npx skills add ...
npx skills add microsoft/skills --skill azure-search-documents-py
npx skills add microsoft/skills --skill azure-search-documents-py
Azure AI Search SDK for Python. Use for vector search, hybrid search, semantic ranking, indexing, and skillsets. Triggers: "azure-search-documents", "SearchClient", "SearchIndexClient", "vector search", "hybrid search", "semantic search".
The same skill content is published under more than one repo. The install counts are split across them; any of these commands works.
Full-text, vector, and hybrid search with AI enrichment capabilities.
🔑 Two rules apply to every code sample below:
- Prefer
DefaultAzureCredential. It works locally (Azure CLI / VS Code / Developer CLI) and in Azure (managed identity, workload identity) with no code change. Avoid connection strings, account/API keys — they bypass Entra audit and rotation.
- Local dev:
DefaultAzureCredentialworks as-is.- Production: set
AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=prod(orAZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=<specific_credential>) to constrain the credential chain to production-safe credentials.- Wrap every client in a context manager so HTTP transports, sockets, and token caches are released deterministically:
- Sync:
with <Client>(...) as client:- Async:
async with <Client>(...) as client:andasync with DefaultAzureCredential() as credential:(fromazure.identity.aio)Snippets may abbreviate this setup, but production code should always follow both rules.
New code should use DefaultAzureCredential above. Use AzureKeyCredential only if you have an existing keyed deployment that hasn't been migrated to Entra ID yet — for example, regulated environments still completing their Entra rollout. The same AzureKeyCredential works with SearchIndexClient and SearchIndexerClient for admin operations.
| Client | Purpose |
|---|---|
SearchClient | Search and document operations |
SearchIndexClient | Index management, synonym maps |
SearchIndexerClient | Indexers, data sources, skillsets |
azure.xxx sync clients with azure.xxx.aio async clients in the same call path. Choose one mode per module.with Client(...) as client: (sync) or async with Client(...) as client: (async). For async DefaultAzureCredential from azure.identity.aio, also use async with credential: so tokens and transports are cleaned up.| File | Contents |
|---|---|
| references/vector-search.md | HNSW configuration, integrated vectorization, multi-vector queries |
| references/semantic-ranking.md | Semantic configuration, captions, answers, hybrid patterns |
| scripts/setup_vector_index.py | CLI script to create vector-enabled search index |
Write clean, idiomatic Python code for Azure AI Search using azure-search-documents.
| Client | Purpose |
|---|---|
SearchClient | Query indexes, upload/update/delete documents |
SearchIndexClient | Create/manage indexes, knowledge sources, knowledge bases |
SearchIndexerClient | Manage indexers, skillsets, data sources |
KnowledgeBaseRetrievalClient | Agentic retrieval with LLM-powered Q&A |
For LLM-powered Q&A with answer synthesis, see references/agentic-retrieval.md.
Key concepts:
EXTRACTIVE_DATA (raw chunks) or ANSWER_SYNTHESIS (LLM-generated answers)DefaultAzureCredential for code that runs locally (instead of API keys). Use a specific token credential for code that runs in Azure.SearchIndexingBufferedSender for batch uploads (handles batching/retries)create_or_update_index for idempotent index creationclose()| EDM Type | Python | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Edm.String | str | Searchable text |
Edm.Int32 | int | Integer |
Edm.Int64 | int | Long integer |
Edm.Double | float | Floating point |
Edm.Boolean | bool | True/False |
Edm.DateTimeOffset | datetime | ISO 8601 |
Collection(Edm.Single) | List[float] | Vector embeddings |
Collection(Edm.String) | List[str] | String arrays |
import os
from azure.identity import DefaultAzureCredential, ManagedIdentityCredential
from azure.search.documents import SearchClient
# Local dev: DefaultAzureCredential. Production: set AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=prod or AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=<specific_credential>
credential = DefaultAzureCredential(require_envvar=True)
# Or use a specific credential directly in production:
# See https://learn.microsoft.com/python/api/overview/azure/identity-readme?view=azure-python#credential-classes
# credential = ManagedIdentityCredential()
with SearchClient(
endpoint=os.environ["AZURE_SEARCH_ENDPOINT"],
index_name=os.environ["AZURE_SEARCH_INDEX_NAME"],
credential=credential,
) as client:
results = list(client.search(search_text="*", top=5))import os
from azure.identity import DefaultAzureCredential, ManagedIdentityCredential
from azure.search.documents import SearchClient
