🎉 Connecting TypeSense Using the Bubble API Connector (No Plugin)

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Using TypeSense with the API Connector_cover_image
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Hey everyone! :wave:

We just posted a full detailed tutorial on how to connect TypeSense using the API Connector in Bubble. It starts from scratch and builds everything up that you need to know. We don’t cut any of our mistakes out so you can see what happens when you forget a comma. :blush:

If you want fast searches with a lot of data, TypeSense is a great solution. TypeSense is a great alternative to Algolia. I have seen charges of over $700/month with Algolia when TypeSense is only charging $40. It’s a great deal and scales well. When using the Bubble Algolia integration you are forced to expose all of your data as public. This is not secure and can cause a lot of issues for you later if you get hacked. TypeSense does not require you to have your data exposed in Bubble. So that means that privacy rules can be kept in place. Enjoy! :blush:

We just added a way to skip to chapters in our eLearning Hub so it will be much easier to navigate now. :exploding_head:

Here are the Chapters:

  1. Creating Your TypeSense Account
  2. Installing the API Connector
  3. Understanding the TypeSense Documentation
  4. API Connector - Create a Collection (DataType)
  5. TypeSense API Keys
  6. Inserting the Node (URL)
  7. Adding (Upsert) Documents (Data Records)
  8. Deleting a Document (Data Record)
  9. Searching Documents (Searching Your Database)
  10. Displaying and Using TypeSense in Your App
  11. Creating a New Thing In Bubble and TypeSense
  12. Search Using TypeSense in Your App
  13. Modifying (Editing) Your Data Records
  14. Deleting a Data Record

It also includes links to an editor where you can see how it works.

Here is the link to the paid video:

Hope that helps! :blush:

@j805 www.NoCodeMinute.com

For All Your No-Code Education Needs:

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Fantastic to have a tutorial on how to do this!
While we haven’t used the course above, we have similarly implemented Typesense using the Bubble API Connector on our site Browse Kids Activities in Australia - Kidsbook
Coupled with the new flex box responsive engine, it is definitely worth the effort for rapid searching on your website or app!

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@adamKB That’s awesome. Glad to see others using TypeSense and can vouch for the awesomeness of it too. :blush:

It really does a good job and is a great price.

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Hey @ahmed.khodeir.87 :wave:

You can just pass along the url of the image. Then display it using that. Would that work? :man_shrugging:t2:

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@J805 it doesn’t feel fast at all, what may I have been doing wrong?

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How much data are you searching through? ‘Fast’ is relative. Maybe do a screen recording? Then I can see what speed you are talking about. :man_shrugging:t2:

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I tried with the same RG without the images to avoid using bubble’s search, thinking this may increase the speed, but it didn’t, and tried the fuzzy search for 100 times bigger RG and it was faster than typesense :frowning: I must be doing something wrong :roll_eyes:

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I think you only really notice a difference when you have hundreds of thousands of items if not millions in your database. That’s when bubble slows down and TypeSense is faster.

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@J805 https://youtu.be/CBQA-X2DN4E

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@J805 as you see in the recording, there is only 18 items within the RG :roll_eyes: any idea what I may be doing wrong?

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It’s hard to know without looking more in depth.

Why would you want to use TypeSense if you only have 18 items? Bubble can handle quick searches for thousands of items. It’s when it gets to very large numbers when you would need to use something like TypeSense.

Are you planning on having millions of items?

Let me know. :man_shrugging:t2:

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The 18 items are in the test version, and Still this is not the issue, the issue is that it seems that it can’t handle 18 records while it is being advertised as a lightning-fast search engine :man_shrugging: so my 1st assumption is that it is me who is doing something wrong “P.S. I followed your tutorial to the letter, amazing tutorial btw” but what use of the knowledge if the outcome is bad :man_shrugging:

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@J805 here is another test, without the bubble search for 1st item, and with no images even included in the RG

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It might be something that needs to be tweaked.

Some things to try:

  1. Would it make any difference when you click a button instead of wait for bubble to trigger the search. I think this is the plugin we use to speed that up: Keystroke Input Trigger Plugin | Bubble

  2. Try not doing any bubble search. Just straight TypeSense to see if there is an improvement. Don’t use any conditionals. Test it like that to see if there is any improvement.

If I think of anything else to try I will let you know. :blush:

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Thanks I also scheduled a meeting with Typesense team tomorrow, maybe they could tell me something that can improve the current situation.

Thanks @J805 , your tutorial is amazing, but let’s make sure that TypeSense is amazing too.

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Thanks :blush:

Sounds good :raised_hands:

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Hi @ahmed.khodeir.87 any data required for displaying search results we store in Typesense. This includes the full image URL. If you add queries back to the bubble DB, you will see a noticeable lag on the search results in the repeating group.

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Hi @adamKB thanks for the response,

What do you mean exactly by this (If you add queries back to the bubble DB, ) ? could you give me more info and a brief scenario?

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If you are using any filtering parameters in Typesense, we have recently noticed due to a bubble update in the GET API call, that && to join filter conditions in typesense is not returning results correctly. After a few hours of frustration, replacing && with %26%26 did the trick.

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As in only display data returned by typesense. Don’t use typesense and then “Do a Search” in bubble.
I am more than happy to take a look at your setup and offer some advice if that would be helpful.

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