Search API

7.4 U88+ and GA88+

You can search for content from a Liferay search page, but you can also use the search API endpoint. If you’re running Liferay locally, while logged in you can visit http://localhost:8080/o/api?endpoint=http://localhost:8080/o/search/v1.0/openapi.json to explore the API.

Follow these steps to generate and search for sample content. The commands below work with basic authentication and assume that you are running Liferay locally at http://localhost:8080 and authenticating as an administrator with the email test@liferay.com and the password learn.

Note

The /o/search/v1.0/search POST API moved from beta feature flag to release feature flag in Liferay 2024.Q3/GA125. The flag name is Search Headless API (LPS-179669). Enable it in Instance Settings → Feature Flags → Release.
In the beta release of the search API, the endpoint was at /o/portal-search-rest/v1.0/search. Beginning in Liferay 2024.Q3/Portal GA125, the endpoint is moved to /o/search/v1.0/search. The endpoint is backwards compatible, so existing calls to the endpoint’s APIs continue to work.

Locate your site ID or retrieve it with the following command:

curl \
    "http://localhost:8080/o/headless-admin-user/v1.0/sites/by-friendly-url-path/guest" \
    -u "test@liferay.com:learn"

Run the following command to generate a blog post. Replace 1234 with your site’s ID.

curl \
   -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
   -X POST \
   "http://localhost:8080/o/headless-delivery/v1.0/sites/1234/blog-postings" \
   --data-raw '{"articleBody": "Foo", "headline": "Able"}' \
   -u "test@liferay.com:learn"

Simple Query

Here is a simple query for the keyword able:

curl \
	-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
	-X POST \
	"http://localhost:8080/o/search/v1.0/search?search=able" \
	-d "{}" \
	-u "test@liferay.com:learn"

The response returns a search result with information about the blog post.

{
  "items" : [ {
    "dateModified" : "2023-07-20T17:15:32Z",
    "description" : "Foo",
    "itemURL" : "http://localhost:8080/o/headless-delivery/v1.0/blog-postings/35384",
    "score" : 318.95966,
    "title" : "Able"
  } ],
  "lastPage" : 1,
  "page" : 1,
  "pageSize" : 20,
  "totalCount" : 1
}%

Simple Query with Embedded Items

To return not only the search result, but the returned entity’s fields according to its own API schema, set the nestedField parameter to embedded. This query for the keyword able also requests embedded items:

curl \
	-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
	-X POST \
	"http://localhost:8080/o/search/v1.0/search?nestedFields=embedded&&search=able" \
	-d "{}" \
	-u "test@liferay.com:learn"

The response returns many more details on the blog post:

{
  "items" : [ {
    "dateModified" : "2023-07-20T17:15:32Z",
    "description" : "Foo",
    "embedded" : {
      "actions" : { },
      "alternativeHeadline" : "",
      "articleBody" : "Foo",
      "creator" : {
        "additionalName" : "",
        "contentType" : "UserAccount",
        "familyName" : "Test",
        "givenName" : "Test",
        "id" : 20123,
        "name" : "Test Test"
      },
      "customFields" : [ ],
      "dateCreated" : "2023-07-20T17:15:32Z",
      "dateModified" : "2023-07-20T17:15:32Z",
      "datePublished" : "2023-07-20T17:15:00Z",
      "description" : "Foo",
      "encodingFormat" : "text/html",
      "externalReferenceCode" : "f73109ce-8db6-36e3-f2c7-4505c6454ed8",
      "friendlyUrlPath" : "able",
      "headline" : "Able",
      "id" : 35384,
      "keywords" : [ ],
      "numberOfComments" : 0,
      "relatedContents" : [ ],
      "renderedContents" : [ ],
      "siteId" : 20119,
      "taxonomyCategoryBriefs" : [ ]
    },
    "itemURL" : "http://localhost:8080/o/headless-delivery/v1.0/blog-postings/35384",
    "score" : 318.95966,
    "title" : "Able"
  } ],
  "lastPage" : 1,
  "page" : 1,
  "pageSize" : 20,
  "totalCount" : 1
}%

You can build more complex requests using the supported parameters and request body properties.

Search Parameters

Query parameters can be used to further filter the results.

Parameter	Notes
`entryClassNames`	A comma separated list of `entryClassNames` to be searched. Defaults to all searchable types.
`fields`	The fields parameter requests only specific fields to be enumerated in each of the elements in the response.
`nestedFields`	Supports `embedded` to get back nested data.
`restrictFields`	Excludes the given field(s) from being returned.
`filter`	Filters across different fields. Supported fields are `groupIds`, `taxonomyCategoryIds`, `keywords`, `dateCreated`, `dateModified`, `creatorId`, and `title`. For more filtering options, use a search blueprint (DXP subscription).
`page`	Specify which page to return.
`pageSize`	Specify how many items you want per page.
`scope`	Specify a list of sites (by ID or ERC) to search. You can mix IDs and ERCs in the same request.
`search`	Search by keyword(s).
`sort`	Sort by ascending or descending order.

