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When using federated search, all results from different indexes are merged into a single ranked list. By default, results from every index carry the same weight. You can change this by assigning different weights to each query, making results from one index rank higher than others.

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How weights work

Each query in a federated multi-search request can include a federationOptions object with a weight property. The weight is a floating-point number that multiplies the ranking rules relevancy score of results from that query:
  • The default weight is 1.0
  • A weight higher than 1.0 promotes results from that query
  • A weight lower than 1.0 demotes results from that query
  • A weight of 0.0 effectively excludes results from that query

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Boost results from a specific index

Suppose you have a CRM application with three indexes: profiles, chats, and tickets. When searching for a person’s contact information, results from the profiles index are most likely to contain what you need. You can boost those results by giving the profiles query a higher weight. 
curl \
  -X POST 'MEILISEARCH_URL/multi-search' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-binary '{
    "federation": {},
    "queries": [
      {
        "indexUid": "chats",
        "q": "rotondo"
      },
      {
        "indexUid": "profiles",
        "q": "rotondo",
        "federationOptions": { "weight": 1.2 }
      },
      {
        "indexUid": "tickets",
        "q": "rotondo"
      }
    ]
  }'
In this request, the profiles query has a weight of 1.2, while the other queries use the default weight of 1.0. This means matching profiles will rank higher in the merged result list. The response returns all results in a single list, with profile matches promoted toward the top: 
{
  "hits": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "name": "Riccardo Rotondo",
      "email": "riccardo.rotondo@example.com",
      "_federation": {
        "indexUid": "profiles",
        "queriesPosition": 1
      }
    },
    {
      "id": 5,
      "client_name": "Riccardo Rotondo",
      "message": "Please use riccardo@work.com for follow-ups",
      "_federation": {
        "indexUid": "chats",
        "queriesPosition": 0
      }
    }
  ],
  "processingTimeMs": 0,
  "limit": 20,
  "offset": 0,
  "estimatedTotalHits": 3
}
Each hit includes a _federation object showing which index and query position it came from.

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Practical example: products over blog posts

For an ecommerce site with both a products index and a blog_posts index, you likely want product listings to appear before blog content when users search: 
curl \
  -X POST 'MEILISEARCH_URL/multi-search' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data-binary '{
    "federation": {},
    "queries": [
      {
        "indexUid": "products",
        "q": "wireless headphones",
        "federationOptions": { "weight": 1.5 }
      },
      {
        "indexUid": "blog_posts",
        "q": "wireless headphones",
        "federationOptions": { "weight": 0.8 }
      }
    ]
  }'
With a weight of 1.5 on products and 0.8 on blog posts, product results will consistently appear higher in the merged list unless a blog post has a significantly better relevancy match.

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Tips for choosing weights

  • Start with small adjustments (for example, 1.2 for promoted indexes and 0.8 for demoted ones) and test with real queries
  • Use larger differences (for example, 2.0 vs 0.5) when you need a strong preference for one content type
  • Remember that weights multiply the relevancy score, so a highly relevant result from a low-weight index can still outrank a weakly relevant result from a high-weight index

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Next steps

Federated search

Learn how to perform a basic federated search

Build a unified search bar

Combine federated search with a frontend UI