# Backstage Search

A flexible, extensible search across your whole Backstage ecosystem.

Development is ongoing. You can follow the progress and contribute at the Backstage [Search Project Board](https://github.com/backstage/backstage/projects/6) or reach out to us in the [`#search` Discord channel](https://discord.com/channels/687207715902193673/770283289327566848).

## Getting started

Run `yarn start` in the root directory, and then navigate to [/search](http://localhost:3000/search) to check out the plugin.

### Optional Settings

Configure the search query values via `app-config.yaml` to define how it behaves by default.

```yaml
# app-config.yaml
search:
  defaultType: 'software-catalog'
  query:
    pageLimit: 50
```

Acceptable values for `pageLimit` are `10`, `25`, `50` or `100`.

**NOTE**: Currently this configuration only reflects the initial state of the Search React components. This means that
it defines how it behaves when it is first loaded or reset.

### Areas of Responsibility

This search plugin is primarily responsible for the following:

- Providing a `<SearchPage />` routable extension.
- Exposing various search-related components (like `<SearchModal />`,
  `<SidebarSearch />`, etc.), which can be composed by a Backstage App or by
  other Backstage Plugins to power search experiences of all kinds.

Don't forget, a lot of functionality is available in web libraries and backend plugins:

- `@backstage/plugin-search-react`, which is responsible for:
  - Exposing a `<SearchContextProvider />`, which manages search state and API
    communication with the Backstage backend.
  - Exposing the `SearchApi` and its corresponding ref.
  - Exposing reusable components, such as `<SearchBar>` and `<SearchFilter>`, etc.
- `@backstage/plugin-search-backend-node`, which is responsible for the search
  index management
- `@backstage/plugin-search-backend`, which is responsible for query processing