INDEXED SEARCH
Ship multi-document, full‑text search with previews, exact/phrase matching, and customizable ranking, backed by a fast SQLite FTS index. Build the index once, query it in milliseconds, and deep‑link users straight to the right page.
Index thousands of PDFs and surface page‑level hits with context snippets.
Let users jump from a query to the exact page, with highlights ready to review.
Support exact/phrase matching, word boundaries, and annotation‑only searches.
Incrementally update the index as documents are added, removed, or changed.
Encrypt the search database and control which sources are crawled and searchable.
HOW IT WORKS
Indexed Search turns a folder (or data source) of PDFs into a fast, queryable index with optional previews and Spotlight integration.
Point the library at a directory or custom data source and build the SQLite‑backed FTS index in the background. Configure tokenizers (Porter, Unicode), match options, and optional database encryption.
guard let library = PSPDFKit.SDK.shared.library else { // FTS feature isn't enabled in your license. return}
// Assume that you have a directory of PDF documents you want to index.let directoryURL = ...
let dataSource = LibraryFileSystemDataSource(library: library, documentsDirectoryURL: directoryURL) { document, stopPointer in // If you want to skip a specific document, return `false` here. // If you want to stop the directory enumeration, set `stopPointer.pointee` to `true`. return true}
library.dataSource = dataSource // Note that `PDFLibrary` holds the data source with a strong reference.
// Begins the indexing operation. This method performs some initial work synchronously and then starts the indexing, which is asynchronous.// For large amounts of documents, even the initial work could be slow, which is why this should always be called on a background queue.DispatchQueue.global(qos: .background).async { library.updateIndex()}Search the index programmatically or via UI: exact words, exact phrases, include/exclude annotations, and control result caps. Optionally generate context previews to display snippets around each hit.
Return document UIDs and page hits, render previews in your picker, and deep‑link to the exact page with highlighted matches. Keep the index current with incremental updates and optional Spotlight indexing.
KEY FEATURES
Give users instant answers across large PDF sets with a tunable, production‑ready FTS pipeline.
Crawl folders or custom sources and index document text and (optionally) annotation contents.
Exact word/phrase, include/exclude annotations or body text, per document/total result caps, preview ranges.
Generate ambient text around each hit for high‑quality result lists.
Use Porter or Unicode (unicode61) tokenizers, or plug in your own for language‑specific needs.
Wire up SQLCipher/SEE via a provider; keep the FTS database protected at rest.
Run indexing in the background, adjust priority, and use explicit-mode updates to keep large libraries responsive.
Index documents (and full text) for native device search handoff.
Whether you’re building for web, mobile, or the backend, Nutrient gives you full flexibility — all with a consistent developer experience.
WEB PLAYGROUND
REAL-WORLD IMPACT
Nutrient powers mission-critical document workflows for global enterprises — from compliance-heavy industries to modern SaaS teams.
Streamlined construction project collaboration with in-app markup and PDF tools — helping teams coordinate more effectively from jobsite to back office.
Renders multipage PDFs and signature tags with Nutrient, keeping 200 million users in 188 countries moving at the speed of eSignature.
Empowers 34,000 pilots to view, annotate, and sign 90‑page flight releases on iPad using Nutrient iOS SDK, saving minutes — and money — on every flight.
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What is Nutrient’s indexed search SDK?
Nutrient’s indexed search SDK enables lightning-fast, full-text search across thousands of PDFs by indexing their text, annotations, and optional metadata. It’s designed for developers building document-heavy apps that need instant access to information.
How does the SDK deliver such fast search results?
It uses a high-performance SQLite-based full-text search (FTS) engine to pre-index documents. This allows near-instant query results, even in large repositories or on resource-constrained mobile devices.
Can I search across multiple documents at once?
Yes. Indexed Search lets you query entire libraries of PDFs, returning matches from any indexed document and showing page-level results.
Does it work with annotations and metadata?
Yes. You can include or exclude annotations, comments, and specific metadata fields in your search — giving you fine-grained control over what gets indexed and retrieved.
What’s involved in implementation?
You index your PDFs using the built-in APIs, configure search options (such as exact-match or phrase searching), and integrate the provided UI or your own custom search interface.
Can the UI be customized?
Absolutely. Developers can style the search interface to match their app, or bypass it entirely in favor of programmatic search via the API.
How does it handle large libraries?
The SDK supports background indexing, adjustable indexing priority, and explicit-mode updates to handle large, frequently changing repositories efficiently.
Need to give users instant answers from massive document libraries? Nutrient’s indexed search SDK is built for developers who need enterprise-grade search that’s as fast as it is precise — from compliance workflows to engineering archives.
Whether you’re enabling law firms to scan decades of case files, helping manufacturers find specs in a product library, or letting teams search annotations across engineering drawings, Indexed Search gives you the tools to deliver accurate results in milliseconds.
Add production-grade search to your application with a single SDK — and give your users the answers they need, when they need them.