Warning

Search Blueprints can also add sort configurations to the search page. Make sure you understand how these blueprint-added sorts interact with the sort parameter if you plan to use both.

See API Query Parameters for more information.

Search Request Body

Empty requests are allowed (e.g., specify {} as the request body), but there are two properties available for influencing the response:

Property	Description
`attributes`	Set available search context attributes to configure a search blueprint or enable empty search. See Available Search Request Attributes for details.
`facetConfiguration`	Set the facet configuration to return facets in the response. See Adding Facet Configurations to the Request.

Adding Attributes to the Search Request

To search with a blueprint, use this request body syntax:

{
  "attributes": {
    "search.experiences.blueprint.external.reference.code": ""
  }
}

Available Search Request Attributes

You can set these attributes into the request:

Property	Description
`search.empty.search`	Set this to true to return results even if the `search` parameter is omitted from the request.
DXP Only `search.experiences.blueprint.external.reference.code`	(Preferred) Set a search blueprint to control the search query and configuration.
DXP Only `search.experiences.blueprint.id`	Set a search blueprint to control the search query and configuration.
DXP Only `search.experiences.ip.address`	Set automatically. Only use this to test blueprints with geolocation configured, to simulate different locations.
DXP Only `search.experiences.scope.group.id`	Set this when your blueprint uses an element that requires it: Limit Search to the Current Site, Boost Contents in a Category for a User Segment, or Staging Aware.

To search with a facet configuration, use this request body syntax:

{
  "facetConfigurations": [
    {
      "aggregationName": "",
      "attributes": {},
      "frequencyThreshold": "",
      "maxTerms": "",
      "name": "",
      "values": []
    }
  ]
}

A facet configuration can have several properties:

Property	Description
`aggregationName`	Choose a unique name for the aggregation. This is required to distinguish between instances of the same type (i.e., with the same `name` property).
`attributes`	Some facets require additional attributes. `field`: The `custom`, `date-range`, and `nested` facets require a String attribute called `field` to set the field to aggregate results by. `format` and `ranges`: The `date-range` facet also requires a `format` String to specify the date format (e.g., `yyyyMMddHHmmss`) and a `ranges` object array to provide the ranges. `filterField`, `filterValue`, and `path`: The `nested` facet requires a `filterfield` String, a `filtervalue` String, and a `path` String. `vocabularyIds`: The `vocabulary` facet requires a String array of `vocabularyIds`.
`frequencyThreshold`	Set the minimum frequency required for terms to appear in the list of facet terms.
`maxTerms`	Set the maximum number of facet terms to display, regardless of how many matching terms are found for the facet.
`name`	Set the type of facet: `category` `custom` `date-range` `folder` `nested` `site` `tag` `type` `vocabulary` `user`
`values`	Post filter the results by selecting values. This is like clicking facet terms in the facet widget.

Note

The custom facet recognizes top level fields. Objects and web content structure fields are indexed as nested fields, so you must choose the nested facet for these entities.

For example, here’s a date-range facet’s ranges attribute:

{
  "ranges": [
    {
      "label": "range-1",
      "range": "[20220411085757 TO 20230413075757]"
    },
    {
      "label": "range-2",
      "range": "[20230409085757 TO 20230413075757]"
    }
  ]
}

You can see aggregations and search facets in the API response. To see aggregations,

Add aggregations to a search blueprint.
Set the attribute search.experiences.blueprint.external.reference.code in your search request.

Search facets are returned if you add a facet configuration to the request. For example, this request body asks for a tag facet:

{
  "facetConfigurations": [
    {
      "name": "tag"
    }
  ]
}

In the response, the returned search facet looks like this:

"searchFacets": {
  "tag": [
    {
      "displayName": "business",
      "term": "business",
      "frequency": 26
    },
    {
      "displayName": "fun",
      "term": "fun",
      "frequency": 1
    }
  ]
}

Enabling Guest Access to the Search API

To enable guest access to the API, create a new service access policy as follows:

Field	Entry
Name	SEARCH
Enabled	Checked
Default	Checked
Title	Public Access to Search API
Service Class Name	`com.liferay.portal.search.rest.internal.resource.v1_0.SearchResultResourceImpl`
Method Name	`postSearchPage`

Capability:

Resource Type:

Official Documentation

Feature:

API Development

Deployment Approach:

Liferay PaaS

Liferay SaaS

Liferay Self-Hosted