Faceted and Textual Search with the GraphQL Storefront API

Faceted search is a method of helping shoppers navigate a store's product inventory by categorizing products into various categories, brands, product features, and more. Textual search is a method of retrieving products based on product fields, for example, product name and description. BigCommerce's GraphQL Storefront API lets merchants on headless storefronts use faceted and textual search powered by results from our back-end search engine. These built-in capabilities also allow Stencil developers to take advantage of our search engine.

The GraphQL Storefront API's faceted and textual search lets you create the following features:

• Load category pages with no selections, including both the facets and products relevant to the search results
• Load category pages with facet selections for specific facets
• Load featured products from specific categories
• Quickly search products by using search terms (textual search)
• Sort products alphabetically, from newest to oldest, and more

You can access these features by querying the SearchProducts field. Note that you can query facets, filter by rating, or filter by "in-stock" only if the merchant is on a Pro or Enterprise plan. A merchant must enable product filtering (opens in a new tab) for facets to be returned. In addition, only facets that a merchant marks as visible in their Product Filtering settings will be returned.

This page walks you through how to filter and query products and facets to display on your storefront. See the GraphQL Storefront Playground for full schema documentation.

Filter products and facets

To use faceted and textual search, specify a filter in the argument for SearchProducts. For faceted search, you can filter by price, rating, among other features and attributes of products. For textual search, use the searchTerm field.

...
  searchProducts(
  filters: {
    searchTerm: "Sample"
    price:{
      minPrice:11,
      maxPrice:200
    },
    rating:{
      minRating:3,
      maxRating:5
    },
    categoryEntityId:24,
    searchSubCategories:false,
    categoryEntityIds:[23],
    brandEntityIds:[35],
    productAttributes:[
      {
        attribute:"Color",
        values:["Black"]
      }
    ],
    isFreeShipping:true,
    isFeatured:true,
    isInStock:true
  }
  ... 
)
...

These filters affect both the products and facets that are returned. For example, filtering by rating returns only products within the specified rating range and only facets that have products within the rating range.

See the GraphQL Storefront playground for descriptions of each filter.

Get products

To get products, specify products as a field in searchProducts. Here is an example request that returns the first two products with a rating between three and five:

query {
  site {
    search {
      searchProducts(
        filters: {
          rating:{
             minRating:3,
             maxRating:5
           }
        }
      ) {
        products(first: 2) {
          edges {
            node {
              entityId
              name
              prices {
                price {
                  value
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

You can sort the products that are returned using the sort field. Here is an example query that searches for products using a search term and sorts the returned products in alphabetical order:

query {
  site {
    search {
      searchProducts(
        filters: {
          searchTerm: "Sample"
        }
        sort: A_TO_Z
      ) {
        products(first: 2) {
          edges {
            node {
              entityId
              name
              prices {
                price {
                  value
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

The sort affects only the list of products returned. A merchant's product filtering settings (opens in a new tab) determine how facets are sorted.

If you sort by price, the products sort by either their salePrice or basePrice if sortPrice doesn't exist.

Multi-language Product Search

The Storefront GraphQL API supports product search in multiple languages. When multi-language is enabled and translations are provided in the BigCommerce admin, the API returns product names, descriptions, and search keywords in the shopper’s preferred language—determined by the Accept-Language HTTP header or customer settings.

Searchable fields include:

• Product name
• Product description
• Product search keywords

No special query arguments are required; localization is automatic based on the request context. If no language is supplied, the store’s default language is used.

Supported Languages

BigCommerce supports a broad range of languages for multi-language search.

If an unsupported language code is passed in the request, the store’s default language (typically English) will be used.

Fallback to Base Content

If a translation is missing for a product’s content in the shopper’s selected language, the API automatically returns the "base" content (store’s default language) for those attributes. This ensures that products remain discoverable even when translations are incomplete.

Why this matters:

• Improves result coverage—products aren’t hidden if a translation is missing.
• Ensures continuity during rollout or partial localization phases.
• The product may appear partially or entirely in another language if translations are missing.

Setting Up Multi-language Search: Recommended Order

1. Add the new language to your storefront/channel – This enables you to provide translations.
2. Set the language to "Inactive" – Prevents incomplete content from appearing on the storefront.
3. Localize your product content – Add translations for product names, descriptions, etc. If a translation isn’t provided, the base content will display.
4. Activate the language – Make the language available for shoppers when translations are complete.

Limitations, Recommendations, and Recovery

• API Availability: Multi-language search is available only via the Storefront GraphQL API (used for headless storefronts such as Catalyst).
• Locale Management: Search results respect the locale passed into the GraphQL request. Add only one locale per language code (e.g., just en-US for English, not en-US and en-GB); adding more than one can cause search results to be overwritten. If this occurs, remove extra locales and refresh your catalog.
• Supported Languages: Use only supported languages. Unsupported languages will default to the store’s base language and may cause search issues. Remove unsupported languages and refresh your catalog if needed.
• Default Language Stability: Do not change your store’s default language after translations are set; doing so can leave your storefront empty. If this happens, reset the correct default and refresh your catalog.
• Catalog Updates: The catalog does not automatically refresh when you add a new language; products must be updated or republished for inclusion in search results for that language.
• Cache Refresh: If you recently added a language or updated translations but don’t see changes, clear your storefront or CDN cache (if you use a separate CDN from BigCommerce).

Example Query

query SearchProductsInLanguage {
  search {
    searchProducts(filters: { searchTerm: "shirt" }) {
      products(first: 10) {
        edges {
          node {
            entityId
            name
            description
            customFields {
              name
              value
            }
            options {
              displayName
              values {
                label
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Search and filtering with product attributes

You can also search and filter to include only products that have a specific product attribute.

