> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cludo.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Pre-search Suggestions

> Fetch and render curated Pre-search Suggestions before a visitor starts typing in a custom search UI.

Pre-search Suggestions are curated search terms configured in MyCludo. Use them to show helpful suggestions in an empty search input, before the visitor starts typing.

This guide shows API-only customers how to read the configured terms from the same public settings endpoint used by CludoJS.

## Prerequisites

From MyCludo, collect the values for the engine where Pre-search Suggestions are configured:

| Value           | Description                                                                            |
| --------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Customer ID** | The customer ID for your Cludo account                                                 |
| **Engine ID**   | The engine where suggestions were configured                                           |
| **Search key**  | The public search or site key for the engine                                           |
| **Region**      | EU customers use `https://api.cludo.com`; US customers use `https://api-us1.cludo.com` |

The feature must also be enabled on your subscription. If **Tools > Pre-search Suggestions** in MyCludo lets you save terms, the feature is enabled.

## Step 1: Build the SiteKey authorization header

The request uses SiteKey authentication. Build the token by Base64-encoding `{customerId}:{engineId}:{searchKey}`:

```text theme={null}
Authorization: SiteKey <base64("{customerId}:{engineId}:{searchKey}")>
```

## Step 2: Call the public settings endpoint

Fetch the website public settings for the engine:

```bash theme={null}
curl https://api.cludo.com/api/v3/{customerId}/{engineId}/websites/publicsettings
```

Use the regional base URL that matches your customer ID:

| Customer ID          | Region | Base URL                    |
| -------------------- | ------ | --------------------------- |
| Below 10,000,000     | EU     | `https://api.cludo.com`     |
| 10,000,000 and above | US     | `https://api-us1.cludo.com` |

## Step 3: Parse `instantSuggestionsConfiguration`

The response contains many website settings. The Pre-search Suggestions field is `instantSuggestionsConfiguration`.

This field is returned as a JSON-encoded string, so parse the response JSON first, then parse `instantSuggestionsConfiguration` a second time:

```json theme={null}
{
  "suggestions": ["popular term 1", "popular term 2", "popular term 3"],
  "showRecentSearches": true,
  "limit": 5
}
```

| Field                | Description                                                    |
| -------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `suggestions`        | Curated terms entered in MyCludo, returned in display order    |
| `limit`              | Maximum number of items to show                                |
| `showRecentSearches` | Whether your UI should also show the visitor's recent searches |

Cludo does not store recent searches for the visitor. If `showRecentSearches` is `true`, store and merge recent searches client-side, for example in `localStorage`.