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add fed vs multi search explanation
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guimachiavelli committed Sep 26, 2024
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5 changes: 5 additions & 0 deletions config/sidebar-learn.json
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"source": "learn/multi_search/federated_search_guide.mdx",
"label": "Federated search guide",
"slug": "federated_search_guide"
},
{
"source": "learn/multi_search/multi_search_vs_federated_search.mdx",
"label": "Differences between multi-search and federated search",
"slug": "multi_search_vs_federated_search"
}
]
},
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26 changes: 26 additions & 0 deletions learn/multi_search/multi_search_vs_federated_search.mdx
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---
title: Differences between multi-search and federated search — Meilisearch API reference
description:
---

# Differences between multi-search and federated search

This article describes the different uses of federated search and multi-search.

## What is multi-search?

Multi-search, also called multi-index search, is a search operation that queries two or more indexes at the same time. Meilisearch returns a separated list results for each index. Use the `/multi-search` route to perform multi-searches.

Multi-search favors discovery scenarios, where searches might have several valid results.

## What is federated search?

Federated search is a type of multi-index search. This operation also queries multiple indexes, but returns a single list with the most relevant results across all queried indexes. Use the `/multi-search` route and specify a non-null value for `federation` to perform a federated search.

Federated search favors scenarios where users have a clear idea of what they need and expect a single best top result.

## Use cases

Because multi-search groups results by index, it is often useful when a document's index contains information relevant to your users. For example, a person searching for `shygirl` in a music streaming application is likely to appreciate seeing separate results for matching artists, albums, and individual tracks.

Federated search is a better approach when the source of the information is not relevant to your users. For example, a person searching for a client's email in a CRM application is unlikely to care whether this email comes from chat logs, support tickets, or other data sources.

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