# Local dev: DefaultAzureCredential. Production: set AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=prod or AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=<specific_credential>
credential = DefaultAzureCredential(require_envvar=True)
# Or use a specific credential directly in production:
# See https://learn.microsoft.com/python/api/overview/azure/identity-readme?view=azure-python#credential-classes
# credential = ManagedIdentityCredential()
with SearchClient(
endpoint=os.environ["AZURE_SEARCH_ENDPOINT"],
index_name=os.environ["AZURE_SEARCH_INDEX_NAME"],
credential=credential,
) as client:
results = list(client.search(search_text="*", top=5))import os
from azure.core.credentials import AzureKeyCredential
from azure.search.documents import SearchClient
with SearchClient(
endpoint=os.environ["AZURE_SEARCH_ENDPOINT"],
index_name=os.environ["AZURE_SEARCH_INDEX_NAME"],
credential=AzureKeyCredential(os.environ["AZURE_SEARCH_API_KEY"]),
) as client:
results = list(client.search(search_text="*", top=5))from azure.search.documents.indexes import SearchIndexClient
from azure.search.documents.indexes.models import (
SearchIndex,
SearchField,
SearchFieldDataType,
VectorSearch,
HnswAlgorithmConfiguration,
VectorSearchProfile,
SearchableField,
SimpleField
)
fields = [
SimpleField(name="id", type=SearchFieldDataType.String, key=True),
SearchableField(name="title", type=SearchFieldDataType.String),
SearchableField(name="content", type=SearchFieldDataType.String),
SearchField(
name="content_vector",
type=SearchFieldDataType.Collection(SearchFieldDataType.Single),
searchable=True,
vector_search_dimensions=1536,
vector_search_profile_name="my-vector-profile"
)
]
vector_search = VectorSearch(
algorithms=[
HnswAlgorithmConfiguration(name="my-hnsw")
],
profiles=[
VectorSearchProfile(
name="my-vector-profile",
algorithm_configuration_name="my-hnsw"
)
]
)
index = SearchIndex(
name="my-index",
fields=fields,
vector_search=vector_search
)
with SearchIndexClient(endpoint, DefaultAzureCredential()) as index_client:
index_client.create_or_update_index(index)from azure.search.documents import SearchClient
documents = [
{
"id": "1",
"title": "Azure AI Search",
"content": "Full-text and vector search service",
"content_vector": [0.1, 0.2, ...] # 1536 dimensions
}
]
with SearchClient(endpoint, "my-index", DefaultAzureCredential()) as client:
result = client.upload_documents(documents)
print(f"Uploaded {len(result)} documents")results = client.search(
search_text="azure search",
select=["id", "title", "content"],
top=10
)
for result in results:
print(f"{result['title']}: {result['@search.score']}")from azure.search.documents.models import VectorizedQuery
# Your query embedding (1536 dimensions)
query_vector = get_embedding("semantic search capabilities")
vector_query = VectorizedQuery(
vector=query_vector,
k_nearest_neighbors=10,
fields="content_vector"
)
results = client.search(
vector_queries=[vector_query],
select=["id", "title", "content"]
)
for result in results:
print(f"{result['title']}: {result['@search.score']}")from azure.search.documents.models import VectorizedQuery
vector_query = VectorizedQuery(
vector=query_vector,
k_nearest_neighbors=10,
fields="content_vector"
)
results = client.search(
search_text="azure search",
vector_queries=[vector_query],
select=["id", "title", "content"],
top=10
)from azure.search.documents.models import QueryType
results = client.search(
search_text="what is azure search",
query_type=QueryType.SEMANTIC,
semantic_configuration_name="my-semantic-config",
select=["id", "title", "content"],
top=10
)
for result in results:
print(f"{result['title']}")
if result.get("@search.captions"):
print(f" Caption: {result['@search.captions'][0].text}")results = client.search(
search_text="*",
filter="category eq 'Technology' and rating gt 4",
order_by=["rating desc"],
select=["id", "title", "category", "rating"]
)results = client.search(
search_text="*",
facets=["category,count:10", "rating"],
top=0 # Only get facets, no documents
)
for facet_name, facet_values in results.get_facets().items():
print(f"{facet_name}:")
for facet in facet_values:
print(f" {facet['value']}: {facet['count']}")# Autocomplete
results = client.autocomplete(
search_text="sea",
suggester_name="my-suggester",
mode="twoTerms"
)
# Suggest
results = client.suggest(
search_text="sea",
suggester_name="my-suggester",
select=["title"]
)from azure.search.documents.indexes import SearchIndexerClient
from azure.search.documents.indexes.models import (
SearchIndexer,
SearchIndexerDataSourceConnection,
SearchIndexerSkillset,
EntityRecognitionSkill,
InputFieldMappingEntry,
OutputFieldMappingEntry
)
with SearchIndexerClient(endpoint, DefaultAzureCredential()) as indexer_client:
# Use managed identity (search service must have RBAC role on the storage account). Avoid storage connection strings with embedded keys.
