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Azure Search Documents Dotnet

MicrosoftOfficialCreated by Microsoft

  • Skill
  • Tool integration
  • Software development
  • MIT
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From the author

Azure AI Search SDK for .NET (Azure.Search.Documents). Use for building search applications with full-text, vector, semantic, and hybrid search. Covers SearchClient (queries, document CRUD), SearchIndexClient (index management), and SearchIndexerClient (indexers, skillsets). Triggers: "Azure Search .NET", "SearchClient", "SearchIndexClient", "vector search C#", "semantic search .NET", "hybrid search", "Azure.Search.Documents".
— the description by Microsoft

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

The Azure.Search.Documents SDK provides a comprehensive set of tools for .NET developers to integrate Azure AI Search into their applications. It supports advanced search paradigms including full-text search, vector search for AI-driven similarity, and semantic ranking for natural language understanding. The SDK is structured around three primary clients: SearchClient for document operations and querying, SearchIndexClient for managing index schemas, and SearchIndexerClient for automating data ingestion and skillsets.

What it does

  • Perform full-text, vector, and hybrid search queries
  • Manage search indexes, synonym maps, and indexers programmatically
  • Execute document CRUD operations including batch updates
  • Implement semantic search with captions and answers
  • Configure vector search profiles and algorithms
  • Support authentication via Microsoft Entra ID or API keys

When to use it

  • When building search-enabled .NET applications on Azure
  • When implementing RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) pipelines
  • When you need to perform semantic or vector-based similarity searches
  • When managing search index infrastructure via code

Advantages

  • Strongly-typed index definition using FieldBuilder
  • Native support for modern search techniques like hybrid and semantic ranking
  • Flexible authentication options including managed identity
  • Comprehensive batch processing for efficient data ingestion

Usage examples

“How do I perform a hybrid search using Azure.Search.Documents in C#?”
The agent provides a code snippet using SearchOptions with both VectorSearchOptions and standard search text to combine keyword and vector retrieval.
“Show me how to define a search index with a vector field.”
The agent demonstrates using the FieldBuilder attribute [VectorSearchField] or manual SearchField definition to configure vector dimensions and profiles.
“How can I enable semantic search for my articles index?”
The agent provides a configuration example using SemanticSearch and SemanticConfiguration to prioritize fields for semantic ranking.
“What is the best way to authenticate the SearchClient in production?”
The agent explains using DefaultAzureCredential with environment variables to leverage managed identities instead of hardcoded API keys.

Install

  1. Download the skill as a ZIP:

    https://mp-staging.autogineer.com/agent-skills/microsoft/azure-search-documents-dotnet/download
  2. Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:

    mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip azure-search-documents-dotnet.zip -d .agents/skills

Documentation by Microsoft

Azure.Search.Documents (.NET)

Build search applications with full-text, vector, semantic, and hybrid search capabilities.

Installation

dotnet add package Azure.Search.Documents
dotnet add package Azure.Identity

Current Versions: Stable v11.7.0, Preview v11.8.0-beta.1

Environment Variables

SEARCH_ENDPOINT=https://<search-service>.search.windows.net  # Required: search service endpoint
SEARCH_INDEX_NAME=<index-name>  # Required: search index name
AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=prod  # Required only if DefaultAzureCredential is used in production
SEARCH_API_KEY=<api-key>  # Only required for AzureKeyCredential auth

Authentication

Microsoft Entra Token Credential:

using Azure.Identity;
using Azure.Search.Documents;

// Local dev: DefaultAzureCredential. Production: set AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=prod or AZURE_TOKEN_CREDENTIALS=<specific_credential>
var credential = new DefaultAzureCredential(
    DefaultAzureCredential.DefaultEnvironmentVariableName
);
// Or use a specific credential directly in production:
// See https://learn.microsoft.com/dotnet/api/overview/azure/identity-readme?view=azure-dotnet#credential-classes
// var credential = new ManagedIdentityCredential();
var client = new SearchClient(
    new Uri(Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("SEARCH_ENDPOINT")),
    Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("SEARCH_INDEX_NAME"),
    credential);

