
import os

client = meilisearch.Client(
    os.environ.get('MEILISEARCH_URL'),
    os.environ.get('MEILISEARCH_KEY')
)

Set your environment variables:

export MEILISEARCH_URL="https://your-instance.meilisearch.io"  # or http://localhost:7700
export MEILISEARCH_KEY="your_api_key"

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3. Add documents

movies = [
    {'id': 1, 'title': 'The Matrix', 'genres': ['Action', 'Sci-Fi'], 'year': 1999},
    {'id': 2, 'title': 'Inception', 'genres': ['Action', 'Thriller'], 'year': 2010},
    {'id': 3, 'title': 'Interstellar', 'genres': ['Drama', 'Sci-Fi'], 'year': 2014}
]

# Add documents to the 'movies' index
task = client.index('movies').add_documents(movies)

# Wait for indexing to complete
client.wait_for_task(task.task_uid)

4. Search

results = client.index('movies').search('matrix')

print(results['hits'])
# [{'id': 1, 'title': 'The Matrix', 'genres': ['Action', 'Sci-Fi'], 'year': 1999}]

5. Search with filters

First, configure filterable attributes:

client.index('movies').update_filterable_attributes(['genres', 'year'])

Then search with filters:

results = client.index('movies').search('', {
    'filter': 'genres = "Sci-Fi" AND year > 2000'
})

Full example

import meilisearch
import os

client = meilisearch.Client(
    os.environ.get('MEILISEARCH_URL'),
    os.environ.get('MEILISEARCH_KEY')
)

# Add documents
movies = [
    {'id': 1, 'title': 'The Matrix', 'genres': ['Action', 'Sci-Fi'], 'year': 1999},
    {'id': 2, 'title': 'Inception', 'genres': ['Action', 'Thriller'], 'year': 2010},
    {'id': 3, 'title': 'Interstellar', 'genres': ['Drama', 'Sci-Fi'], 'year': 2014}
]

task = client.index('movies').add_documents(movies)
client.wait_for_task(task.task_uid)

# Search
results = client.index('movies').search('inter')
print(results['hits'])

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

Resources

• meilisearch-python on GitHub
• SDK documentation