API Reference / React InstantSearch Hooks / <SearchBox>

<SearchBox>

Signature 
<SearchBox
  // Optional props
  placeholder={string}
  queryHook={(query: string, hook: (value: string) => void) => void}
  onSubmit={React.FormEventHandler<HTMLFormElement>}
  submitIconComponent={React.JSXElementConstructor<IconProps>}
  resetIconComponent={React.JSXElementConstructor<IconProps>}
  loadingIconComponent={React.JSXElementConstructor<IconProps>}
  classNames={Partial<SearchBoxClassNames>}
  ...props={React.ComponentProps<'div'>}
/>
See code examples
See live example

About this widget

<SearchBox> is a widget to let users perform a text-based query.

The search box usually is the main entry point to start the search on an InstantSearch page. You typically place it at the top of a search experience so that the user can start searching right away.

You can also create your own UI with useSearchBox().

Examples

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import React from 'react';
import algoliasearch from 'algoliasearch/lite';
import { InstantSearch, SearchBox } from 'react-instantsearch-hooks-web';

const searchClient = algoliasearch('YourApplicationID', 'YourSearchOnlyAPIKey');

function App() {
  return (
    <InstantSearch indexName="instant_search" searchClient={searchClient}>
      <SearchBox />
    </InstantSearch>
  );
}

Props

placeholder
type: string
Optional

The placeholder text of the input.
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<SearchBox placeholder="Search for products" />
queryHook
type: (query: string, search: (value: string) => void) => void
Optional

Function called every time the query changes. It takes two parameters:

  • query: The current query.
  • search: The function to trigger the search.

This prop can be useful if you need to:

  • Debounce searches to regulate requests.
  • Programmatically alter the query before sending it to Algolia.

When using this prop, you’re responsible for triggering the search with search(). If you don’t call this function, no search is triggered to Algolia.
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<SearchBox
  queryHook={(query, search) => {
    search(query);
  }}
/>
onSubmit
type: (event: React.FormEvent<HTMLFormElement>) => void
Optional

A callback to run when submitting the form of the search box.
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<SearchBox
  onSubmit={(event) => {
    // Code to run when the form submits
  }}
/>
submitIconComponent
type: React.JSXElementConstructor<IconProps>
Optional

A component to replace the icon in the submit button.

The component receives the passed classNames prop.
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<SearchBox
  submitIconComponent={({ classNames }) => (
    <div className={classNames.submitIcon}>Submit</div>
  )}
/>
resetIconComponent
type: React.JSXElementConstructor<IconProps>
Optional

A component to replace the icon in the reset button.

The component receives the passed classNames prop.
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<SearchBox
  resetIconComponent={({ classNames }) => (
    <div className={classNames.resetIcon}>Reset</div>
  )}
/>
loadingIconComponent
type: React.JSXElementConstructor<IconProps>
Optional

A component to replace the loading icon.

The component receives the passed classNames prop.
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<SearchBox
  loadingIconComponent={({ classNames }) => (
    <div className={classNames.loadingIcon}>Loading</div>
  )}
/>
classNames
type: Partial<SearchBoxClassNames>
Optional

CSS classes to pass to the widget’s elements. This is useful to style widgets with class-based CSS frameworks like Bootstrap or Tailwind CSS.

  • root: The root element of the widget.
  • form: The form element.
  • input: The input element.
  • submit: The submit button.
  • reset: The reset button.
  • loadingIndicator: The loading indicator element.
  • submitIcon: The submit icon.
  • resetIcon: The reset icon.
  • loadingIcon: The loading icon.
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<SearchBox
  classNames={{
    root: 'MyCustomSearchBox',
    form: 'MyCustomSearchBoxForm MyCustomSearchBoxForm--subclass',
  }}
/>
...props
type: React.ComponentProps<'div'>
Optional

Any <div> prop to forward to the root element of the widget.
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<SearchBox className="MyCustomSearchBox" title="My custom title" />

Hook

React InstantSearch Hooks let you create your own UI for the <SearchBox> widget with useSearchBox(). Hooks provide APIs to access the widget state and interact with InstantSearch.

The useSearchBox() Hook accepts parameters and returns APIs.

See code examples

Usage

First, create your React component:

import { useSearchBox } from 'react-instantsearch-hooks-web';

function CustomSearchBox(props) {
  const { query, refine, clear, isSearchStalled } = useSearchBox(props);

  return <>{/* Your JSX */}</>;
}

Then, render the widget:

<CustomSearchBox {...props} />

Parameters

Hooks accept parameters. You can pass them manually, or forward the props from your custom component.

When you provide a function to Hooks, make sure to pass a stable reference with useCallback() to avoid rendering endlessly. Objects and arrays are memoized so you don’t have to stabilize them.

queryHook
type: (query: string, hook: (value: string) => void) => void
Optional

Function called every time the query changes.

See queryHook for detail.
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const searchBoxApi = useSearchBox({
  // ...
  queryHook(query, search) {
    search(query);
  },
});

APIs

Hooks return APIs, such as state and functions. You can use them to build your UI and interact with React InstantSearch.

query
type: string

The query from the last search.
refine
type: (value: string) => void

Sets a new query and searches.
clear
type: () => void

Clears the query and searches.
isSearchStalled
type: boolean

Whether the search results take more than a certain time to come back from Algolia servers.

This can be configured on <InstantSearch> with the stalledSearchDelay props which defaults to 200 ms.

Example

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import React from 'react';
import { useSearchBox } from 'react-instantsearch-hooks-web';

function CustomSearchBox(props) {
  const { query, refine } = useSearchBox(props);

  return <>{/* Your JSX */}</>;
}
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React InstantSearch Hooks v6