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AI-Powered Search

Transform Platform docs ship with local full-text search active today, and are pre-wired for Algolia DocSearch v4 + AskAI β€” Algolia's conversational AI assistant that answers questions directly from your documentation. Switching to AI search requires only credentials β€” no code changes.


What You Get with AskAI​

Once Algolia is activated, an Ask AI button appears in the search bar. Users can type questions in natural language β€” "How do I add a new file format?", "What encryption does credential storage use?" β€” and get a context-aware answer synthesized from your docs, with citations linking to the relevant pages.

βœ… Active Now β€” Local Search

Full-text offline search via @easyops-cn/docusaurus-search-local. Instant fuzzy search across all pages, highlighted results, no internet required. Index built at deploy time.

πŸš€ Step 2 β€” Algolia DocSearch v4 + AskAI

Replaces local search with Algolia's hosted index. Adds an Ask AI side panel β€” conversational answers with page citations. Free for open-source documentation.


Activating Algolia DocSearch + AskAI​

Step 1 β€” Apply for DocSearch (free)​

Go to docsearch.algolia.com and apply. As of late 2025, sign-up is fully self-service β€” no waiting for manual approval for public open-source sites.

Submit your live documentation URL:

https://avinashreddyoceans.github.io/transform-platform/

Once approved, you'll receive appId, apiKey, and indexName by email (or directly in the Algolia dashboard).

Free for open source

DocSearch is entirely free for public technical documentation. Transform Platform qualifies. The Algolia crawler monitors your GitHub Pages URL and re-indexes on every deploy automatically.


Step 2 β€” Create an AskAI Assistant​

In the Algolia dashboard:

  1. Go to AI Search β†’ Assistants β†’ Create Assistant
  2. Select your DocSearch index (transform-platform)
  3. Choose an LLM provider β€” Algolia-hosted, OpenAI, or BYOLLM (bring your own)
  4. Copy the generated assistantId

Step 3 β€” Fill in credentials​

Open website/docusaurus.config.ts. At the top of the file you'll find four constants β€” fill them in:

const ALGOLIA_APP_ID         = 'B1G2XXXXXXX';  // from DocSearch welcome email
const ALGOLIA_SEARCH_API_KEY = 'xxxxxxxxxx'; // read-only search key (safe to commit)
const ALGOLIA_INDEX_NAME = 'transform-platform';
const ALGOLIA_ASSISTANT_ID = 'xxxxxxxxxx'; // from AI Search β†’ Assistants

Then switch the mode flag on line 12:

// Before:
const SEARCH_MODE: 'local' | 'algolia' = 'local';

// After:
const SEARCH_MODE: 'local' | 'algolia' = 'algolia';

Finally, uncomment the two Algolia blocks marked with STEP 2 comments in the file (the plugins: array and the themeConfig.docsearch object).


Step 4 β€” Deploy​

git add website/docusaurus.config.ts
git commit -m "feat: activate Algolia DocSearch v4 + AskAI"
git push

The GitHub Actions workflow builds and deploys automatically. Algolia's crawler indexes the live site within a few minutes of the first deployment.


The Algolia Search API key is read-only and safe to commit. However, if you prefer to keep it out of version control, store it as a GitHub secret:

  1. Go to GitHub β†’ Settings β†’ Secrets β†’ Actions β†’ New repository secret
  2. Name: ALGOLIA_SEARCH_API_KEY, Value: your key

Then in docusaurus.config.ts:

const ALGOLIA_SEARCH_API_KEY = process.env.ALGOLIA_SEARCH_API_KEY ?? '';

And in .github/workflows/docs.yml, pass it to the build step:

- name: Build Docusaurus
run: npm run build
working-directory: website
env:
ALGOLIA_SEARCH_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.ALGOLIA_SEARCH_API_KEY }}

AskAI Config Reference​

FieldRequiredDescription
appIdβœ…Your Algolia Application ID
apiKeyβœ…Read-only Search API key
indexNameβœ…The index Algolia created for your site
askAi.assistantIdβœ…From Algolia AI Search β†’ Assistants
askAi.sidePanelOptionaltrue opens AI chat in a side panel (recommended)