data_source = SearchIndexerDataSourceConnection(
name="my-datasource",
type="azureblob",
connection_string="ResourceId=/subscriptions/<sub>/resourceGroups/<rg>/providers/Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts/<acct>",
container={"name": "documents"}
)
indexer_client.create_or_update_data_source_connection(data_source)
# Create skillset
skillset = SearchIndexerSkillset(
name="my-skillset",
skills=[
EntityRecognitionSkill(
inputs=[InputFieldMappingEntry(name="text", source="/document/content")],
outputs=[OutputFieldMappingEntry(name="organizations", target_name="organizations")]
)
]
)
indexer_client.create_or_update_skillset(skillset)
# Create indexer
indexer = SearchIndexer(
name="my-indexer",
data_source_name="my-datasource",
target_index_name="my-index",
skillset_name="my-skillset"
)
indexer_client.create_or_update_indexer(indexer)pip install azure-search-documents azure-identityAZURE_SEARCH_ENDPOINT=https://<search-service>.search.windows.net # Required for all auth methods
AZURE_SEARCH_INDEX_NAME=<index-name> # Required for all auth methods
AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=prod # Required only if DefaultAzureCredential is used in productionfrom azure.search.documents.indexes import SearchIndexClient
from azure.search.documents.indexes.models import (
SearchIndex, SearchField, VectorSearch, VectorSearchProfile,
HnswAlgorithmConfiguration, AzureOpenAIVectorizer,
AzureOpenAIVectorizerParameters, SemanticSearch,
SemanticConfiguration, SemanticPrioritizedFields, SemanticField
)
index = SearchIndex(
name=index_name,
fields=[
SearchField(name="id", type="Edm.String", key=True),
SearchField(name="content", type="Edm.String", searchable=True),
SearchField(name="embedding", type="Collection(Edm.Single)",
vector_search_dimensions=3072,
vector_search_profile_name="vector-profile"),
],
vector_search=VectorSearch(
profiles=[VectorSearchProfile(
name="vector-profile",
algorithm_configuration_name="hnsw-algo",
vectorizer_name="openai-vectorizer"
)],
algorithms=[HnswAlgorithmConfiguration(name="hnsw-algo")],
vectorizers=[AzureOpenAIVectorizer(
vectorizer_name="openai-vectorizer",
parameters=AzureOpenAIVectorizerParameters(
resource_url=aoai_endpoint,
deployment_name=embedding_deployment,
model_name=embedding_model
)
)]
),
semantic_search=SemanticSearch(
default_configuration_name="semantic-config",
configurations=[SemanticConfiguration(
name="semantic-config",
prioritized_fields=SemanticPrioritizedFields(
content_fields=[SemanticField(field_name="content")]
)
)]
)
)
with SearchIndexClient(endpoint, credential) as index_client:
index_client.create_or_update_index(index)from azure.search.documents import SearchIndexingBufferedSender
# Batch upload with automatic batching
with SearchIndexingBufferedSender(endpoint, index_name, credential) as sender:
sender.upload_documents(documents)
# Direct operations via SearchClient
with SearchClient(endpoint, index_name, credential) as search_client:
search_client.upload_documents(documents) # Add new
search_client.merge_documents(documents) # Update existing
search_client.merge_or_upload_documents(documents) # Upsert
search_client.delete_documents(documents) # Remove# Basic search
results = search_client.search(search_text="query")
# Vector search
from azure.search.documents.models import VectorizedQuery
results = search_client.search(
search_text=None,
vector_queries=[VectorizedQuery(
vector=embedding,
k_nearest_neighbors=5,
fields="embedding"
)]
)
# Hybrid search (vector + keyword)
results = search_client.search(
search_text="query",
vector_queries=[VectorizedQuery(vector=embedding, k_nearest_neighbors=5, fields="embedding")],
query_type="semantic",
semantic_configuration_name="semantic-config"
)
# With filters
results = search_client.search(
search_text="query",
filter="category eq 'technology'",
select=["id", "title", "content"],
top=10
)from azure.search.documents.aio import SearchClient
async with SearchClient(endpoint, index_name, credential) as client:
results = await client.search(search_text="query")
async for result in results:
print(result["title"])from azure.core.exceptions import (
HttpResponseError,
ResourceNotFoundError,
ResourceExistsError
)
try:
result = search_client.get_document(key="123")
except ResourceNotFoundError:
print("Document not found")
except HttpResponseError as e:
print(f"Search error: {e.message}")