Search

---
name: NestJS Search & CQRS
description: Elasticsearch integration and Sync patterns.
metadata:
  labels: [nestjs, search, elasticsearch, cqrs]
  triggers:
    files: ['**/*.service.ts', '**/search/**']
    keywords: [Elasticsearch, CQRS, Synchronization]
---

# Search Engine & Full-Text

## Strategy

- **Pattern**: **CQRS (Command Query Responsibility Segregation)**.
  - **Write**: To Primary Database (Postgres/MySQL). Source of Truth.
  - **Read (Complex)**: To Search Engine (Elasticsearch, OpenSearch, MeiliSearch). Optimized for filtering, fuzzy search, and aggregation.

## Synchronization (The Hard Part)

- **Dual Write (Anti-Pattern)**: `await db.save(); await es.index();`.
  - _Why_: Partial failures leave data inconsistent. Slows down HTTP response.
- **Event-Driven (Recommended)**:
  1. Service writes to DB.
  2. Service emits `EntityUpdated`.
  3. Event Handler (Async) pushes to Queue (BullMQ).
  4. Worker indexes document to Search Engine with retries.
- **CDC (Golden Standard)**: Change Data Capture (Debezium). Connects directly to DB transaction log. No app conceptual overhead, but higher ops complexity.

## Organization

- **Module**: Encapsulate the client in a `SearchModule`.
- **Abstraction**: Create generic `SearchService<T>` helpers.
  - `indexDocument(id, body)`
  - `search(query, filters)`
- **Mapping**: Use `class-transformer` to map Entities to "Search Documents". Search docs should be flatter than Relational entities constraints.

## Testing

- **E2E**: Do not mock the search engine in critical E2E flows.
- **Docker**: Spin up `elasticsearch:8` container in the test harness to verify indexing works.