Agentic Search API Specification

Overview

The Agentic Search API facilitates deep, intent-focused search patterns. A user's query is comprehended by a generative AI agent, which designs a set of search queries around it. The agent retrieves items from a Marqo index and returns a collection of result categories. Clients can then render these categories and offer relevant options to the user.

The API streams responses in real-time, providing immediate feedback to the user. Developers can override features like the number of results per category, max number of categories, agent parameters, and search settings.

Note: Agentic Search is not publicly available at this time. Please contact us to request access.

Use Cases

This API is ideal for situations where a user’s query could span multiple, potentially non-overlapping product categories. The system interprets a high-level query and generates sub-queries ("head queries") that organize results by category.

Best suited for:

Marqo users with diverse product catalogs
Applications handling ambiguous or broad user queries

API Endpoint

Paths

GET /indexes/{index_name}/agentic-search

Authentication

Include the x-marqo-index-id header (copy it from the Quick Start code snippets for your index in the Marqo Console).

Request Format

Use GET with URL query parameters due to SSE constraints.

Agentic Search Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`q`	String	(required)	The user's query
`categoryResultLimit`	Integer	`12`	Number of results per category (distinct from `searchSettings.limit`)
`maxCategories`	Integer	`5`	Maximum number of categories the agent will attempt to return
`clickableSummary`	Boolean	`true`	Defines if the summary will contain markdown content for interaction
`searchSettings`	Dict	see below	Configuration used during search (see below)
`userId`	String	`null`	User ID for personalization
`sessionId`	String	`null`	Session ID for personalization

Clickable Summary

The agent will incorporate suggested follow-up queries in its summary. If this is set to true, the agent will implant this pattern in the summary: [[button:query=<your_query>]]. Custom markdown renderers can then display that text as a button or other element.

Search Settings

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`limit`	Integer	`10`	Maximum number of products to return
`offset`	Integer	`0`	Number of products to skip (for pagination)
`filter`	String	`null`	Filter string using Marqo's query DSL to narrow search results
`attributesToRetrieve`	List[String]	`["productTitle", "variantTitle", "price", "variantImageUrl", "collections", "_id", "_score"]`	Specific product fields to return. If not specified, returns the default core product fields
`facets`	Dict	`null`	Facet configuration for aggregated results
`sortBy`	Dict	`null`	Sort configuration for results ordering

Example Request

Step 1: Compose JSON payload (pretty-printed here for readability)

{
  "q": "I need something to wear to a wedding",
  "sessionId": "session-abc123",
  "userId": "user-456",
  "categoryResultLimit": 10,
  "maxCategories": 4,
  "clickableSummary": true,
  "searchSettings": {
    "limit": 24,
    "offset": 0,
    "filter": "availability:true",
    "attributesToRetrieve": [
      "productTitle",
      "variantTitle",
      "price",
      "variantImageUrl",
      "collections",
      "_id",
      "_score"
    ],
    "facets": null,
    "sortBy": null
  }
}

Step 2: Base64 encode this JSON (URL-safe, no padding)

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

Step 3: Use in the URL query param payload

GET /indexes/my-first-index/agentic-search?payload=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 HTTP/1.1
Host: api.example.com
Accept: text/event-stream
x-marqo-index-id: abc123-my-first-index

Response

JSON Response Structure

Field	Type	Description
`summary`	String	AI-generated summary of the category results (may include links/buttons)
`categoryHits`	List	List of result categories and associated items (see below)
`hits`	List	Non-agentic search results using the provided query
`facets`	Dict	Optional facets metadata (if configured)

categoryHits Structure

Field	Type	Description
`category`	String	The category label
`hits`	List	Documents returned for this category query

Streaming Response

Delivered via Server-Sent Events (SSE).
Each event sends deltas (incremental updates) to the response.
The final event is of type stream-end to indicate the end of the stream.

Example Stream Output

event: delta
data: {
  "summary": "Here"
}

event: delta
data: {
  "summary": " are some options you might like for party wear."
}

event: delta
data: {
    "hits": [
      {"_id": "dress_001", "title": "Red Sequin Dress", "price": 89.99},
      {"_id": "dress_005", "title": "Red Silk Gown", "price": 221.99}
    ]
}

event: delta
data: {
  "categoryHits": [
    {
      "category": "Dresses",
      "hits": [
        {"_id": "dress_001", "title": "Red Sequin Dress", "price": 89.99},
        {"_id": "dress_002", "title": "Black Silk Gown", "price": 129.99},
        {"_id": "dress_003", "title": "Blue Off-Shoulder Dress", "price": 99.99}
      ]
    }
  ]
}

event: delta
data: {
  "summary": "Try searching for [[button:query=Casual party outfits]], [[button:query=Formal party attire]] or [[button:query=Accessories for a party]] for more options."
}

event: delta
data: {
  "categoryHits": [
    {
      "category": "Shoes",
      "hits": [
        {"_id": "shoe_001", "title": "Silver Heels", "price": 59.99},
        {"_id": "shoe_002", "title": "Strappy Sandals", "price": 49.99}
      ]
    }
  ]
}

event: stream-end
data: {}

Automatic Filtering

When automatic filtering is enabled for your index, the AI agent can apply precise filters to search results based on user intent. The agent understands the product attributes available in your catalog (brands, price ranges, categories, etc.) and constructs filters automatically when the user's query implies specific criteria.

How It Works

Filter construction: When user intent is clear, the agent constructs filter expressions using Marqo's filter DSL:
- Exact match: brand:(Nike)
- Multiple values: (brand:(Nike) OR brand:(Adidas))
- Numeric range: price:[50 TO 100]
- Open-ended range: price:[* TO 100]
- Combined: brand:(Nike) AND price:[* TO 100]
Filter merging: The agent's filter is merged with any client-provided searchSettings.filter using AND. For example, if the client sends filter: "availability:true" and the agent constructs brand:(Nike), the final filter becomes (availability:true) AND (brand:(Nike)).
Zero-hit fallback: If the merged filter yields no results, the agent's filter is automatically dropped and the search retries with only the client-provided filter. This ensures users always see relevant products even when the agent's filter is too restrictive.

Response Metadata

When automatic filtering is active, each category in the categoryHits response includes filter metadata:

Field	Type	Description
`appliedFilter`	string	The filter that was actually used for the search
`filterDropped`	boolean	`true` if the agent's filter was dropped due to zero results
`originalFilter`	string	The original filter before fallback (present when `filterDropped` is `true`)

{
  "categoryHits": [
    {
      "category": "Running Shoes",
      "confidence": 0.9,
      "hits": ["..."],
      "appliedFilter": "(availability:true) AND (brand:(Nike))",
      "filterDropped": false
    }
  ]
}