mkdir typesense-data
# Start Typesense
docker run -d -p 8108:8108 \
-v "$(pwd)"/typesense-data:/data \
typesense/typesense:{{ $site.themeConfig.typesenseLatestVersion }} \
--data-dir /data \
--api-key=xyz \
--enable-cors
# Start PostgreSQL
docker run -d -p 5432:5432 \
-e POSTGRES_USER=postgres \
-e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password \
-e POSTGRES_DB=typesense_books \
postgres:16
:::tip
You can also set up a managed Typesense cluster on [Typesense Cloud](https://cloud.typesense.org) for a fully managed experience with a management UI, high availability, globally distributed search nodes and more.
:::
## Step 2: Initialize your Node.js project
Create the project and install dependencies:
```bash
mkdir typesense-node-prisma-search-app
cd typesense-node-prisma-search-app
npm init -y
# Install production dependencies
npm install express @prisma/client @prisma/adapter-pg pg typesense dotenv cors node-cron
# Install development dependencies
npm install -D typescript @types/node @types/express @types/cors @types/node-cron @types/pg prisma ts-node-dev
```
Initialize TypeScript and Prisma:
```bash
npx tsc --init
npx prisma init
```
What each dependency does:
- **express** - Fast web framework for Node.js
- **@prisma/client** & **prisma** - Next-generation TypeScript ORM
- **@prisma/adapter-pg** & **pg** - PostgreSQL client adapter for Prisma
- **typesense** - Official Typesense client
- **node-cron** - Task scheduler for background sync jobs
## Step 3: Create the project structure
Your project should follow a modular layout:
```plaintext
typesense-node-prisma-search-app/
├── prisma/
│ ├── schema.prisma # Prisma schema definitions
│ └── migrations/ # Database migration files
├── src/
│ ├── config/
│ │ ├── database.ts # Prisma Client configuration
│ │ └── env.ts # Environment variable validation
│ ├── routes/
│ │ ├── books.ts # CRUD API handlers
│ │ └── search.ts # Search API handlers
│ ├── search/
│ │ ├── client.ts # Typesense client initialization
│ │ ├── collections.ts # Typesense collection schema
│ │ ├── sync.ts # DB → Typesense sync logic
│ │ └── worker.ts # Background sync cron job
│ └── server.ts # Application entry point
├── .env
├── package.json
└── tsconfig.json
```
## Step 4: Set up environment configuration
Update your `.env` file generated by Prisma:
```bash
# Server
PORT=3000
# PostgreSQL Connection String
DATABASE_URL="postgresql://postgres:password@localhost:5432/typesense_books?schema=public"
# Typesense
TYPESENSE_HOST=localhost
TYPESENSE_PORT=8108
TYPESENSE_PROTOCOL=http
TYPESENSE_API_KEY=xyz
TYPESENSE_COLLECTION=books
```
Create `src/config/env.ts` to safely parse and export these environment variables:
```typescript
import dotenv from 'dotenv';
dotenv.config();
export const env = {
PORT: parseInt(process.env.PORT || '3000', 10),
DB_HOST: process.env.DB_HOST || 'localhost',
DB_USER: process.env.DB_USER || 'postgres',
DB_PASSWORD: process.env.DB_PASSWORD || 'password',
DB_NAME: process.env.DB_NAME || 'typesense_books',
DB_PORT: parseInt(process.env.DB_PORT || '5432', 10),
TYPESENSE_HOST: process.env.TYPESENSE_HOST || 'localhost',
TYPESENSE_PORT: parseInt(process.env.TYPESENSE_PORT || '8108', 10),
TYPESENSE_PROTOCOL: process.env.TYPESENSE_PROTOCOL || 'http',
TYPESENSE_API_KEY: process.env.TYPESENSE_API_KEY || 'xyz',
};
```
Create `src/config/database.ts` to initialize the Prisma Client:
```typescript
import { PrismaClient } from '@prisma/client';
import { PrismaPg } from '@prisma/adapter-pg';
import { Pool } from 'pg';
const connectionString = process.env.DATABASE_URL;
const pool = new Pool({ connectionString });
const adapter = new PrismaPg(pool);
export const prisma = new PrismaClient({
adapter,
log: ['query', 'info', 'warn', 'error'],
});
```
## Step 5: Define the Book Model (Prisma)
Update your `prisma/schema.prisma` file with the `Book` model and PostgreSQL provider:
```plaintext
generator client {
provider = "prisma-client-js"
}
datasource db {
provider = "postgresql"
}
model Book {
id Int @id @default(autoincrement())
title String @db.VarChar(255)
authors Json @default("[]")
publication_year Int?
average_rating Decimal? @db.Decimal(3, 2)
image_url String? @db.VarChar(255)
ratings_count Int?
created_at DateTime @default(now())
updated_at DateTime @updatedAt
deleted_at DateTime?
@@map("books")
}
```
After updating the schema, generate the Prisma client and push the schema to the database:
```bash
npx prisma generate
npx prisma db push
```
## Step 6: Initialize the Typesense Client
Add this to `src/search/client.ts`:
```typescript
import { Client } from 'typesense';
import { env } from '../config/env';
export const typesenseClient = new Client({
nodes: [
{
host: env.TYPESENSE_HOST,
port: env.TYPESENSE_PORT,
protocol: env.TYPESENSE_PROTOCOL,
},
],
apiKey: env.TYPESENSE_API_KEY,
connectionTimeoutSeconds: 5,
});
```
## Step 7: Set up Automatic Collection Creation
Add this to `src/search/collections.ts`:
```typescript
import type { CollectionCreateSchema } from 'typesense/lib/Typesense/Collections';
import { typesenseClient } from './client';
export const BOOKS_COLLECTION_NAME = 'books';
export const booksCollectionSchema: CollectionCreateSchema = {
name: BOOKS_COLLECTION_NAME,
fields: [
{ name: 'id', type: 'string' },
{ name: 'title', type: 'string' },
{ name: 'authors', type: 'string[]', facet: true },
{ name: 'publication_year', type: 'int32', facet: true, optional: true },
{ name: 'average_rating', type: 'float', facet: true, optional: true },
{ name: 'image_url', type: 'string', optional: true },
{ name: 'ratings_count', type: 'int32', optional: true },
],
};
export async function initializeTypesense(): Promise