--- title: "Adding Algolia DocSearch to Netlify CMS | Netlify" description: "Realize the speed, agility and performance of a scalable, composable web architecture with Netlify. Explore the composable web platform now!" source: "https://www.netlify.com/blog/2017/04/25/adding-algolia-docsearch-to-netlify-cms/" last_updated: "2026-08-05T06:24:06.000Z" --- The [netlifycms.org](https://netlifycms.org) page has been live for about a month now and launched with a missing feature, the ability to search. !\[netlifycms\](/v3/img/blog/Screenshot 2017-04-24 15.24.52.png) Adding search to JAMstack sites is a new thing for me but not a new thing for Algolia. Algolia is a hosted search tool that provides lightning fast search results. I decided to give Algolia a try for our new Netlify CMS documentation and discovered their DocSearch solution. !\[how-do-i-docsearch\](/v3/img/blog/Screenshot 2017-04-24 15.28.06.png) DocSearch started as a way for the Algolia Search team to scratch their own itch, which is providing a truly easy way to add search to documentation. Learning new tools and frameworks can be a challenge when it is unclear how to find what you are looking for. Getting started with DocSearch simply requires you to fill out the two fields on the [community DocSearch](https://community.algolia.com/docsearch/) page. Algolia will do the scraping of your documentation data for you and provide a [script tag](https://github.com/netlify/netlify-cms-www/blob/master/site/layouts/partials/footer.html#L12-L19) that wraps the returned content in a JSON. Once submitted, it took less than 12 hours to complete and return (most of that time, I was sleeping). !\[docsearch-form\](/v3/img/blog/Screenshot 2017-04-24 15.40.15.png) I had a great experience integrating the return search script and spent minimal time with my designer to make sure it integrated with our existing design as well. I did have two small issues but got resolutions rather quickly thanks to DocSearch being an open source project supported by Algolia engineers and the community. I was able to get resolutions for issues [#175](https://github.com/algolia/docsearch/issues/175) & [#178](https://github.com/algolia/docsearch/issues/178) in record time. There are other options for implementing search solutions, but I have found none are as simple as the Algolia’s hosted solutions, including our implementation on [netlify.com](https://www.netlify.com/blog/2016/09/22/making-netlifys-website-fully-searchable/) which uses [gulp](http://gulpjs.com/) and [lunar](https://lunrjs.com/). I hope to provide a follow-up post on how we upgraded that to Algolia’s [Instant Search](https://community.algolia.com/instantsearch.js/). I’m proud to say Netlify CMS is onboard with other open-source projects like React, Babel, and Stripe who all use DocSearch as their search solution. I recommend Algolia for all search needs and encourage you to try it out in our new [Netlify CMS](https://www.netlifycms.org) documentation page. ### Share - [X (fka Twitter)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Adding Algolia DocSearch to Netlify CMS&url=https://www.netlify.com/blog/2017/04/25/adding-algolia-docsearch-to-netlify-cms//) - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.netlify.com%2Fblog%2F2017%2F04%2F25%2Fadding-algolia-docsearch-to-netlify-cms%2F%2F) - [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://www.netlify.com/blog/2017/04/25/adding-algolia-docsearch-to-netlify-cms//) - [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/intent/compose?text=Adding Algolia DocSearch to Netlify CMS+https://www.netlify.com/blog/2017/04/25/adding-algolia-docsearch-to-netlify-cms//) * * * ### Tags - [Search](/blog/tags/search/) ## Keep reading ![](/_astro/db3c7ccc097c1c2396170c400408fdb298a74e0e-1800x1013_eSbAd.webp) Tools & Services July 28, 2026 [ ### MCP goes stateless and extensible ](/blog/mcp-goes-stateless-and-extensible) - ![Profile picture of Sean Roberts](/_astro/bbf2243f8171dbddd80ab2103622106cef84d125-512x512_Z1d2LKE.webp) Sean Roberts ![](/_astro/b581d6706ebcbd74591b67109365564968dbe81b-1800x1013_ZNneAB.webp) Tools & Services July 27, 2026 [ ### The 13-year story of Netlify Drop ](/blog/thirteen-years-of-netlify-drop) - ![Profile picture of Wade Wegner](/_astro/0302ff22eb844e648b11d7cff3cedbbc3c9de876-2667x4000_Z5j6wM.webp) Wade Wegner ## Recent posts Opinions & Insights July 28, 2026 [ ### Open Weights and the 2nd World ](/blog/open-weights-and-the-2nd-world) - ![Profile picture of Mathias Biilmann](/_astro/f193d4707a6391d843d5aaa73338b5a5971ec5cc-960x960_1Yylqm.webp) Mathias Biilmann Tools & Services July 28, 2026 [ ### MCP goes stateless and extensible ](/blog/mcp-goes-stateless-and-extensible) - ![Profile picture of Sean Roberts](/_astro/bbf2243f8171dbddd80ab2103622106cef84d125-512x512_Z1d2LKE.webp) Sean Roberts News & Announcements July 28, 2026 [ ### New Netlify projects are now private by default ](/blog/new-netlify-projects-are-now-private-by-default) - ![Profile picture of Taylor Barnett-Torabi](/_astro/cf4624da8c1286738397b6fecb53bad504df140b-400x400_ZsvK0s.webp) Taylor Barnett-Torabi ![](/_astro/3f255b372fa958df35802666ee33b4609b2d71bd-1200x1586_1VtE2D.webp) ### How do the best dev and marketing teams work together? 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