Manual AI product search.

System requirements

Shopware 6.6 or 6.7 with storefront, PHP 8.2 or newer. Plus an account with an AI provider of your choice. Without one, only keyword recognition runs.

Getting started

1. Install and activate the plugin via the Plugin Suite.
2. Open the module, Settings tab.
3. Under AI provider choose a provider, enter the key, test the connection.
4. Set the search mode - "Automatic" to start with.
5. Save, then check a query such as "red trousers in XS" in the Search test tab.
6. Only then try it in the shop.

Search mode

• Classic only - no AI call, the search stays as before.
• AI from two words - single terms run classically, sentences go through the AI.
• Automatic - from the configured word count a query counts as a sentence.
• Always AI - every search is translated. Expect correspondingly more calls.

Under maximum search orders you set how many product types a query may be split into at most.

The "understood as" bar

On the search page a bar shows how the query was understood. Every building block - category, colour, size, price, sorting - can be removed with a click and the search re-runs at once.

It can be switched off if you prefer. Leaving it on is worth it: customers understand why they see certain results.

AI provider

Provider, model and key are entered by you. The key leaves your shop only to translate the search query.

• Model - the fast models are enough. Larger ones bring little benefit here but cost more and take longer.
• Time limit - if the model does not answer in time, the fallback takes over.
• Test connection - checks key and model before anything reaches the shop.
• Pass shop terms - gives the AI your actual categories and properties so it hits your terms.

Mapping

You can select the colour and size properties. Without a selection the plugin detects properties with "Farbe", "Color", "Größe" or "Size" in their name.

If the customer names a category, the hits can be restricted to it.

Live search

Either the Stone & Water full-page modal or the Shopware standard.

• Result view - product boxes as in the listing, or a compact list.
• Products per row - separately for desktop from 1200 pixels, tablet from 768 and phone below.
• Open on focus - shows suggestions and products before any input. From three characters hits replace the recommendations.
• Popular searches - from your own log, only from two searches on and with an exclusion list.
• AI while typing - optionally the AI translates inside the modal already, after a configurable typing pause. Costs additional calls.

Costs and protection

Four brakes worth setting before going live:

• Daily limit - after that the search works without AI until midnight. 0 means no limit.
• Per-visitor limit - at most this many calls within ten minutes, search page and live search combined.
• Exclude bots - crawlers get keyword recognition.
• Cache - identical queries without a new call, duration configurable in hours.

Enter your provider's token prices and the overview converts consumption into euros.

Log and evaluation

The search log records every search on the search page, translated and classic. The overview shows searches of the last 30 days split into AI, keyword and cache, plus average duration, queries without hits and failures.

Switch on click tracking and you also get click rate, click position and searches without a click. Retention in days is up to you; older entries are deleted automatically.

Synonyms

A customer word is replaced by a shop term before the search runs. The rules are kept as a table and can be tested individually.

The quickest route: the list of searches without hits contains the words your customers use and your shop does not know. Create the rule straight from there.

Search test and batch test

In the search test you check one query per sales channel, with or without AI. The breakdown and the number of hits are shown.

The batch test takes up to 50 queries, one per line, and shows the share with hits at the end. It is the quickest way to hold a list of real customer queries against your shop.

Sales channels

All settings initially apply to every channel. Select a channel at the top and it gets its own values - everything unchanged still comes from the default. One button resets it.

Acceptance checklist

• Connection to the AI provider tested successfully.
• Batch test with 20 to 50 real customer queries done, hit rate reviewed.
• One query checked in the shop, "understood as" bar verified.
• Live search checked on desktop and phone.
• Daily limit, per-visitor limit and bot exclusion set.
• After a week, looked at the search log and created the first synonyms.

Support

We answer questions directly. Write to us via the contact form.