Incremental updates

How to keep your data in sync with Algolia.

After your initial upload, keep your index up to date with incremental updates. Track additions, changes, and deletions in your data source, then apply them to the corresponding records in Algolia.

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Track each record with a unique identifier

Incremental updates rely on the objectID attribute to match your source data to the right record. Derive each record’s objectID from the source item’s unique identifier and keep it stable. Changing the objectID can create a second record instead of updating the existing one.

For more information, see Unique record identifiers.

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Choose how to send updates

Use a connector to schedule updates from a supported source, such as a database or a hosted JSON or CSV file.

To send updates from your own code, use the API methods in the following sections. If you want Algolia to transform records before indexing them, use Push to Algolia instead of calling the Search API directly.

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Add records

When you add data to your source, use the saveObjects method to send the corresponding records to Algolia.

To run the code examples on this page, install the latest API client.

C#

List<BatchResponse> response = await client.SaveObjectsAsync(
  "INDEX_NAME",
  new List<Object>
  {
    new Dictionary<string, string> { { "objectID", "1" }, { "name", "Adam" } },
    new Dictionary<string, string> { { "objectID", "2" }, { "name", "Benoit" } },
  }
);

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Update records

You can update records in two ways:

• Replace the entire record
• Update specific attributes

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Replace old records

To replace an existing record, use saveObjects with its objectID and the complete updated record. Algolia replaces the entire record, removing any existing attributes you omit.

Use full record updates when your system can send the complete record, even if you don’t know which attributes changed.

C#

List<BatchResponse> response = await client.SaveObjectsAsync(
  "INDEX_NAME",
  new List<Object>
  {
    new Dictionary<string, string> { { "objectID", "1" }, { "name", "Adam" } },
    new Dictionary<string, string> { { "objectID", "2" }, { "name", "Benoit" } },
  }
);

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Update a subset of the record

Partial updates let you change specific attributes without sending the complete record. This is useful when different systems manage different attributes of the same record.

Use the partialUpdateObjects method and pass each record’s objectID with the attributes to update. Other attributes in the record remain unchanged.

If an attribute you update contains a JSON object, include every value you want to keep in that object. Algolia replaces the object rather than merging its contents.

The following example sets createIfNotExists to true, so Algolia creates a record if the specified objectID doesn’t exist.

C#

List<BatchResponse> response = await client.PartialUpdateObjectsAsync(
  "INDEX_NAME",
  new List<Object>
  {
    new Dictionary<string, string> { { "objectID", "1" }, { "name", "Adam" } },
    new Dictionary<string, string> { { "objectID", "2" }, { "name", "Benoit" } },
  },
  true
);

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Delete records

Whenever you delete data in your data source, you can delete the corresponding record from Algolia with deleteObjects.

C#

List<BatchResponse> response = await client.DeleteObjectsAsync(
  "INDEX_NAME",
  new List<string> { "1", "2" }
);

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Delete by query

To delete records that match an attribute value, use the deleteBy method. Specify the condition in the request’s filters parameter. For example, brand:brandName deletes all records whose brand attribute is brandName.

To filter on the brand string attribute, add it to your index’s attributesForFaceting.

C#

var response = await client.DeleteByAsync(
  "INDEX_NAME",
  new DeleteByParams { Filters = "brand:brandName" }
);

deleteBy is resource-intensive. If you know the records’ object IDs, use deleteObjects for better performance.

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Manage individual records in the dashboard

For one-off changes, you can add, edit, or delete single records in the Algolia dashboard without writing code.

1. Go to the Algolia dashboard and select your Algolia application.
2. On the left sidebar, select Search.
3. Select your Algolia index.
4. Do one of the following:
   • To add records, select Add records > Add manually. Paste your records in JSON format, then click Save.
   • To edit a record, find it in the Browse tab, click Edit record, change the JSON, then click Edit.
   • To delete a record, find it in the Browse tab and click Delete record, then click Delete.

To import a file instead, see Import from the dashboard.