> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/MicrosoftDocs/azure-ai-docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Quickstart - Full-Text Search

> Learn how to create, load, and query your first search index using the Azure portal or REST API.

# Quickstart: Full-Text Search in Azure AI Search

This quickstart shows you how to create your first search index using the Azure portal. You'll learn how to:

* Create a search index with sample hotel data
* Load data into the index
* Query the index using Search Explorer
* View and analyze search results

## Prerequisites

* An Azure subscription
* An Azure AI Search service (any tier)
* A web browser to access the Azure portal

## Create an Index with Sample Data

The quickest way to get started is using the Azure portal with built-in sample data.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Azure Portal">
    Sign in to the [Azure portal](https://portal.azure.com) and navigate to your Azure AI Search service
  </Step>

  <Step title="Start Import Wizard">
    From the service dashboard, select **Import data** to launch the data import wizard
  </Step>

  <Step title="Connect to Sample Data">
    Choose **Samples** as the data source and select the **hotels-sample** dataset
  </Step>

  <Step title="Configure Index">
    Review the auto-generated index schema. The wizard detects fields and sets appropriate attributes:

    * `HotelId`: Document key (required)
    * `HotelName`: Searchable and retrievable
    * `Description`: Searchable with full-text analysis
    * `Rating`: Filterable and sortable
    * `Location`: Geospatial point for proximity search
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create Indexer">
    Name your indexer `hotels-sample-indexer` and run it once to load the data
  </Step>
</Steps>

## Monitor Indexing Progress

You can monitor the creation and execution of the indexer in real-time.

1. From the left navigation, select **Indexers**
2. Find `hotels-sample-indexer` in the list
3. Check the **Status** column:
   * **In progress**: Indexer is currently running
   * **Success**: All documents indexed successfully
   * **Warning**: Some documents had issues but indexing completed

The status page shows:

* Total documents indexed
* Number of documents succeeded/failed
* Execution time

## View Index Schema

Once indexing completes, examine the index structure:

1. Select **Indexes** from the left navigation
2. Click on **hotels-sample-index**
3. Select the **Fields** tab to view the schema

### Understanding Field Attributes

| Attribute       | Purpose                           | Example               |
| --------------- | --------------------------------- | --------------------- |
| **key**         | Unique document identifier        | `HotelId`             |
| **searchable**  | Full-text searchable              | `Description`         |
| **filterable**  | Can be used in filter expressions | `Rating gt 4`         |
| **sortable**    | Can be used for ordering results  | `orderby=Rating desc` |
| **facetable**   | Generates facet counts            | `facets=["Category"]` |
| **retrievable** | Included in search results        | All display fields    |

## Query with Search Explorer

Search Explorer is a built-in query tool in the Azure portal.

### Basic Text Search

1. Navigate to your index
2. Select the **Search explorer** tab
3. Enter a search query in the search box:

```
beach OR spa
```

This returns all documents containing either "beach" or "spa" in searchable fields.

### JSON View for Advanced Queries

For more control, switch to JSON view:

1. Click **View** > **JSON view**
2. Enter a JSON query:

```json theme={null}
{
    "search": "beach OR spa",
    "select": "HotelId, HotelName, Description, Rating",
    "filter": "Rating gt 4",
    "top": 10,
    "count": true
}
```

**Query parameters explained:**

* `search`: Full-text query string
* `select`: Fields to return in results
* `filter`: OData filter expression
* `top`: Maximum results to return
* `count`: Include total count of matches

## Query Examples

### Filter by Rating

Find highly-rated hotels:

```json theme={null}
{
    "search": "*",
    "filter": "Rating gt 4",
    "orderby": "Rating desc"
}
```

### Geospatial Search

Find hotels within 5km of a location (Washington D.C.):

```json theme={null}
{
    "search": "*",
    "filter": "geo.distance(Location, geography'POINT(-77.03241 38.90166)') le 5",
    "select": "HotelName, Address/City"
}
```

### Boolean Filter

Find hotels with parking included:

```json theme={null}
{
    "search": "beach",
    "filter": "ParkingIncluded eq true",
    "count": true
}
```

### Fuzzy Search

Handle typos and misspellings:

```json theme={null}
{
    "queryType": "full",
    "search": "seatle~",
    "select": "HotelName, Address/City"
}
```

The tilde (`~`) operator enables fuzzy matching, so "seatle" matches "Seattle".

## Understanding Results

Search results are returned in JSON format:

```json theme={null}
{
    "@odata.count": 3,
    "value": [
        {
            "@search.score": 0.8,
            "HotelId": "1",
            "HotelName": "Ocean View Resort",
            "Description": "Beautiful beachfront hotel with spa services",
            "Rating": 4.5
        }
    ]
}
```

**Response structure:**

* `@odata.count`: Total number of matching documents
* `@search.score`: Relevance score (higher is better)
* `value`: Array of matching documents

## Query Syntax Options

Azure AI Search supports two query syntaxes:

### Simple Syntax (Default)

* Intuitive, familiar syntax
* Boolean operators: `AND`, `OR`, `NOT`
* Phrase search: `"exact phrase"`
* Prefix search: `hotel*`

**Example:**

```
ocean view AND spa -airport
```

### Full Lucene Syntax

Enable with `"queryType": "full"`

* Fuzzy search: `seattle~`
* Proximity search: `"ocean view"~5`
* Term boosting: `luxury^2 hotel`
* Regular expressions: `/[mh]otel/`
* Fielded search: `HotelName:ocean`

**Example:**

```json theme={null}
{
    "queryType": "full",
    "search": "HotelName:luxury^2 OR Description:beachfront"
}
```

## Using the Mini-Map

For long result sets, Search Explorer provides a mini-map:

1. Look for the mini-map on the right side of results
2. Click on any section to jump directly to that part of the output
3. Useful for navigating large JSON responses

## Add or Modify Fields

You can extend your index with new fields:

1. Go to the **Fields** tab
2. Click **Add field**
3. Specify:
   * Field name
   * Data type (Edm.String, Edm.Int32, etc.)
   * Attributes (searchable, filterable, etc.)

<Warning>
  Existing fields cannot be modified once created. To change existing fields, you must create a new index and reload the data.
</Warning>

## Best Practices

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Query Performance">
    * Use `select` to return only needed fields
    * Apply filters before sorting for better performance
    * Use `top` to limit result set size
    * Consider caching frequently used queries
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Field Design">
    * Make fields searchable only if needed for full-text search
    * Use filterable for metadata and categorical data
    * Set sortable only on fields that need ordering
    * Mark key fields and internal IDs as non-searchable
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Query Tuning">
    * Use simple syntax for user-facing search boxes
    * Reserve full Lucene syntax for advanced users
    * Test queries with representative data
    * Monitor query performance with metrics
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Clean Up Resources

If you created a search service specifically for this quickstart:

1. Navigate to the resource group
2. Select **Delete resource group**
3. Confirm deletion

<Info>
  Free tier search services (one per subscription) don't incur charges and don't need to be deleted unless you want to create another free service.
</Info>

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Vector Search" icon="diagram-project" href="/search/concepts/vector-search">
    Learn about semantic similarity search with embeddings
  </Card>

  <Card title="Create an Index" icon="plus" href="/search/indexing/overview">
    Build a production-ready index with your own data
  </Card>

  <Card title="Query Syntax" icon="code" href="/search/queries/full-text">
    Master full-text query syntax and operators
  </Card>

  <Card title="Hybrid Search" icon="magnifying-glass" href="/search/concepts/hybrid-search">
    Combine text and vector search for best results
  </Card>
</CardGroup>