# Search

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***

**Added in** `eventcatalog@3.36.0`

EventCatalog ships with two search modes. The default is a fast metadata search that works with no extra configuration. An opt-in indexed mode adds full-content search powered by [Pagefind](https://pagefind.app/).

## Understand the modes[​](#understand-the-modes "Direct link to Understand the modes")

**Resource search (default)** indexes the metadata of every catalog resource — names, summaries, badges, types, and identifiers. It is fast, requires no build step, and works in both `static` and `server` output modes.

**Indexed search (opt-in)** builds a static index of the full markdown content of your catalog at build time. It can find matches inside the body of a page, changelogs, custom docs, and resource docs — not just the frontmatter fields.

## Enable indexed search[​](#enable-indexed-search "Direct link to Enable indexed search")

Set `search.type` to `'indexed'` in `eventcatalog.config.js`:

eventcatalog.config.js

```
module.exports = {
  search: {
    type: 'indexed',
  },
};
```

No other changes are required. The index is built automatically as part of `eventcatalog build` and also during `eventcatalog dev`.

## What gets indexed[​](#what-gets-indexed "Direct link to What gets indexed")

When indexed search is enabled, the following content is included in the index:

* All catalog resources: events, commands, queries, services, domains, subdomains, channels, containers, data products, entities, and flows
* Custom docs pages
* Resource docs
* Changelogs

## When the index is built[​](#when-the-index-is-built "Direct link to When the index is built")

During `eventcatalog build`, the indexer runs after the Astro build and writes the index to `<outDir>/pagefind`.

During `eventcatalog dev`, the index is built on startup and rebuilt automatically whenever any `.md` or `.mdx` file changes (debounced to avoid excessive rebuilds). The first build may take a few seconds depending on the size of your catalog. Subsequent incremental rebuilds are faster.

## Result ranking[​](#result-ranking "Direct link to Result ranking")

Indexed results are ranked by relevance. Matches in the resource title and identifier score highest, followed by matches in the summary and type. Content-body matches score lower than title matches but are still surfaced when no title match is found.

## Auth and the `/pagefind` assets[​](#auth-and-the-pagefind-assets "Direct link to auth-and-the-pagefind-assets")

Private catalogs

If your catalog uses authentication (an `eventcatalog.auth.js` file is present), the generated `/pagefind` directory is served as static client-readable assets. Anyone who can load the page can download the index, which contains the full text of all indexed content.

Ensure your deployment platform protects the `/pagefind` path behind the same authentication layer as the rest of your catalog.

## Keep resource search[​](#keep-resource-search "Direct link to Keep resource search")

To stay on the default resource search, either omit the `search` key entirely or set the type explicitly:

eventcatalog.config.js

```
module.exports = {
  search: {
    type: 'resource', // default, no index built
  },
};
```

Existing catalogs are not affected by this feature — no changes are needed unless you want to opt in.