The Python API clients let you interact with Algolia’s APIs from your Python backend.

If you’re building a Django app, see Setting up Algolia for Django for more information.

Install the library

All API clients are part of the algoliasearch Python package, which you can install with pip. You’ll need Python version 3.8 or later.

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pip install 'algoliasearch>=4,<5'

Test your installation

To test your installation, try running a short program that adds a record to a test index, searches your index, and prints the results.

  1. If you haven’t already, create an Algolia account.

  2. Copy the following code into a new file hello_algolia.py. Replace ALGOLIA_APPLICATION_ID and ALGOLIA_API_KEY with values from your account. Make sure to use an API key with addObject and search permissions.

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    # File: hello_algolia.py
    from algoliasearch.search.client import SearchClientSync
    
    app_id = "ALGOLIA_APPLICATION_ID"
    # API key with `addObject` and `search` ACL
    api_key = "ALGOLIA_API_KEY"
    index_name = "test-index"
    
    
    if __name__ == "__main__":
        client = SearchClientSync(app_id, api_key)
        record = {"objectID": "object-1", "name": "test record"}
    
        # Add record to an index
        save_resp = client.save_object(
            index_name=index_name, body=record,
        )
    
        # Wait until indexing is done
        client.wait_for_task(
            index_name=index_name,
            task_id=save_resp.task_id,
        )
    
        # Search for 'test'
        results = client.search(
           {
               "requests": [
                   {
                       "indexName": index_name,
                       "query": "test"
                   }
               ]
           }
        )
    
        print(results.to_json())
    

    In production, don’t include your credentials in your code. Use environment variables instead.

  3. Run: python hello_algolia.py

If the command is successful, you’ll see the API response in JSON format.

Next steps

You can view your new index in the Algolia dashboard.

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Python API clients v4