Use when configuring, indexing, or troubleshooting Pagefind static search for websites. Covers config options, CLI flags, and client integrations.

Pagefind Search Indexer

Guidelines for indexing static websites and configuring search capabilities using Pagefind. Always consult the local Pagefind Docs and Pagefind Config Options for full options reference.

CLI & Core Indexing Commands

Run Pagefind post-build to index the output HTML content:

• Default Indexing: npx pagefind --site <build_output_dir> (indexes all HTML pages in the output directory, e.g., dashboard/public).
• Config file: Pagefind can load parameters from a pagefind.yml or pagefind.json file placed in the project root.

Client Integration Rules

1. JS/CSS Assets: Pagefind generates static search assets (compiled index and search UI scripts) under the pagefind directory in the site root (e.g. pagefind/pagefind.js, pagefind/pagefind.css).
2. Excluding Elements: To keep irrelevant layout elements (such as footers, navbars, sidebars) from polluting search index scores, add data-pagefind-ignore attribute to their HTML elements.
3. Weighting Content: To highlight specific regions (e.g., titles, primary paragraphs), use data-pagefind-weight="<value>" (value from 1 to 10) on elements.

Completion Criteria

The indexing task is complete when:

1. pagefind completes building the search database successfully without throwing errors.
2. The index folder pagefind/ exists in the public output directory containing the generated search chunks and compiled index configs.
3. Relevant search query tests return expected matches.

Last updated Oct 08, 2026