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SDK v7.x · Last verified March 2026 · iOS · Android · Web · Flutter
// 1. Semantic search for communities
CommunityRepository.semanticSearchCommunities(
  { query: 'gaming', limit: 10 },
  ({ data }) => { renderResults(data); }
);

// 2. Full-text search for posts
PostRepository.searchPosts(
  { query: 'recipe', limit: 20 },
  ({ data }) => { renderResults(data); }
);

// 3. Get trending communities
CommunityRepository.getTrendingCommunities(
  { limit: 10 },
  ({ data }) => { renderTrending(data); }
);
Full walkthrough below ↓
Platform note — code samples below use TypeScript. Every method has an equivalent in the iOS (Swift), Android (Kotlin), and Flutter (Dart) SDKs — see the linked SDK reference in each step.
Discovery turns a closed social app into a growing platform. This guide walks through implementing full-text search for posts and communities, surfacing trending content, and building a category-based browsing experience.
Prerequisites: SDK installed and authenticated. Note: only public communities appear in search results — private communities are excluded.
After completing this guide you’ll have:
  • Full-text post search integrated into your app’s search bar
  • Community search with trending and recommended community lists
  • User-facing category browsing connected to community filtering

​
Quick Start: Search Communities

Community search is the primary discovery surface — query by name with optional membership and category filters:
TypeScript
import { CommunityRepository } from '@amityco/ts-sdk';

const unsubscriber = CommunityRepository.semanticSearchCommunities(
  {
    query: 'gaming',
    communityMembershipStatus: CommunityRepository.AmityCommunityMemberStatusFilter.ALL,
  },
  ({ data: communities, onNextPage, hasNextPage, loading }) => {
    if (communities) { /* render community search results */ }
  },
);
Full reference → Intelligent Search: Communities

​
Step-by-Step Implementation

1

Search communities

Search communities by name with optional filters: membership status (all, member, notMember), sort order, and category.
TypeScript
import { CommunityRepository } from '@amityco/ts-sdk';

const unsubscriber = CommunityRepository.semanticSearchCommunities(
  { query: 'game', communityMembershipStatus: CommunityRepository.AmityCommunityMemberStatusFilter.ALL },
  ({ data: communities, onNextPage, hasNextPage, loading }) => {
    if (communities) { /* render community results */ }
  },
);
Full reference → Intelligent Search: Communities
2

Get trending communities

Trending communities are ranked by recent activity (posts, members, engagement). Surface these on your explore page for new users.
TypeScript
import { CommunityRepository } from '@amityco/ts-sdk';

const unsubscriber = CommunityRepository.getTrendingCommunities(
  { limit: 5 },
  ({ data: communities, loading }) => {
    if (communities) { /* render trending section */ }
  },
);
Full reference → Trending & Recommended Communities
3

Get recommended communities

Recommended communities are personalized for the current user based on their activity and interests. Returns up to 15 communities.
TypeScript
import { CommunityRepository } from '@amityco/ts-sdk';

const unsubscriber = CommunityRepository.getRecommendedCommunities(
  { limit: 5, includeDiscoverablePrivateCommunity: true },
  ({ data: communities, loading }) => {
    if (communities) { /* render recommended section */ }
  },
);
Full reference → Trending & Recommended Communities
4

Browse communities by category

Organize communities into browsable categories. Query all categories, then filter communities by a selected category.
TypeScript
import { CategoryRepository } from '@amityco/ts-sdk';

const unsubscriber = CategoryRepository.getCategories(
  {},
  ({ data: categories, loading }) => {
    if (categories) { /* render category filter pills */ }
  },
);
Full reference → Community Categories · Query Communities
5

Search posts

Full-text search across all posts with optional filters: community scope, post type, and sort order. Useful for a global search bar or in-community search.
TypeScript
import { PostRepository } from '@amityco/ts-sdk';

const unsubscriber = PostRepository.semanticSearchPosts(
  {
    query: 'game',
    targetId: 'communityId',
    targetType: 'community',
    dataTypes: ['text', 'image'],
    matchingOnlyParentPost: true,
  },
  ({ data: posts, onNextPage, hasNextPage, loading }) => {
    if (posts) { /* render post results */ }
  },
);
Full reference → Intelligent Search: Posts

​
Connect to Moderation & Analytics

Track search query volume and discovery patterns in Admin Console → Analytics Dashboard → Social Insights to understand what users are looking for and which communities are growing.→ Admin Console: Analytics
Create and manage community categories in the Admin Console. Categories appear in the community creation flow and in the discovery browse view.→ Admin Console: Product Management

​
Common Mistakes

Firing a search API call on every keystroke — This creates excessive API calls and flickers results. Debounce the input by 300–500ms before searching.
// ❌ Bad — search on every key
<input onChange={(e) => search(e.target.value)} />

// ✅ Good — debounce
const debouncedSearch = useMemo(
  () => debounce((q) => search(q), 400), []
);
<input onChange={(e) => debouncedSearch(e.target.value)} />
Not handling empty search results — “No results found” is not enough. Suggest alternative queries, show trending content, or recommend popular communities to keep users engaged.
Searching without a minimum query length — Single-character searches return too many results and waste resources. Require at least 2–3 characters before triggering a search.

​
Best Practices

  • Add a 300ms debounce to search input before firing the query — prevents excessive API calls while the user types
  • Show suggested/recent searches before the user starts typing
  • Display skeleton placeholders while results load
  • Clearly differentiate post results from community results with distinct card styles
  • Show a “No results” empty state with suggestions if the query returns 0 results
  • Show trending communities prominently for logged-in users with no following history
  • Once a user has joined 5+ communities, replace trending with personalized recommendations
  • Use horizontal scrolling category pills for browsing — they take less vertical space than a list
  • Cache trending and recommended results for 5-10 minutes — they don’t need to be real-time
  • Use searchPosts() Live Collection — this handles debounced re-querying automatically on most platforms
  • Limit search result sets to 20-30 items; use pagination for deeper results
  • Pre-load categories at app launch and cache locally — they change infrequently
Dive deeper: Discovery & Engagement API Reference has full parameter tables, method signatures, and platform-specific details for every API used in this guide.

​
Next Steps

Your next step → User Search & People Discovery

Content search is working — now let users find each other with people search and suggestions.
Or explore related guides:

Community Platform

Build the communities that discovery surfaces

Build a Social Feed

Show content from discovered communities in a feed

Notifications & Engagement

Notify users about trending content they’d be interested in