Import from Algolia

Copy one Algolia index into a new Captain catalog. You don’t need to write code or export files.

In Algolia, create a key with the browse and settings rights.

Paste the key, pick the index and name the new catalog.

See which settings carried over, which were adjusted and which didn’t.

You’ll need: an Algolia application you can create API keys in, and a Captain account that can make changes in Product Search.

Make a read-only key

Captain reads your index with an Algolia key that can’t change anything. It refuses a key that can write.

Open API keys in Algolia

In the Algolia dashboard, go to Settings, then API Keys, then All API Keys, and select New API Key.

Give it two rights

Under ACL, select browse and settings. Add listIndexes too if you want to pick the index from a list in Captain. Leave every other right off.

Limit it to the index (optional)

Under Indices, enter the index you’re importing.

Create the key and copy it

Copy the key, then copy your Application ID from the same page.

Right	What Captain reads with it	Without it
`browse`	Products	The import stops.
`settings`	Search settings, synonyms and merchandising rules	Products still import. The summary lists what wasn’t read.
`listIndexes` (optional)	The list behind Load my indexes	Type the index name instead.

Captain refuses a key that has addObject, deleteObject, deleteIndex or editSettings, before it reads anything. It refuses your Admin API Key too.

Your browser sends the key straight to Algolia to list your indexes and check the key’s rights. Captain’s servers use it once, to read this index from Algolia’s own hosts, and hold it in memory only for the length of the import. Captain never writes the key to storage, logs, the import job or any response, and the console doesn’t save it. To use the key again, paste it again.

Run the import

Open Integrations

In the Captain console, open Product Search, then Integrations. On the Algolia card, select Import from Algolia.

Enter your Algolia details

Paste the Application ID and the API key. Type the index name, or select Load my indexes to pick it from a list. The list needs the listIndexes right.

Name the new catalog

The import always creates a new catalog. Catalog names use lowercase letters a to z, digits 0 to 9, _ and -, start with a letter or digit, and are up to 48 characters long. The dialog suggests a name from the Algolia index and refuses one that’s already taken.

Choose what to bring over

Products and search settings always come over. Synonyms and Merchandising rules are on by default, and you can turn either one off. A part you turn off is cleared from the new catalog when the import finishes.

Select Import

The dialog shows each step: reading from Algolia, mapping, adding products, and building the catalog. You can close it. The import runs on Captain’s servers, the Algolia card shows its progress, and you get a notification when it finishes.

When it finishes, the dialog sums it up, for example “Imported 12,480 products, 34 synonyms, 9 merchandising rules and your search settings”. It also lists anything that didn’t come over.

What gets imported: how each Algolia setting, synonym type and rule maps.
Troubleshooting: timing for large catalogs, errors, and what happens when an import fails.
To import with the API instead, see Import from Algolia in Records.
To keep an Algolia client or InstantSearch front end working against Captain, see Algolia Compatibility.