An operation is a single atomic action the Algolia engine performs.
Note that an operation is not the same thing as a request. A request is one network call your application makes, and a single request can carry many operations. See What is the difference between a Search Operation and a Search Request?.
Types of operation
- Search operations - one individual query executed by the engine. A character typed into a search box, a filter selection, or a facet refinement each produce at least one.
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Indexing operations, which include:
- Getting, adding, updating, or deleting records
- Getting or updating index settings
- Listing, renaming, clearing, or deleting indices
- ACL operations - getting, adding, updating, or deleting API keys
- Synonym and Rule operations - getting, adding, updating, or deleting synonyms or Rules
Batches count per item
A batch of queries or indexing operations counts as as many operations as it contains. If you send a batch modifying 1,000 records, that is 1,000 operations - even though it was one network request.
Two multipliers to be aware of:
- Disjunctive faceting. The number of operations per query rises with the number of disjunctive facets you use, so a single user query can produce several operations.
- Multi-index search. One bundled call to several indices is one request but one operation per sub-query.
Which operations am I billed for?
Your plan determines which operations are billed.
- On plans sold since March 2023, including Grow, you are billed on search requests and records. Indexing operations are not charged, though a protective limit applies.
- Plans sold before July 2020 count operations against a monthly quota, with overage charges beyond it.
For the full breakdown by plan generation, see How Algolia counts search requests, operations, and records. To check which plan you're on, see How do I check which plan my Algolia application is on?
Seeing your own operation counts
The Usage and Operations sections of API Monitoring break your activity down by type. Record operations are split further into Get, Add, Batch, Delete, Partial update, Update, and Delete by Query.
For historical data, the Usage API exposes total_search_operations, total_search_requests, and total_indexing_operations as separate metrics.