Example

This GraphQL query is searching for products using a filter on a product attribute—specifically, filtering by the attribute Card Size with a value of Poker. It is also retrieving:

• The matching products, including their entityId, name, and customFields.
• The available filter options (facets) that can be used for further refinement, such as Category, Price, and Card Size.

query GetFacets {
  site {
    search {
      searchProducts(
        filters:
        {
          productAttributes: [{
            attribute: "Card Size",
            values: ["Poker"]
          }]
        }
      ) {
        products {
          collectionInfo{
            totalItems
          }
          edges {
            node {
              entityId
              name
              customFields{
                edges{
                  node{
                    name
                    value
                  }
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
        filters{
          edges{
            node{
              name
              isCollapsedByDefault
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Get facets

To get facets, specify filters as a field in searchProducts. Here is an example request that returns the specified facets that have products with a rating between three and five:

query {
  site {
    search {
      searchProducts(
        filters: {
           rating:{
             minRating:3,
             maxRating:5
           }
        }
      ) {
         filters {
           edges {
             node {
               __typename
               name
               isCollapsedByDefault
               ... on CategorySearchFilter {
                 name
                 displayProductCount
                 isCollapsedByDefault
                 categories {
                   edges {
                     node {
                       entityId
                       isSelected
                       productCount
                       subCategories {
                         edges {
                           node {
                             entityId
                             name
                           }
                         }
                       }
                     }
                   }
                 }
               }
               ... on OtherSearchFilter {
                 name
                 displayProductCount
                 isCollapsedByDefault
                 freeShipping {
                   isSelected
                   productCount
                 }
                 isInStock {
                   isSelected
                   productCount
                 }
                 isFeatured {
                   isSelected
                   productCount
                 }
               }
             }
           }
         }
      }
    }
  }
}

For a complete list of facets, see the GraphQL Storefront playground.

Category-Based Product Filtering

In a product search, you can use AND and OR logic to control how multiple filters are applied:

• AND logic requires a product to match all specified criteria, narrowing the results.
• OR logic includes products that match any of the criteria, broadening the results.

These behaviors determine how flexible or strict your search is when using categoryIdsFilter. This is specifically useful when constructing Product Landing Pages (PLPs) or expecting a different filtering behavior.

Comparison Summary:

AND Logic Example

This example filters products to only those that appear in both of the specified categories:

Filter Logic

• categoryIdsFilter: Defines the filter on product categories.
• matchBehavior: AND: Means products that belong to both category 1172 and category 250 will match the query.
• entityIds: [1172, 250]: These are the category IDs being filtered on. Only products that are in both category 1172 and category 250 will be included in the results.

query AND_Categories {
  site {
    search {
      searchProducts(
        filters:{
          categoryIdsFilter:{
            matchBehavior: AND,
            entityIds: [1172, 250]
          }
        }
      ) {
        products {
          edges {
            node {
              entityId
              name
              categories{
                edges{
                  node{
                    entityId
                  }
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

OR Logic Example

This example filters products to only those that appear in either of the specified categories:

Filter Logic

• categoryIdsFilter: Defines the filter on product categories.
• matchBehavior: OR: Means products that belong to either category 1172 or 250 will match the query.
• entityIds: [1172, 250]: These are the category IDs being filtered on.

query OR_Categories {
  site {
    search {
      searchProducts(
        filters:{
          categoryIdsFilter:{
            matchBehavior: OR,
            entityIds: [1172, 250]
          }
        }
      ) {
        products {
          edges {
            node {
              entityId
              name
              categories{
                edges{
                  node{
                    entityId
                  }
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Put it all together: get products and facets

To get both products and facets, specify both products and filters fields in searchProducts.

query {
  site {
    search {
      searchProducts(
        filters: {
          searchTerm: "Sample"
           rating:{
             minRating:3,
             maxRating:5
           }
        }
        sort: A_TO_Z
      ) {
        products(first: 2) {
          edges {
            node {
              entityId
              name
              prices {
                price {
                  value
                }
              }
            }
          }
        }
         filters {
           edges {
             node {
               __typename
               name
               isCollapsedByDefault
               ... on CategorySearchFilter {
                 name
                 displayProductCount
                 isCollapsedByDefault
                 categories {
                   edges {
                     node {
                       entityId
                       isSelected
                       productCount
                       subCategories {
                         edges {
                           node {
                             entityId
                             name
                           }
                         }
                       }
                     }
                   }
                 }
               }
               ... on OtherSearchFilter {
                 name
                 displayProductCount
                 isCollapsedByDefault
                 freeShipping {
                   isSelected
                   productCount
                 }
                 isInStock {
                   isSelected
                   productCount
                 }
                 isFeatured {
                   isSelected
                   productCount
                 }
               }
             }
           }
         }
      }
    }
  }
}

If a merchant has not enabled product filtering, you will receive an empty array for the returned facets, though products will still be returned:

{
  "data": {
    "site": {
      "search": {
        "searchProducts": {
          "products": {
            "edges": [
              {
                "node": {
                  "entityId": 93,
                  "name": "[Sample] 1 L Le Parfait Jar",
                  "prices": {
                    "price": {
                      "value": 7
                    }
                  }
                }
              },
              {
                "node": {
                  "entityId": 80,
                  "name": "[Sample] Orbit Terrarium - Large",
                  "prices": {
                    "price": {
                      "value": 109
                    }
                  }
                }
              }
            ]
          },
          "filters": {
            "edges": []
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Limitations & Recommendations

Resources

• GraphQL Storefront API overview
• GraphQL Storefront playground
• Store Search Product Fields (opens in a new tab)
• Multi-language Support in GraphQL (opens in a new tab)