Configure Search in Your App

Overview

TNL Studio provides powerful tools to customize how search works in your app. You can control search behavior, add product recommendations, create filters, boost specific products, set up synonyms, and enable personalization.

This guide walks through each section of the Search settings.

Access Search Settings

Go to Mobile Menu
Select Search

You’ll see multiple tabs: Settings, Recommendations, Filters, Boosts, Synonyms, Personalization, and Test Search.

Search Settings (General Configuration)

Under the Settings tab, you can configure:

Minimum query length (how many characters a user must type)
Number of results per page
Whether to show or hide out-of-stock products

These settings control the overall behavior of your search results.

Recommendations

You can configure product recommendations to display in search results.

There are two types:

Complimentary Products
Related Products

Add a Recommendation

Click Add
Search for a product or group of products
Add them to either:
- Complimentary tab
- Related tab

This helps guide users toward relevant items.

Filters

Filters allow users to refine search results.

Common filter options include:

Product type
Price
Color

You can:

Toggle filters on or off
Add additional custom filters as needed

Boosts

Boosts allow you to prioritize specific products when users search certain keywords.

Add a Boost

Click Add Boost
Select the product to boost
Enter the Boost Terms (keywords users might search)
Set the Boost Weight

Example:

If a user searches “t-shirts,” you can boost a specific product so it appears at the top of results.

Higher boost weight = higher ranking in search results.

Synonyms

Synonyms allow related search terms to return relevant results.

Example:

Primary term: Sofa
Synonym: Couch

If a user searches “sofa,” products containing “couch” can appear in results.

You can also make synonyms bidirectional, meaning:

Searching “couch” will also return results for “sofa.”

Personalization

If enabled, personalization can:

Display a “For You” section within search results
Tailor results based on user behavior or profile

Personalization settings are configured separately under the Personalization section in the menu.

Test Search

Use the Test Search option to preview how your configuration works.

You can test:

Boost behavior
Synonyms
Filters
Overall search results

This allows you to validate changes before users experience them in the app.

Best Practices

Set a reasonable minimum query length (2–3 characters).
Avoid overusing boosts, which can skew relevance.
Use synonyms for common alternate product names.
Hide out-of-stock items if inventory is limited.
Test search regularly after making updates.

Your app search is now optimized for relevance, discoverability, and personalization.