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Guides / Building Search UI / UI & UX patterns

Loading indicator with InstantSearch.js

You can display a loading indicator to inform users on a slow connection that their search is still in progress.

Use InstantSearch’s status indicator to decide when to show a loading indicator. The status can be one of the following:

  • loading: The search is in progress.
  • stalled: The search is in progress, but the response is taking longer than expected.
  • error: The search failed.
  • idle: The search succeeded.

Best practice is to display a loading indicator only when status is stalled, not during a standard (fast) search. Tweak the timing of the stalled status by setting the stalledSearchDelay option.

You can then use this condition to display a loading indicator:

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search.on('render', () => {
  const container = document.querySelector('#loading-indicator');
  if (search.status === 'stalled') {
    container.innerText = 'Loading search results';
  } else {
    container.innerText = '';
  }
})

If you want the loading indicator to display as soon as the search starts, use the loading status in combination with stalled:

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search.on('render', () => {
  const container = document.querySelector('#loading-indicator');
  if (search.status === 'loading' || search.status === 'stalled') {
    container.innerText = 'Loading search results';
  } else {
    container.innerText = '';
  }
})
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