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marco-pm/zencart-typesense
==========================

Typesense integration for Zen Cart (Instant Search plugin add-on).

20PHP

Since Jul 30Pushed 2y ago1 watchersCompare

[ Source](https://github.com/marco-pm/zencart_typesense)[ Packagist](https://packagist.org/packages/marco-pm/zencart-typesense)[ RSS](/packages/marco-pm-zencart-typesense/feed)WikiDiscussions main Synced 1mo ago

READMEChangelog (4)DependenciesVersions (1)Used By (0)

Typesense plugin 1.0 (Instant Search add-on) for Zen Cart 1.5.7 and 1.5.8
=========================================================================

[](#typesense-plugin-10-instant-search-add-on-for-zen-cart-157-and-158)

Sync the Zen Cart catalog with a Typesense server and use Typesense as Instant Search engine.

Features
========

[](#features)

This plugin is an add-on for the [Instant Search plugin](https://github.com/marco-pm/zencart_instantsearch) and allows to use [Typesense](https://typesense.org/) as search engine (in place of MySQL).

- Faster searches and more accurate results than MySQL, including typo tolerance and synonyms.
- Automatic synchronization of the Zen Cart catalog (products, categories and brands) with Typesense.
- Includes a basic dashboard in the Zen Cart admin to monitor the sync status, view Typesense server status and collections, and manage synonyms.
- Automatic fallback to MySQL if the Typesense server is not available.

[![Admin dashboard](./docs/images/typesense_dashboard.png)](./docs/images/typesense_dashboard.png)

Prerequisites
=============

[](#prerequisites)

- Zen Cart 1.5.7 or 1.5.8
- PHP 7.4 through 8.2
- Instant Search plugin 4.0.0 or later
- Typesense server 0.24.0 or later

Installation, use and FAQs
==========================

[](#installation-use-and-faqs)

See the [readme.html](https://htmlpreview.github.io/?https://github.com/marco-pm/zencart_typesense/blob/main/readme.html).

Troubleshooting
===============

[](#troubleshooting)

[Zen Cart Forum Support Thread](https://www.zen-cart.com/showthread.php?229326-Typesense-plugin-(Instant-Search-add-on)-Support-Thread)

See also the FAQS & troubleshooting section in the [readme.html](https://htmlpreview.github.io/?https://github.com/marco-pm/zencart_typesense/blob/main/readme.html).

Development
===========

[](#development)

Typesense PHP client
--------------------

[](#typesense-php-client)

The [Typesense PHP client](https://github.com/typesense/typesense-php) is a dependency of this plugin and is not included in the repo. To install it:

- copy the vendor files (attached to the GitHub release) in the plugin's directory
- OR, install composer, copy `composer.json` and `composer.lock` in the plugin's directory and run: ```
    composer install

    ```

Admin dashboard
---------------

[](#admin-dashboard)

To build the `.js` files from the `.tsx` sources, install Node.js and NPM, then run:

```
npm install

npm run build-typesense_dashboard

```

TODO
----

[](#todo)

- Consider implementing an optional "frontend search" mode, i.e. sending the search request directly to the Typesense server with JavaScript, without going through the Zen Cart backend.
- Add more features to the admin dashboard, e.g. manage curations.
- Make some low-level search settings configurable in the admin, e.g. [num\_typos](https://typesense.org/docs/0.24.1/api/search.html#typo-tolerance-parameters).

Testing
=======

[](#testing)

Integration tests use the [Test Framework](https://docs.zen-cart.com/dev/testframework/) of Zen Cart 1.5.8. Place the content of the `tests` directory of this repo under `/not_for_release/testFramework`.

Run the tests with:

```
php phpunit --configuration phpunit_typesense.xml

```

###  Health Score

13

—

LowBetter than 1% of packages

Maintenance20

Infrequent updates — may be unmaintained

Popularity3

Limited adoption so far

Community7

Small or concentrated contributor base

Maturity21

Early-stage or recently created project

 Bus Factor1

Top contributor holds 100% of commits — single point of failure

How is this calculated?**Maintenance (25%)** — Last commit recency, latest release date, and issue-to-star ratio. Uses a 2-year decay window.

**Popularity (30%)** — Total and monthly downloads, GitHub stars, and forks. Logarithmic scaling prevents top-heavy scores.

**Community (15%)** — Contributors, dependents, forks, watchers, and maintainers. Measures real ecosystem engagement.

**Maturity (30%)** — Project age, version count, PHP version support, and release stability.

### Community

Maintainers

![](https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/e6ca2cd6b80eb9e8d7e0e34827705dbf71cf395907ce4162e51cb76833cb1c38?d=identicon)[marcopm](/maintainers/marcopm)

---

Top Contributors

[![marco-pm](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/53403229?v=4)](https://github.com/marco-pm "marco-pm (45 commits)")

### Embed Badge

![Health badge](/badges/marco-pm-zencart-typesense/health.svg)

```
[![Health](https://phpackages.com/badges/marco-pm-zencart-typesense/health.svg)](https://phpackages.com/packages/marco-pm-zencart-typesense)
```

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