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Merge pull request #15588 from backstage/docs/search-docs

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[Documentation] Minor improvements to search section
This commit is contained in:
Eric Peterson
2023-01-05 15:21:04 +01:00
committed by GitHub
parent 2ba88fe2df 503359280e
commit ca42503f61
4 changed files with 37 additions and 100 deletions
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docs/features/search/README.md
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@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@ See the more detailed [architecture](./architecture.md) and [tech stack](./archi
## Project roadmap
No current plans.
No current plans. Check [Backstage issues labeled `search`](https://github.com/backstage/backstage/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3Asearch)
for community-led ideas and initiatives.
## Supported
@@ -42,11 +43,11 @@ The following sections show the plugins and search engines currently supported b
See [Backstage Search Architecture](architecture.md) to get an overview of how
the search engines are used.
| Search Engines | Support Status |
| -------------------------------------------------- | -------------- |
| [ElasticSearch](./search-engines.md#elasticsearch) | ✅ |
| [Lunr](./search-engines.md#lunr) | ✅ |
| [Postgres](./search-engines.md#postgres) | Community ✅ |
| Search Engines | Support Status |
| ------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------- |
| [Elasticsearch/OpenSearch](./search-engines.md#elasticsearch) | ✅ |
| [Lunr](./search-engines.md#lunr) | ✅ |
| [Postgres](./search-engines.md#postgres) | Community ✅ |
[Reach out to us](#get-involved) if you want to chat about support for more plugin integrations and
search engines.
@@ -56,72 +57,3 @@ search engines.
For any questions, feedback, or to help move search forward, reach out to us in
the **#search** channel of our
[Discord chatroom](https://github.com/backstage/backstage#community).
## Use Cases supported
#### **Backstage Search Pre-Alpha**
Search Frontend letting you search through the entities of the software catalog.
The pre-alpha is intended to solve for the following user stories, but will get
there by means of a front-end only, non-extensible MVP.
- As a software engineer I should be able to navigate to a search page and
search for entities registered in the Software Catalog.
- As a software engineer I should be able to use the search input field in the
sidebar to search for entities registered in the Software Catalog.
- As a software engineer I should be able to see the number of results my search
returned.
- As a software engineer I should be able to filter on metadata (kind,
lifecycle) when I’ve performed a search.
- As a software engineer I should be able to hide the filters if I don’t need to
use them.
#### **Backstage Search Alpha**
Basic “out-of-the-box” in-memory indexing process of entities, and their metadata, registered to the Software Catalog.
We will consider Backstage Search to be in alpha when the above use-cases are
met, but built on top of a flexible, extensible platform.
- As an integrator, I should be able to provide all of the pre-alpha experiences
to my users if I choose, but also be able to customize the experience using a
composable set of components.
- As a plugin developer, I should have a standard way to expose my plugin's data
to Backstage Search.
- As an integrator, I should still be able to expose everything in the Software
Catalog in search, but it should be possible to customize what is searchable.
- As an integrator, although I should be able to customize all of the above, it
should be possible to have the pre-alpha user experiences covered without
having to set up and configure a search engine.
#### **Backstage Search Beta**
At least one production-ready search engine that supports the same use-cases as in the alpha.
We will consider Backstage Search to be in a beta phase when the above use-cases
are met, and can be deployed using a production-ready search engine.
- As an integrator, I should be able to power my Backstage Search experience
(including querying and indexing) using a production-ready search engine like
ElasticSearch.
- As an integrator, I should be able to configure the connection to my search
engine in **app_config.yaml**.
- As an integrator, I should be able to tune the queries sent to my chosen
search engine according to my organization's needs, but a sensible default
query should be in place so that I am not required to do so.
#### **Backstage Search 1.0**
A stable Search API for plugin developers to add search to their plugins, and app integrators to expose that to their users.
We will consider Backstage Search to be 1.0 when the above
use-cases are met, and an ecosystem of search-enabled plugins are available and
stable.
- As a plugin developer, there should be at least one example of a Backstage
plugin that integrates with search that I can use as inspiration for my own
plugin's search capabilities (for example, the TechDocs plugin).
- As an app integrator, there should be plenty of examples and documentation on
how to customize and extend search in my Backstage instance to meet my
organization's needs.
docs/features/search/concepts.md
+1 -1
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@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ To get started, you should get familiar with these core concepts:
Backstage Search isn't a search engine itself, rather, it provides an interface
between your Backstage instance and a Search Engine of your choice. More
concretely, a `SearchEngine` is an interface whose concrete implementations
facilitate communication with different search engines (like ElasticSearch,
facilitate communication with different search engines (like Elasticsearch,
Lunr, Solr, etc). This abstraction exists in order to support your
organization's needs.
docs/features/search/getting-started.md
+1 -1
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@@ -286,7 +286,7 @@ an example:
Backstage Search isn't a search engine itself, rather, it provides an interface
between your Backstage instance and a
[Search Engine](./concepts.md#search-engines) of your choice. Currently, we only
support two engines, an in-memory search Engine called Lunr and ElasticSearch.
support two engines, an in-memory search Engine called Lunr and Elasticsearch.
See [Search Engines](./search-engines.md) documentation for more information how
to configure these in your Backstage instance.
docs/features/search/search-engines.md
+28 -23
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@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ description: Choosing and configuring your search engine for Backstage
---
Backstage supports 3 search engines by default, an in-memory engine called Lunr,
ElasticSearch and Postgres. You can configure your own search engines by
Elasticsearch and Postgres. You can configure your own search engines by
implementing the provided interface as mentioned in the
[search backend documentation.](./getting-started.md#Backend)
@@ -34,11 +34,16 @@ const searchEngine = new LunrSearchEngine({ logger: env.logger });
const indexBuilder = new IndexBuilder({ logger: env.logger, searchEngine });
```
> Note: Lunr is appropriate as a zero-config search engine when developing
> other parts of Backstage locally, however its use is highly discouraged when
> running Backstage in production. When deploying Backstage, use one of the
> other search engines instead.
