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To view the available Autocomplete or InstantSearch hooks, go to your BigCommerce store, open your browser’s developer tools console, and enter algoliaAutocompleteConfig.hooks or algoliaInstantsearchConfig.hooks.

Use custom hooks

To use these hooks, add a new JavaScript file to your theme using the BigCommerce Script Manager.

Create a script file

  1. Go to the BigCommerce Script Manager and click Create a Script.
  2. Complete the script form settings:
    • Name. Enter a name for the script.
    • Description. Enter a description for the script.
    • Placement. Select Header.
    • Location. Select All pages.
    • Script Category. Select Essential.
    • Script type. Select Script.
  3. If you want to add custom JS code for Autocomplete or InstantSearch hooks, add it to the Script Contents field.
For example:
JavaScript
The return values of the function you register with the hook must match the expected return type, indicated by the hook’s name.

Autocomplete hooks

The following hooks change the behavior of the autocomplete menu:

autocompleteInitOptions

Sets parameters for the autocomplete menu. Example:
JavaScript

autocompleteResultTemplate

Changes the HTML template that renders the Autocomplete results panel Example:
JavaScript

InstantSearch hooks

The following hooks change the behavior of the search results page:

instantSearchInitOptions

Changes InstantSearch options. Example:
JavaScript

instantSearchResultTemplate

Changes the HTML template that renders the Autocomplete results panel Example:
JavaScript

Recommend hooks

The following hooks change the options used for initializing Recommend:

recommendInitOptions

Changes the Recommend initialization options. For example:
JavaScript

recommendResultTemplate

Changes the HTML template that renders the Recommend results panel. For example:
JavaScript

Add new custom hooks

To add new custom hooks, add them to the allowed list and edit the JavaScript file to add a new event trigger. You can’t add custom hooks for Recommend.

Add new hooks to the allowed list

  1. Go to the BigCommerce Script Manager.
  2. Create or edit BigCommerce Algolia hooks script.
  3. Add the new hook to the allowedHooks array.
Autocomplete example:
JavaScript
InstantSearch example:
JavaScript

Edit the JavaScript file

  1. Edit your Autocomplete or InstantSearch JavaScript file in Search Settings.
  2. Add a new event trigger to the JavaScript file.
Autocomplete example:
JavaScript
InstantSearch example:
JavaScript
Last modified on June 19, 2026