Algolia Multi-Environment Setup

Overview

Algolia doesn't have built-in environment separation. You either use separate Algolia applications (strongest isolation) or index prefixing within one application (simpler). This skill covers both approaches.

Environment Strategies

Strategy	Isolation	Cost	Complexity
Index prefixing	Shared app, prefixed names	Lowest	Low
Separate API keys	Shared app, scoped keys	Low	Medium
Separate applications	Full isolation	Highest	High

Instructions

Step 1: Index Prefixing (Recommended for Most Teams)

// src/algolia/config.ts
import { algoliasearch, type Algoliasearch } from 'algoliasearch';

type Environment = 'development' | 'staging' | 'production';

interface AlgoliaConfig {
  appId: string;
  apiKey: string;
  searchKey: string;
  environment: Environment;
}

function getConfig(): AlgoliaConfig {
  const env = (process.env.NODE_ENV || 'development') as Environment;

  return {
    appId: process.env.ALGOLIA_APP_ID!,
    apiKey: process.env.ALGOLIA_ADMIN_KEY!,
    searchKey: process.env.ALGOLIA_SEARCH_KEY!,
    environment: env,
  };
}

// Prefix index names with environment
export function indexName(base: string): string {
  const { environment } = getConfig();
  if (environment === 'production') return base;  // No prefix in prod
  return `${environment}_${base}`;
  // development_products, staging_products, products
}

let _client: Algoliasearch | null = null;

export function getClient(): Algoliasearch {
  if (!_client) {
    const config = getConfig();
    _client = algoliasearch(config.appId, config.apiKey);
  }
  return _client;
}

Step 2: Scoped API Keys Per Environment

import { algoliasearch } from 'algoliasearch';

const adminClient = algoliasearch(process.env.ALGOLIA_APP_ID!, process.env.ALGOLIA_ADMIN_KEY!);

// Create environment-scoped keys that can ONLY access their own indices
async function createEnvironmentKeys() {
  // Staging key: can only access staging_* indices
  const { key: stagingKey } = await adminClient.addApiKey({
    apiKey: {
      acl: ['search', 'addObject', 'deleteObject', 'editSettings', 'browse'],
      description: 'Staging environment — full access to staging indices only',
      indexes: ['staging_*'],
      maxQueriesPerIPPerHour: 10000,
    },
  });
  console.log(`Staging key: ${stagingKey}`);

  // Dev key: can only access development_* indices
  const { key: devKey } = await adminClient.addApiKey({
    apiKey: {
      acl: ['search', 'addObject', 'deleteObject', 'editSettings', 'browse'],
      description: 'Development environment — full access to dev indices only',
      indexes: ['development_*'],
      maxQueriesPerIPPerHour: 5000,
    },
  });
  console.log(`Dev key: ${devKey}`);

  // Production search key: search only, restricted
  const { key: prodSearchKey } = await adminClient.addApiKey({
    apiKey: {
      acl: ['search'],
      description: 'Production search — read only',
      indexes: ['products', 'articles', 'faq'],
      maxQueriesPerIPPerHour: 50000,
      maxHitsPerQuery: 100,
    },
  });
  console.log(`Prod search key: ${prodSearchKey}`);
}

Step 3: Environment Variables Per Platform

# .env.development
ALGOLIA_APP_ID=YourAppID
ALGOLIA_ADMIN_KEY=dev_scoped_key_here
ALGOLIA_SEARCH_KEY=dev_search_key_here
NODE_ENV=development

# .env.staging
ALGOLIA_APP_ID=YourAppID
ALGOLIA_ADMIN_KEY=staging_scoped_key_here
ALGOLIA_SEARCH_KEY=staging_search_key_here
NODE_ENV=staging

# Production: use secret manager, not env files
# GitHub Actions:
#   ALGOLIA_ADMIN_KEY: ${{ secrets.ALGOLIA_ADMIN_KEY_PROD }}
# GCP Secret Manager:
#   gcloud secrets versions access latest --secret=algolia-admin-key
# Vercel:
#   vercel env add ALGOLIA_ADMIN_KEY production

Step 4: Settings-as-Code with Environment Overrides

// config/algolia-settings.ts
import type { IndexSettings } from 'algoliasearch';

const baseSettings: IndexSettings = {
  searchableAttributes: ['name', 'brand', 'category', 'unordered(description)'],
  attributesForFaceting: ['searchable(brand)', 'category', 'filterOnly(price)'],
  customRanking: ['desc(review_count)', 'desc(rating)'],
};

const envOverrides: Partial<Record<string, Partial<IndexSettings>>> = {
  development: {
    // Faster iteration: no replicas in dev
    replicas: [],
  },
  staging: {
    // Mirror prod replicas for testing
    replicas: ['virtual(staging_products_price_asc)'],
  },
  production: {
    replicas: [
      'virtual(products_price_asc)',
      'virtual(products_price_desc)',
      'virtual(products_newest)',
    ],
  },
};

export function getSettings(env: string): IndexSettings {
  return { ...baseSettings, ...envOverrides[env] };
}

Step 5: Environment Isolation Guard

// Prevent accidental cross-environment operations
export function guardEnvironment(operation: string, targetIndex: string) {
  const env = process.env.NODE_ENV || 'development';

  if (env === 'production') {
    // In production, block access to dev/staging indices
    if (targetIndex.startsWith('development_') || targetIndex.startsWith('staging_')) {
      throw new Error(`Blocked: ${operation} on ${targetIndex} from production`);
    }
  } else {
    // In dev/staging, block access to production indices (no prefix = production)
    if (!targetIndex.startsWith(`${env}_`)) {
      throw new Error(`Blocked: ${operation} on ${targetIndex} from ${env}. Use prefixed index.`);
    }
  }
}

// Usage in service layer
async function deleteIndex(name: string) {
  guardEnvironment('deleteIndex', name);
  await getClient().deleteIndex({ indexName: name });
}

Step 6: Seed Script Per Environment

// scripts/seed-environment.ts
import { getClient, indexName } from '../src/algolia/config';
import { getSettings } from '../config/algolia-settings';

async function seedEnvironment() {
  const env = process.env.NODE_ENV || 'development';
  const client = getClient();
  const idx = indexName('products');

  console.log(`Seeding ${env} environment → index: ${idx}`);

  // Apply settings
  await client.setSettings({ indexName: idx, indexSettings: getSettings(env) });

  // Seed data (dev/staging only)
  if (env !== 'production') {
    const testData = await import('../fixtures/products.json');
    const { taskID } = await client.replaceAllObjects({
      indexName: idx,
      objects: testData.default,
    });
    await client.waitForTask({ indexName: idx, taskID });
    console.log(`Seeded ${testData.default.length} records`);
  }
}

seedEnvironment().catch(console.error);

Error Handling

Issue	Cause	Solution
Wrong index in production	Missing prefix logic	Use indexName() helper everywhere
Staging data leaking to prod	Shared API key	Use scoped keys restricted to index patterns
Settings drift between envs	Manual dashboard changes	Apply settings from code in CI
Dev index polluting record count	Old test indices	Scheduled cleanup job for development_* indices

Resources

• API Key Index Restrictions
• Settings API
• 12-Factor App Config

Next Steps

For observability setup, see algolia-observability.