# Connect to Meilisearch
This page describes how consuming apps connect to a Meilisearch resource that's already modeled in your AppHost. For the AppHost API surface — adding a Meilisearch resource, data volumes, bind mounts, and master key parameters — see [Meilisearch Hosting integration](../meilisearch-host/).
When you reference a Meilisearch resource from your AppHost, Aspire injects the connection information into the consuming app as environment variables. Your app can either read those environment variables directly — the pattern works the same from any language — or, in C#, use the Aspire Meilisearch client integration for automatic dependency injection and health checks.
## Connection properties
Aspire exposes each property as an environment variable named `[RESOURCE]_[PROPERTY]`. For instance, the `Url` property of a resource called `meilisearch` becomes `MEILISEARCH_URL`.
The Meilisearch resource exposes the following connection properties:
| Property Name | Description |
| ------------- | ----------- |
| `Host` | The hostname or IP address of the Meilisearch server |
| `Port` | The port number the Meilisearch server is listening on (default: `7700`) |
| `Url` | The full base URL of the Meilisearch server, with the format `http://{Host}:{Port}` |
| `MasterKey` | The master key used to authenticate with the Meilisearch server |
**Example connection values:**
```
Url: http://localhost:7700
MasterKey: p%40ssw0rd1
```
## Connect from your app
Pick the language your consuming app is written in. Each example assumes your AppHost adds a Meilisearch resource named `meilisearch` and references it from the consuming app.
For C# apps, the recommended approach is the Aspire Meilisearch client integration. It registers a `MeilisearchClient` through dependency injection and adds health checks automatically. If you'd rather read environment variables directly, see the [Read environment variables](#read-environment-variables-in-c) section at the end of this tab.
#### Install the client integration
Install the [📦 CommunityToolkit.Aspire.Meilisearch](https://nuget.org/packages/CommunityToolkit.Aspire.Meilisearch) NuGet package in the client-consuming project:
#### Add the Meilisearch client
In _Program.cs_, call `AddMeilisearchClient` on your `IHostApplicationBuilder` to register a `MeilisearchClient`:
```csharp title="C# — Program.cs"
builder.AddMeilisearchClient(connectionName: "meilisearch");
```
**Tip:** The `connectionName` must match the Meilisearch resource name from the AppHost. For more information, see [Add Meilisearch resource](../meilisearch-host/#add-meilisearch-resource).
Resolve the client through dependency injection:
```csharp title="C# — ExampleService.cs"
public class ExampleService(MeilisearchClient client)
{
// Use client...
}
```
#### Add keyed Meilisearch clients
To register multiple `MeilisearchClient` instances with different connection names, use `AddKeyedMeilisearchClient`:
```csharp title="C# — Program.cs"
builder.AddKeyedMeilisearchClient(name: "products");
builder.AddKeyedMeilisearchClient(name: "orders");
```
Then resolve each instance by key:
```csharp title="C# — ExampleService.cs"
public class ExampleService(
[FromKeyedServices("products")] MeilisearchClient productsClient,
[FromKeyedServices("orders")] MeilisearchClient ordersClient)
{
// Use clients...
}
```
For more information, see [.NET dependency injection: Keyed services](https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/core/extensions/dependency-injection#keyed-services).
#### Configuration
The Aspire Meilisearch client integration offers multiple ways to provide configuration.
**Connection strings.** When using a connection string from the `ConnectionStrings` configuration section, pass the connection name to `AddMeilisearchClient`:
```csharp title="C# — Program.cs"
builder.AddMeilisearchClient("meilisearch");
```
The connection string is resolved from the `ConnectionStrings` section:
```json title="JSON — appsettings.json"
{
"ConnectionStrings": {
"meilisearch": "Endpoint=http://localhost:7700/;MasterKey=your-master-key"
}
}
```
**Configuration providers.** The client integration supports `Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration`. It loads settings from _appsettings.json_ (or any other configuration source) using the `Aspire:Meilisearch:Client` key:
```json title="JSON — appsettings.json"
{
"Aspire": {
"Meilisearch": {
"Client": {
"Endpoint": "http://localhost:7700/",
"MasterKey": "your-master-key"
}
}
}
}
```
#### Client integration health checks
Aspire client integrations enable health checks by default. The Meilisearch client integration adds a health check that verifies the Meilisearch instance is reachable and can respond to requests. The health check is wired into the `/health` HTTP endpoint, where all registered health checks must pass before the app is considered ready to accept traffic.
#### Read environment variables in C\#
If you prefer not to use the Aspire client integration, you can read the Aspire-injected connection properties from the environment and construct a `MeilisearchClient` directly using the [📦 Meilisearch.NET](https://www.nuget.org/packages/Meilisearch/) NuGet package:
```csharp title="C# — Program.cs"
using Meilisearch;
var url = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("MEILISEARCH_URL");
var masterKey = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("MEILISEARCH_MASTERKEY");
var client = new MeilisearchClient(url!, masterKey);
// Use client to interact with Meilisearch...
```
Install the official [Meilisearch Go client](https://github.com/meilisearch/meilisearch-go):
```bash title="Terminal"
go get github.com/meilisearch/meilisearch-go
```
Read the injected environment variables and connect:
```go title="Go — main.go"
package main
import (
"os"
meilisearch "github.com/meilisearch/meilisearch-go"
)
func main() {
// Read the Aspire-injected connection properties
client := meilisearch.New(
os.Getenv("MEILISEARCH_URL"),
meilisearch.WithAPIKey(os.Getenv("MEILISEARCH_MASTERKEY")),
)
// Use client to interact with Meilisearch...
}
```
Install the official [Meilisearch Python SDK](https://github.com/meilisearch/meilisearch-python):
```bash title="Terminal"
pip install meilisearch
```
Read the injected environment variables and connect:
```python title="Python — app.py"
import os
import meilisearch
# Read the Aspire-injected connection properties
client = meilisearch.Client(
os.getenv("MEILISEARCH_URL"),
os.getenv("MEILISEARCH_MASTERKEY"),
)
# Use client to interact with Meilisearch...
```
Install the official [Meilisearch JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://github.com/meilisearch/meilisearch-js):
```bash title="Terminal"
npm install meilisearch
```
Read the injected environment variables and connect:
```typescript title="TypeScript — index.ts"
import { MeiliSearch } from 'meilisearch';
// Read Aspire-injected connection properties
const client = new MeiliSearch({
host: process.env.MEILISEARCH_URL!,
apiKey: process.env.MEILISEARCH_MASTERKEY,
});
// Use client to interact with Meilisearch...
```
**Tip:** If your app expects specific environment variable names different from the Aspire defaults, you can pass individual connection properties from the AppHost using `WithEnvironment`. See the [AppHost reference](/get-started/app-host/) for details.