Skip to content

Commit 5e7c157

Browse files
review of all chat pages except reference
1 parent 885456e commit 5e7c157

File tree

3 files changed

+128
-153
lines changed

3 files changed

+128
-153
lines changed
Lines changed: 21 additions & 79 deletions
Original file line numberDiff line numberDiff line change
@@ -1,34 +1,25 @@
11
---
2-
title: Conversational search
3-
sidebarTitle: Conversational search
4-
description: Learn how to implement AI-powered conversational search using Meilisearch's chat feature
2+
title: What is conversational search?
3+
description: Conversational search is an AI-powered feature that allows users to ask questions in everyday language and receive answers based on the information in Meilisearch's indexes
54
---
65

7-
Meilisearch's chat completions feature enables AI-powered conversational search, allowing users to ask questions in natural language and receive direct answers based on your indexed content. This feature transforms the traditional search experience into an interactive dialogue.
6+
## What is conversational search?
87

9-
<Note>
10-
This is an experimental feature. Use the Meilisearch Cloud UI or the experimental features endpoint to activate it:
8+
In conversational search interfaces, users ask questions in everyday language instead of using keywords, and receive complete answers rather than links to articles.
119

12-
```sh
13-
curl \
14-
-X PATCH 'MEILISEARCH_URL/experimental-features/' \
15-
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
16-
--data-binary '{
17-
"chatCompletions": true
18-
}'
19-
```
20-
</Note>
10+
## When to use chat completions vs traditional search
2111

22-
## What is conversational search?
12+
Use conversational search when:
2313

24-
Conversational search interfaces allow users to:
14+
- Users need easy-to-read answers to specific questions
15+
- You are handling informational-dense content, such as software documentation and knowledge bases
16+
- Natural language interaction improves user experience
2517

26-
- Ask questions in natural language instead of using keywords
27-
- Receive direct answers rather than just document links
28-
- Maintain context across multiple questions
29-
- Get responses grounded in your actual content
18+
Use traditional search when:
3019

31-
This approach bridges the gap between traditional search and modern AI experiences, making information more accessible and intuitive to find.
20+
- Users need to browse multiple options, such as an ecommerce website
21+
- Approximative answers are not acceptable
22+
- Your users need very quick responses
3223

3324
## How chat completions differs from traditional search
3425

@@ -43,73 +34,24 @@ This approach bridges the gap between traditional search and modern AI experienc
4334
1. User asks a question in natural language
4435
2. Meilisearch retrieves relevant documents
4536
3. AI generates a direct answer based on those documents
46-
4. User can ask follow-up questions
47-
48-
## When to use chat completions vs traditional search
49-
50-
### Use conversational search when:
5137

52-
- Users need direct answers to specific questions
53-
- Content is informational (documentation, knowledge bases, FAQs)
54-
- Users benefit from follow-up questions
55-
- Natural language interaction improves user experience
38+
## Implementation strategies
5639

57-
### Use traditional search when:
40+
### Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)
5841

59-
- Users need to browse multiple options
60-
- Results require comparison (e-commerce products, listings)
61-
- Exact matching is critical
62-
- Response time is paramount
42+
In the majority of cases, you should use the [`/chats` route](/reference/api/chats) to build a Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) pipeline. RAGs excel when working with unstructured data and emphasise high-quality responses.
6343

64-
## Use chat completions to implement RAG pipelines
65-
66-
The chat completions feature implements a complete Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) pipeline in a single API endpoint. Meilisearch's chat completions consolidates RAG creation into one streamlined process:
44+
Meilisearch's chat completions consolidates RAG creation into a single process:
6745

6846
1. **Query understanding**: automatically transforms questions into search parameters
6947
2. **Hybrid retrieval**: combines keyword and semantic search for better relevancy
7048
3. **Answer generation**: uses your chosen LLM to generate responses
7149
4. **Context management**: maintains conversation history by constantly pushing the full conversation to the dedicated tool
7250

73-
### Alternative: MCP integration
74-
75-
When integrating Meilisearch with AI assistants and automation tools, consider using [Meilisearch's Model Context Protocol (MCP) server](/guides/ai/mcp). MCP enables standardized tool integration across various AI platforms and applications.
76-
77-
## Architecture overview
78-
79-
Chat completions operate through workspaces, which are isolated configurations for different use cases. Each workspace can:
80-
81-
- Use different LLM sources (openAi, azureOpenAi, mistral, gemini, vLlm)
82-
- Apply custom prompts
83-
- Access specific indexes based on API keys
84-
- Maintain separate conversation contexts
85-
86-
### Key components
87-
88-
1. **Chat endpoint**: `/chats/{workspace}/chat/completions`
89-
- OpenAI-compatible interface
90-
- Supports streaming responses
91-
- Handles tool calling for index searches
92-
93-
2. **Workspace settings**: `/chats/{workspace}/settings`
94-
- Configure LLM provider and model
95-
- Set system prompts
96-
- Manage API credentials
97-
98-
3. **Index integration**:
99-
- Automatically searches relevant indexes
100-
- Uses existing Meilisearch search capabilities
101-
- Respects API key permissions
102-
103-
## Security considerations
104-
105-
The chat completions feature integrates with Meilisearch's existing security model:
51+
Follow the [chat completions tutorial](/learn/chat/getting_started_with_chat) for information on how to implement a RAG with Meilisearch.
10652

107-
- **API key permissions**: chat only accesses indexes visible to the provided API key
108-
- **Tenant tokens**: support for multi-tenant applications
109-
- **LLM credentials**: stored securely in workspace settings
110-
- **Content isolation**: responses based only on indexed content
53+
### Model Context Protocol (MCP)
11154

112-
## Next steps
55+
An alternative method is using a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server. MCPs are designed for broader uses that go beyond answering questions, but can be useful in contexts where having up-to-date data is more important than comprehensive answers.
11356

114-
- [Get started with chat completions implementation](/learn/chat/getting_started_with_chat)
115-
- [Explore the chat completions API reference](/reference/api/chats)
57+
Follow the [dedicated MCP guide](/guides/ai/mcp) if you want to implement it in your application.

0 commit comments

Comments
 (0)