## Postgres
The Postgres based search engine only requires that postgres being configured as
the database engine for Backstage. Therefore it targets setups that want to
avoid maintaining another external service like elastic search. The search
avoid maintaining another external service like Elasticsearch. The search
provides decent results and performs well with ten thousands of indexed
documents. The connection to postgres is established via the database manager
also used by other plugins.
@@ -91,13 +96,13 @@ search:
The Postgres documentation on [Highlighting Results](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/textsearch-controls.html#TEXTSEARCH-HEADLINE) has more details.
## ElasticSearch
## Elasticsearch
Backstage supports ElasticSearch search engine connections, indexing and
querying out of the box. Available configuration options enable usage of either
AWS or Elastic.co hosted solutions, or a custom self-hosted solution.
Backstage supports Elasticsearch (and OpenSearch) search engine connections,
indexing and querying out of the box. Available configuration options enable
usage of either AWS or Elastic.co hosted solutions, or a custom self-hosted solution.
Similarly to Lunr above, ElasticSearch can be set up like this:
Similarly to Lunr above, Elasticsearch can be set up like this:
```typescript
// app/backend/src/plugins/search.ts
@@ -111,20 +116,20 @@ const indexBuilder = new IndexBuilder({ logger: env.logger, searchEngine });
For the engine to be available, your backend package needs a dependency on
package `@backstage/plugin-search-backend-module-elasticsearch`.
ElasticSearch needs some additional configuration before it is ready to use
Elasticsearch needs some additional configuration before it is ready to use
within your instance. The configuration options are documented in the
[configuration schema definition file.](https://github.com/backstage/backstage/blob/master/plugins/search-backend-module-elasticsearch/config.d.ts)
The underlying functionality uses either the official ElasticSearch client
version 7.x (meaning that ElasticSearch version 7 is the only one confirmed to
The underlying functionality uses either the official Elasticsearch client
version 7.x (meaning that Elasticsearch version 7 is the only one confirmed to
be supported), or the OpenSearch client, when the `aws` or `opensearch `provider
is configured.
Should you need to create your own bespoke search experiences that require more
than just a query translator (such as faceted search or Relay pagination), you
can access the configuration of the search engine in order to create new elastic
search clients. The version of the client need not be the same as one used
internally by the elastic search engine plugin. For example:
can access the configuration of the search engine in order to create new
Elasticsearch clients. The version of the client need not be the same as one
used internally by the Elasticsearch engine plugin. For example:
```typescript
import { isOpenSearchCompatible } from '@backstage/plugin-search-backend-module-elasticsearch';
@@ -144,7 +149,7 @@ const client = searchEngine.newClient(options => {
#### Set custom index template
The elasticsearch engine gives you the ability to set a custom index template if needed.
The Elasticsearch engine gives you the ability to set a custom index template if needed.
> Index templates define settings, mappings, and aliases that can be applied automatically to new indices.
@@ -171,8 +176,8 @@ searchEngine.setIndexTemplate({
### AWS
Using AWS hosted ElasticSearch the only configuration option needed is the URL
to the ElasticSearch service. The implementation assumes that environment
Using AWS hosted Elasticsearch the only configuration option needed is the URL
to the Elasticsearch service. The implementation assumes that environment
variables for AWS access key id and secret access key are defined in accordance
to the
[default AWS credential chain.](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/sdk-for-javascript/v2/developer-guide/setting-credentials-node.html).
@@ -186,8 +191,8 @@ search:
### Elastic.co
Elastic Cloud hosted ElasticSearch uses a Cloud ID to determine the instance of
hosted ElasticSearch to connect to. Additionally, username and password needs to
Elastic Cloud hosted Elasticsearch uses a Cloud ID to determine the instance of
hosted Elasticsearch to connect to. Additionally, username and password needs to
be provided either directly or using environment variables like defined in
[Backstage documentation.](https://backstage.io/docs/conf/writing#includes-and-dynamic-data)
@@ -217,8 +222,8 @@ search:
### Others
Other ElasticSearch instances can be connected to by using standard
ElasticSearch authentication methods and exposed URL, provided that the cluster
Other Elasticsearch instances can be connected to by using standard
Elasticsearch authentication methods and exposed URL, provided that the cluster
supports that. The configuration options needed are the URL to the node and
authentication information. Authentication can be handled by either providing
username/password or an API key. For more information how to create an API key,
@@ -248,13 +253,13 @@ search:
apiKey: base64EncodedKey
```
### Elastic search batch size
### Elasticsearch batch size
Default batch size of the elastic search engine is set to 1000. If you are using a lower spec computing resources (like AWS small instance),
Default batch size of the Elasticsearch engine is set to 1000. If you are using a lower spec computing resources (like AWS small instance),
you may get an error caused by limited `thread_pool` configuration. ( `429 Too Many Requests /_bulk` )
In this case you need to decrease the batch size to index the resources to prevent this kind of error. You can easily decrease
or increase the batch size in your `app-config.yaml` using the `batchSize` option provided for elasticsearch configuration.
or increase the batch size in your `app-config.yaml` using the `batchSize` option provided for Elasticsearch configuration.
#### Configuration example