createAlgoliaInsightsPlugin

The Algolia Insights plugin automatically sends click and conversion events to the Algolia Insights API whenever a user interacts with the autocomplete.

Installation#

First, you need to install the plugin.

yarn add @algolia/autocomplete-plugin-algolia-insights@alpha
# or
npm install @algolia/autocomplete-plugin-algolia-insights@alpha

Then import it in your project:

import { createAlgoliaInsightsPlugin } from '@algolia/autocomplete-plugin-algolia-insights';

If you don't use a package manager, you can use a standalone endpoint:

<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@algolia/autocomplete-plugin-algolia-insights@alpha"></script>

Examples#

This example uses the plugin within autocomplete-js, along with the algoliasearch API client and Search Insights library.

import algoliasearch from 'algoliasearch/lite';
import { autocomplete } from '@algolia/autocomplete-js';
import { createAlgoliaInsightsPlugin } from '@algolia/autocomplete-plugin-algolia-insights';
import insightsClient from 'search-insights';
const appId = 'latency';
const apiKey = '6be0576ff61c053d5f9a3225e2a90f76';
const searchClient = algoliasearch(appId, apiKey);
insightsClient('init', { appId, apiKey });
const algoliaInsightsPlugin = createAlgoliaInsightsPlugin({ insightsClient });
autocomplete({
container: '#autocomplete',
plugins: [algoliaInsightsPlugin],
});

The plugin exposes hooks to let you inject custom logic in the lifecycle: onItemsChange, onSelect, and onActive. You can use them to either customize the events sent to Algolia, or plug additional behavior.

For example, if you have several search experiences on your site, you can customize the event name to identify where the events came from:

const algoliaInsightsPlugin = createAlgoliaInsightsPlugin({
insightsClient,
onItemsChange({ insights, insightsEvents }) {
const events = insightsEvents.map((insightsEvent) => ({
...insightsEvent,
eventName: 'Product Viewed from Autocomplete',
}));
insights.viewedObjectIDs(...events);
},
onSelect({ insights, insightsEvents }) {
const events = insightsEvents.map((insightsEvent) => ({
...insightsEvent,
eventName: 'Product Selected from Autocomplete',
}));
insights.clickedObjectIDsAfterSearch(...events);
},
});

If you're using another analytics provider along with Algolia Insights, you can leverage these hooks to send them events as well. For example, you can send Segment events:

const algoliaInsightsPlugin = createAlgoliaInsightsPlugin({
insightsClient,
onActive({ insights, insightsEvents }) {
insightsEvents.forEach((insightsEvent) => {
// Assuming you've initialized the Segment script
// and identified the current user already
analytics.track('Product Browsed from Autocomplete', insightsEvent);
});
},
});
note

If you send events to other analytics providers, it might make sense to create a dedicated plugin.

Parameters#

insightsClient#

InsightsClient | required

The initialized Search Insights client.

onItemsChange#

(params: OnItemsChangeParams) => void

Hook to send an Insights event whenever the items change.

By default, it sends a viewedObjectIDs event.

In as-you-type experiences, items change as the user types. This hook is debounced every 400ms to reflect actual items that users notice and avoid generating too many events for items matching "in progress" queries.

type OnItemsChangeParams = {
insights: InsightsApi;
insightsEvents: ViewedObjectIDsParams[];
state: AutocompleteState<any>;
};

onSelect#

(params: OnSelectParams) => void

Hook to send an Insights event whenever an item is selected.

By default, it sends a clickedObjectIDsAfterSearch event.

type OnSelectParams = {
insights: InsightsApi;
insightsEvents: ClickedObjectIDsAfterSearchParams[];
item: AlgoliaInsightsHit;
state: AutocompleteState<any>;
event: any;
};

onActive#

(params: OnActiveParams) => void

Hook to send an Insights event whenever an item is active.

By default, it doesn't send any events.

type OnActiveParams = {
insights: InsightsApi;
insightsEvents: ClickedObjectIDsAfterSearchParams[];
item: AlgoliaInsightsHit;
state: AutocompleteState<any>;
event: any;
};

Resources#

For a more comprehensive guide on how to best leverage Algolia Insights with Autocomplete, check the Sending Algolia Insights events guide.

You can also learn more about Click and Conversion Analytics on the Algolia documentation.

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