Facet search results to be ordered by match score

[flevi29]

When searching with facet search, the returned results must be sorted either alphanumerically or by count. Why can't we have them sorted by relevancy, by match score? That's what I presume most people would want.

Example search

{
"q": "",
"facets": [
  "document_type",
  "imprint.publication_place",
  "imprint.publisher_name",
  "languages",
  "library",
  "other_authors",
  "primary_author",
  "publication_year",
  "religion",
  "subjects"
],
"attributesToHighlight": [
  "*"
],
"highlightPreTag": "__ais-highlight__",
"highlightPostTag": "__/ais-highlight__",
"hitsPerPage": 10,
"page": 1,
"facetQuery": "Janos",
"facetName": "primary_author"
}

I get

{
  "facetHits": [
    {
      "value": "Dános Árpád",
      "count": 1
    },
    {
      "value": "Jancsó Imre",
      "count": 1
    },
    {
      "value": "Jancsovics István.",
      "count": 1
    },
    {
      "value": "János (római pápa), XXIII.",
      "count": 3
    },
    {
      "value": "János Pál (római pápa), I.",
      "count": 1
    },
    {
      "value": "János Pál (római pápa), II., Szent.",
      "count": 14
    },
    {
      "value": "János, Szent, Aranyszájú",
      "count": 8
    },
    {
      "value": "János, Szent, Bosco",
      "count": 1
    },
    {
      "value": "János, Szent, Keresztes",
      "count": 3
    },
    {
      "value": "János, Szent, Lépcsős.",
      "count": 2
    },
    {
      "value": "Jánosi Béla",
      "count": 1
    },
    {
      "value": "Jánosi Dalma",
      "count": 2
    },
    {
      "value": "Jánosi Ferenc.",
      "count": 1
    },
    {
      "value": "Jánosi Gyula.",
      "count": 1
    },
    {
      "value": "Jánosi József",
      "count": 1
    },
    {
      "value": "Jans, Anton",
      "count": 1
    },
    {
      "value": "Jansa, Vincenz",
      "count": 1
    },
    {
      "value": "Jansen, Bernhard",
      "count": 1
    },
    {
      "value": "Jansen, E. J. B.",
      "count": 1
    },
    {
      "value": "Jansenius, Cornelius",
      "count": 3
    },
    {
      "value": "Janssen, Johannes.",
      "count": 1
    },
    {
      "value": "Janssens, Jean Hérard.",
      "count": 1
    },
    {
      "value": "Janzsó Ferenc",
      "count": 3
    },
    {
      "value": "Jáosz-Keszt, Itamár",
      "count": 1
    },
    {
      "value": "Járosy Dezső.",
      "count": 3
    }
  ],
  "facetQuery": "Janos",
  "processingTimeMs": 0
}

To Reproduce

Code

import { MeiliSearch } from "meilisearch";
import { MAIN_EV, MEILI_SEARCH_EV, MEILI_MASTER_KEY } from "environments";

const client = new MeiliSearch({
  host: `http://${encodeURIComponent(MAIN_EV.HOST)}:${
    MEILI_SEARCH_EV.MEILI_PORT
  }`,
  apiKey: MEILI_MASTER_KEY,
});

const INDEX_NAME = "testIndex";

const indexCreationTask = await client.createIndex(INDEX_NAME, {
  primaryKey: "id",
});
await client.waitForTask(indexCreationTask.taskUid);

const index = client.index(INDEX_NAME);

const settingTask = await index.updateSettings({
  filterableAttributes: ["name"],
  faceting: { sortFacetValuesBy: { name: "alpha" } },
});
await index.waitForTask(settingTask.taskUid);

const addDocumentsTask = await index.addDocuments([
  { id: "1", name: "Dános Árpád" },
  { id: "2", name: "Jancsó Imre" },
  { id: "3", name: "Jancsovics István." },
  { id: "4", name: "János (római pápa), XXIII." },
  { id: "5", name: "János Pál (római pápa), I" },
  { id: "6", name: "János Pál (római pápa), II., Szent." },
  { id: "7", name: "János, Szent, Aranyszájú" },
  { id: "8", name: "János, Szent, Bosco" },
  { id: "9", name: "János, Szent, Keresztes" },
  { id: "10", name: "János, Szent, Lépcsős." },
  { id: "11", name: "Jánosi Béla" },
  { id: "12", name: "Jánosi Dalma" },
  { id: "13", name: "Jánosi Ferenc." },
  { id: "14", name: "Jánosi Gyula." },
  { id: "15", name: "Jánosi József" },
  { id: "16", name: "Jans, Anton" },
  { id: "17", name: "Jansa, Vincenz" },
  { id: "18", name: "Jansen, Bernhard" },
  { id: "19", name: "Jansen, E. J. B." },
  { id: "20", name: "Jansenius, Cornelius" },
  { id: "21", name: "Janssen, Johannes." },
  { id: "22", name: "Janssens, Jean Hérard." },
  { id: "23", name: "Janzsó Ferenc" },
  { id: "24", name: "Jáosz-Keszt, Itamár" },
  { id: "25", name: "Járosy Dezső." },
]);
await index.waitForTask(addDocumentsTask.taskUid);

const results = await index.searchForFacetValues({
  q: "",
  facets: ["name"],
  attributesToHighlight: ["*"],
  highlightPreTag: "__ais-highlight__",
  highlightPostTag: "__/ais-highlight__",
  hitsPerPage: 10,
  page: 1,
  facetQuery: "János",
  facetName: "name",
});
console.log(results);

await index.delete();

At first I thought this was a bug, that's why I made a whole reproduction, might as well leave it here.

Meilisearch version:
1.4.0

[flevi29]

I would like to contribute this, but right now I don't understand the code very well, and it seems that it won't be very straight forward, and if it would've been then it would've already been implemented most likely. Maybe one day I'll return.

[macraig]

Hello @flevi29 , currently our API does not support searching directly through facets based on relevancy. Implementing this feature would require careful consideration and changes to how our API manages facet search and facet distribution. While there are no immediate plans for implementation, we are open to prioritizing it if we see increased interest from the community.