You'll learn how to monitor and understand your search request usage in SearchStax Site Search. Search requests are metered based on API calls to specific endpoints, and understanding how they're calculated can help you optimize your implementation and avoid service interruptions.
Where to View Your Plan Usage
Plan limits for search requests and items are account-based. You can view total usage for your account or specific apps.
- In SearchStax, click the Account dropdown in the top navigation.
- Select Subscription.
- View your current month's usage for search requests and other plan metrics.
The usage metrics shown reflect account-level consumption. For sandbox-enabled accounts, Subscription shows separate Production and Sandbox totals. Accounts without Sandbox Apps use the combined Production-oriented model.
For sandbox-enabled accounts, qualifying search requests are counted in the environment where they run. Production usage doesn't reduce Sandbox limits, and Sandbox usage doesn't reduce Production limits. Analytics reflects only tracked search events, so Analytics counts can be lower when tracking isn't set up for some search calls. Check tracking coverage in the Tracking API (JavaScript) and Tracking API (REST) docs.
What Counts as a Search Request
The following API calls contribute to your search request usage:
- Search API calls: Requests made to the
/selector/emselectendpoints count as one search request each. Requests to/emselectcount only when they execute a search query. Requests that don't run a query, such as initialization or validation calls, don't count. - Autocomplete and auto-suggest calls: Requests made to the
/autocompleteendpoint count as one search request each. Requests made to the/emsuggestendpoint don't count as search requests. - Smart Answers: When the Smart Answers
/answerendpoint is triggered, it counts as an additional search request on top of the underlying search query.
When Usage Metrics Are Updated
Usage metrics are updated once daily. This means you won't see real-time consumption data in your dashboard.
Note: Subscription usage updates daily. Analytics tables and graphs refresh every hour. Some metrics can look static between reporting intervals.
If you need more frequent monitoring or detailed usage insights, contact Support.
Getting Notified About Usage
SearchStax automatically sends email notifications to all users in your account when you reach usage thresholds:
- 60% of monthly limit: Early warning
- 80% of monthly limit: High usage alert
- 100% of monthly limit: Limit reached
These notifications help you plan for potential service interruptions or plan upgrades.
Viewing Previous Months' Usage
Historical usage data isn't available in the dashboard. To get insights into previous months' usage, contact Support with your specific requirements.
Why Search Request Usage Seems High
If your search request usage appears higher than the search activity shown in your analytics, consider these common causes:
Analytics tracking gaps: Analytics only captures search requests that include tracking events. Verify that analytics tracking is enabled on all sites connected to your SearchStax App.
Example: A hospital search page sends tracking events for user searches. A header search suggestions widget calls the Search API on every page load without tracking. Subscription includes those requests, while Analytics shows only tracked searches. Check your tracking coverage in the Tracking API (JavaScript) and Tracking API (REST) docs.
Additional API usage: Your implementation might use the Search API for purposes beyond user search queries, such as:
- Faceted navigation requests
- Product recommendations
- Content suggestions
- Automated content retrieval
Multiple API calls per user action: Complex search interfaces might trigger multiple API calls for a single user interaction, such as auto-suggest queries, facet updates, and result retrieval.
Environment-based accounting: For sandbox-enabled accounts, usage is tracked separately by environment, and request and item alerts are based on Production thresholds. Current-month Production totals can include usage from deleted Production Apps. Accounts without Sandbox Apps use the combined Production-oriented model. For those accounts, current-month request totals can also include usage from deleted Apps when applicable.
Tip: Review your implementation to identify all places where the Search API is called, not only the main search interface.
Tip: If you suspect an API token is being used by an unexpected client, rotate your Search API tokens. Create new tokens, update your clients to use the new tokens, and remove the old tokens. See Search API tokens for token management details.
What Happens When You Exceed Limits
Unless you're on a custom plan, exceeding your search request limit triggers a service lock:
- All Apps in your account will be locked until the start of the next billing month.
- Search functionality will be unavailable during the lock period. Requests return an HTTP 429 “Limit Exceeded” response.
- Data ingestion and configuration may also be affected.
Warning: Service locks affect all apps in your account, not only the high-usage app. Plan accordingly to avoid disruptions.
What's Next
For more information about SearchStax plans and pricing, see Site Search Pricing. If you're an Acquia or Terminalfour customer, contact Acquia or Terminalfour for more information.
To learn more about Smart Answers usage, see Smart Answers.
If you need additional help optimizing your search request usage, contact Support.