Proposal: Integrating Algolia Search into Vite.js Site (GSoC Project)

[Birajit Saikia]

Hi all,

As part of our GSoC project, we are working on migrating the jenkins.io to vite.js (non-versioned) and Antora (versioned). One of the key improvements we’re exploring is implementing a robust search experience. Currently, jenkins.io uses Algolia for search, and we are considering reusing/migrating the same setup for our Vite.js site.

Before we move forward, we wanted to ask the community for input and guidance:

• What is the best way forward to test Algolia for the Vite.js site under development? 

• Is it feasible to extend the existing Algolia setup from jenkins.io to our Vite.js site?

• Are there any best practices or pitfalls we should be aware of when integrating Algolia into a new frontend stack?

• Would it make sense to consolidate both sites under a shared Algolia index, or should we maintain separate indices?

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this approach. If anyone has prior experience with Algolia in the Jenkins ecosystem (or general suggestions for search integration in static sites), your input would be very valuable.

Looking forward to your feedback!

Best regards,

Birajit

GSoC contributor Jenkins’25

[Oleg Nenashev]

Hi,

I have some experience with Algolia, in Jenkins and other projects. It is definitely important to test the new site properly, and all the best with it!

> Would it make sense to consolidate both sites under a shared Algolia index, or should we maintain separate indices?

While the new site is not in the production and duplkcates content, it is better to have separate Indices IMHO, if that's possible on the Jenkins account (see below)

> What is the best way forward to test Algolia for the Vite.js site under development? 

> Is it feasible to extend the existing Algolia setup from jenkins.io to our Vite.js site?

While you run two sites in parallel, you should be very careful with the UX if you add the website to the grabber.  I am not sure which features are enabled on the Jenkins account these days. The biggest problem would be adding the new site to the searchable Index, as IIRC you can have only one on the sponsored account. I would recommend setting up an A/B test and running the B test only on Vite.js site for now and expose the site's answers only to the Vite.js preview for now - https://www.algolia.com/doc/guides/ab-testing/ 

> Are there any best practices or pitfalls we should be aware of when integrating Algolia into a new frontend stack?

I would not anticipate pitfalls as Vite.js is quite popular these days and Algolia's embedding is very portable

BR, Oleg