Algolia

Algolia is a search and discovery platform that helps developers build fast, relevant, and scalable search experiences. With a powerful API-first approach, Algolia combines advanced ranking algorithms with AI-driven insights for seamless site search, navigation, and personalized content discovery.

The Algolia and Braze integration uses Connected Content to populate Algolia-powered search results and product recommendations in your Braze messages. By querying Algolia’s API at send time, you can deliver personalized content that drives users to high-conversion product detail or landing pages.

Use cases

• Promote trending products: Automatically pull trending or top-performing products from Algolia into Braze messages to promote high-interest items and increase engagement.
• Personalize campaigns with search intelligence: Personalize Braze campaigns using Algolia search and browsing intelligence to deliver products or categories aligned with each user’s interests.

Prerequisites

Integration

Step 1: Set up your Algolia API request

For more information about request formats, response structures, and usage, refer to the Algolia Search API and Algolia Recommend API documentation. If you need assistance with setup, contact the Algolia team.

• search api
• recommend api

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POST https://{ALGOLIA_APP_ID}-dsn.algolia.net/1/indexes/{INDEX_NAME}/query
Content-Type: application/json
X-Algolia-API-Key: {ALGOLIA_API_KEY}
X-Algolia-Application-Id: {ALGOLIA_APP_ID}

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{
  "query": "",
  "hitsPerPage": 4,
  "filters": "category_page_id:'this week's offers'",
  "attributesToRetrieve": ["name", "price", "image", "url"]
}

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POST https://{ALGOLIA_APP_ID}.algolia.net/1/indexes/*/recommendations
Content-Type: application/json
X-Algolia-API-Key: {ALGOLIA_API_KEY}
X-Algolia-Application-Id: {ALGOLIA_APP_ID}

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{
  "requests": [
    {
      "indexName": "prod_ECOM",
      "model": "trending-items",
      "threshold": 40,
      "maxRecommendations": 4
    }
  ]
}

Step 2: Implement Braze Connected Content

Use Braze’s Connected Content feature to make API calls to Algolia endpoints and dynamically inject the response into a message. For more information about configuration, request formatting, and best practices, refer to Connected Content.

• search api
• recommend api

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{% capture request_body %}
{
  "query": "",
  "hitsPerPage": 4,
  "filters": "category_page_id:'this week's offers'",
  "attributesToRetrieve": ["name", "price", "image", "url"]
}
{% endcapture %}

{% connected_content https://{{ALGOLIA_APP_ID}}-dsn.algolia.net/1/indexes/{{INDEX_NAME}}/query
  :method post
  :headers {"X-Algolia-API-Key":"{{ALGOLIA_API_KEY}}", "X-Algolia-Application-Id":"{{ALGOLIA_APP_ID}}", "Content-Type": "application/json"}
  :body {{request_body}}
  :save algolia_search
%}

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{% capture request_body %}
{
  "requests": [
    {
      "indexName": "prod_ECOM",
      "model": "trending-items",
      "threshold": 40,
      "maxRecommendations": 4
    }
  ]
}
{% endcapture %}

{% connected_content https://{{ALGOLIA_APP_ID}}.algolia.net/1/indexes/*/recommendations
  :method post
  :headers {"X-Algolia-Application-Id":"{{ALGOLIA_APP_ID}}", "X-Algolia-API-Key":"{{ALGOLIA_API_KEY}}", "Content-Type": "application/json"}
  :body {{request_body}}
  :save algolia_recommendations
%}

Step 3: Format search results in Braze messages

After fetching results from Algolia, use Liquid to parse the API response and dynamically render the results within your message.

• search api
• recommend api

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{% for item in algolia_search.hits %}
  <div style="margin-bottom: 10px;">
    <img src="{{ item.image }}" alt="{{ item.name }}" width="100"/>
    <p><strong>{{ item.name }}</strong></p>
    <p>Price: ${{ item.price }}</p>
    <a href="{{ item.url }}">View Product</a>
  </div>
{% endfor %}

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{% for item in algolia_recommendations.hits %}
  <div style="margin-bottom: 10px;">
    <img src="{{ item.image }}" alt="{{ item.name }}" width="100"/>
    <p><strong>{{ item.name }}</strong></p>
    <p>Price: ${{ item.price }}</p>
    <a href="{{ item.url }}">View Product</a>
  </div>
{% endfor %}

Considerations

Avoiding unique queries

Be mindful of the Algolia rate limits defined in your contract. Avoid making user-specific queries, as these can quickly exceed your allotted requests. To personalize results, target a segment instead of an individual user ID, or filter by category or brand instead of a specific objectID. Use Braze attributes to further personalize the recommendations.

Caching Connected Content results

Cache Connected Content results using cache_max_age to minimize API requests to Algolia and improve performance. For more information, refer to Caching responses.