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Hosted search-as-a-service platform delivering real-time, full-text search for apps and websites
Lunr.js
Client-side full-text search library for fast, offline queries
Lunr.js provides a lightweight, browser‑based full‑text search engine that indexes JSON documents, supports multiple languages, field boosting, fuzzy matching, and works without server calls.
Overview
Overview
Lunr.js is a compact JavaScript library that brings full‑text search capabilities directly into the browser. It indexes JSON documents on the client, allowing instant retrieval of relevant results without any network latency. The library is designed for modern browsers and can be added via a script tag or npm package.
Who It Serves & How It Works
Ideal for static sites, single‑page applications, and offline‑first web apps, Lunr.js lets developers define searchable fields, boost terms or whole documents, and perform fuzzy queries with wildcards or edit distance. Because the index lives in memory, searches are instantaneous, and the same code runs in any environment that supports ES5 (or a shim). Deployment is as simple as including the script and building the index during page load.
Limitations & Extensibility
While powerful for client‑side scenarios, Lunr.js is not suited for massive datasets that exceed browser memory limits, nor does it provide built‑in persistence. For larger scale needs, a server‑side search engine would be more appropriate.
Highlights
Full‑text search support for 14 languages
Boost terms at query time or whole documents at index time
Scope searches to specific fields
Fuzzy matching with wildcards and edit distance
Pros
- Runs entirely in the browser, eliminating server dependencies
- Zero network latency; works offline
- Simple, expressive API that is easy to integrate
- Multilingual indexing out of the box
Considerations
- Limited to client‑side memory; large indexes can be impractical
- No built‑in persistence; index must be rebuilt on each load
- Feature set is smaller than enterprise search platforms
- Requires ES5 support or a shim for older browsers
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Fit guide
Great for
- Static sites that need client‑side search
- Single‑page applications with data already in the browser
- Offline‑first web apps
- Prototypes or demos where quick search is needed
Not ideal when
- Huge corpora requiring server‑side scaling
- Real‑time indexing of streaming data
- Complex faceted search or analytics
- Environments lacking ES5 support without shims
How teams use it
Documentation site search
Visitors locate API pages instantly without server queries
E‑commerce product catalog
Customers filter products client‑side, reducing server load
Blog archive
Readers perform fuzzy searches across posts even when offline
Educational app
Students search lesson content locally, ensuring access without internet
Tech snapshot
JavaScript94%
HTML4%
Makefile1%
Shell1%
CSS1%
Frequently asked questions
Can Lunr.js replace a server‑side search engine?
It works well for small to medium client datasets but is not designed for large, scalable search workloads.
How is the search index created?
You define fields and add JSON documents via the provided API; the library builds an in‑memory inverted index.
Does Lunr.js support persistence?
No built‑in persistence; you must serialize and store the index yourself if needed.
What browsers are supported?
All modern browsers; older browsers need an ES5 shim such as Augment.js or ES5‑Shim.
Is the library licensed for commercial use?
Yes, it is released under the MIT license.
Project at a glance
Dormant- Stars
- 9,187
- Watchers
- 9,187
- Forks
- 559
LicenseMIT
Repo age14 years old
Last commitlast year
Primary languageJavaScript
Last synced yesterday