Search Config

The search config defines the behavior of a search app. It is configured per search app in the admin and contains settings for results, facets, sorting, spellcheck, validation, and more.

Validation

The validation section configures request validation rules that are evaluated by the QscSearchRequestValidationFilter in the search pipeline. These rules are merged with any rules defined in the pipeline YAML.

{
  "validation": {
    "rules": [
      "q: required, minLength=1, maxLength=500",
      "page: min=0, max=100, default=1",
      "rows: min=0, max=100, default=10",
      "parameter.customerId: required, type=integer"
    ]
  }
}

Rule Syntax

Each rule is a string with the format:

target: constraint1, constraint2, ...

Category	Format	Description
Field	fieldName: constraints	Validates a standard search query field (q, locale, page, rows, requestId, userId, sessionId, requestOrigin)
Parameter	parameter.name: constraints	Validates a parameter from the parameters map
Filter	filter.id: constraints	Validates a search filter from the filter list

Available Constraints

Fields:

Constraint	Description	Example
required	Must be non-null and non-blank	q: required
values	Must be one of the listed values (separated by |)	locale: values=de|en|fr
minLength	Minimum string length	q: minLength=1
maxLength	Maximum string length	q: maxLength=500
min	Minimum numeric value	page: min=0
max	Maximum numeric value	page: max=100
default	Default value if null	page: default=1

Parameters:

Constraint	Description	Example
required	Must be present	parameter.customerId: required
values	Must be one of the listed values (separated by |)	parameter.sort: values=relevance|price|name
type	Data type: string, integer, long, double, boolean	parameter.limit: type=integer
type (array)	Append [] to require an array; each element is type-checked	parameter.ids: type=integer[]
pattern	Regex match (applied per element for arrays)	parameter.email: pattern=^[\w@.]+$
default	Default value if missing	parameter.sort: default=relevance

Filters:

Constraint	Description	Example
required	Must be present	filter.category: required
values	Every filter value must be one of the listed values (separated by |)	filter.color: values=red|green|blue
type	Expected filter type	filter.category: type=term
dataType	Expected data type	filter.price: dataType=number
default	Creates filter with this value if missing	filter.status: default=active
defaultType	Default filter type if null	filter.price: defaultType=range
defaultDataType	Default data type if null	filter.price: defaultDataType=number
defaultOperator	Default operator if null	filter.category: defaultOperator=and

Options (on any rule):

Option	Description	Example
statusCode	HTTP status code (default: 400)	statusCode=422
message	Custom error message (must be last)	message=Custom error text

Pipeline vs Search Config Rules

Rules can be defined in both places:

Source	Scope	Use case
Pipeline YAML	All search apps	Shared base rules (e.g. required fields, paging limits)
Search config	Per search app	App-specific rules (e.g. required parameters, custom limits)

Pipeline rules run first, then search config rules. Both use the same string syntax.

Example

Pipeline YAML (shared):

rules:
  - "locale: required, values=de|en|fr"
  - "q: required"
  - "page: min=0, default=1"
  - "rows: min=0, default=10"

Search config (per app):

{
  "validation": {
    "rules": [
      "q: minLength=3, message=Please enter at least 3 characters",
      "rows: max=50",
      "parameter.customerId: required, type=integer",
      "parameter.sort: values=relevance|price|name, default=relevance",
      "parameter.ids: type=integer[]",
      "filter.color: values=red|green|blue"
    ]
  }
}

For the full documentation of the validation filter, see QscSearchRequestValidationFilter.