API Key:

using Azure;
using Azure.Search.Documents;

var credential = new AzureKeyCredential(
    Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("SEARCH_API_KEY"));
var client = new SearchClient(
    new Uri(Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("SEARCH_ENDPOINT")),
    Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("SEARCH_INDEX_NAME"),
    credential);

Client Selection

ClientPurpose
SearchClientQuery indexes, upload/update/delete documents
SearchIndexClientCreate/manage indexes, synonym maps
SearchIndexerClientManage indexers, skillsets, data sources

Index Creation

using Azure.Search.Documents.Indexes;
using Azure.Search.Documents.Indexes.Models;

// Define model with attributes
public class Hotel
{
    [SimpleField(IsKey = true, IsFilterable = true)]
    public string HotelId { get; set; }

    [SearchableField(IsSortable = true)]
    public string HotelName { get; set; }

    [SearchableField(AnalyzerName = LexicalAnalyzerName.EnLucene)]
    public string Description { get; set; }

    [SimpleField(IsFilterable = true, IsSortable = true, IsFacetable = true)]
    public double? Rating { get; set; }

    [VectorSearchField(VectorSearchDimensions = 1536, VectorSearchProfileName = "vector-profile")]
    public ReadOnlyMemory<float>? DescriptionVector { get; set; }
}

// Create index
var indexClient = new SearchIndexClient(endpoint, credential);
var fieldBuilder = new FieldBuilder();
var fields = fieldBuilder.Build(typeof(Hotel));

var index = new SearchIndex("hotels")
{
    Fields = fields,
    VectorSearch = new VectorSearch
    {
        Profiles = { new VectorSearchProfile("vector-profile", "hnsw-algo") },
        Algorithms = { new HnswAlgorithmConfiguration("hnsw-algo") }
    }
};

await indexClient.CreateOrUpdateIndexAsync(index);
Manual Field Definition
var index = new SearchIndex("hotels")
{
    Fields =
    {
        new SimpleField("hotelId", SearchFieldDataType.String) { IsKey = true, IsFilterable = true },
        new SearchableField("hotelName") { IsSortable = true },
        new SearchableField("description") { AnalyzerName = LexicalAnalyzerName.EnLucene },
        new SimpleField("rating", SearchFieldDataType.Double) { IsFilterable = true, IsSortable = true },
        new SearchField("descriptionVector", SearchFieldDataType.Collection(SearchFieldDataType.Single))
        {
            VectorSearchDimensions = 1536,
            VectorSearchProfileName = "vector-profile"
        }
    }
};

Document Operations

var searchClient = new SearchClient(endpoint, indexName, credential);

// Upload (add new)
var hotels = new[] { new Hotel { HotelId = "1", HotelName = "Hotel A" } };
await searchClient.UploadDocumentsAsync(hotels);

// Merge (update existing)
await searchClient.MergeDocumentsAsync(hotels);

// Merge or Upload (upsert)
await searchClient.MergeOrUploadDocumentsAsync(hotels);

// Delete
await searchClient.DeleteDocumentsAsync("hotelId", new[] { "1", "2" });

// Batch operations
var batch = IndexDocumentsBatch.Create(
    IndexDocumentsAction.Upload(hotel1),
    IndexDocumentsAction.Merge(hotel2),
    IndexDocumentsAction.Delete(hotel3));
await searchClient.IndexDocumentsAsync(batch);

Search Patterns

var options = new SearchOptions
{
    Filter = "rating ge 4",
    OrderBy = { "rating desc" },
    Select = { "hotelId", "hotelName", "rating" },
    Size = 10,
    Skip = 0,
    IncludeTotalCount = true
};

SearchResults<Hotel> results = await searchClient.SearchAsync<Hotel>("luxury", options);

Console.WriteLine($"Total: {results.TotalCount}");
await foreach (SearchResult<Hotel> result in results.GetResultsAsync())
{
    Console.WriteLine($"{result.Document.HotelName} (Score: {result.Score})");
}
var options = new SearchOptions
{
    Facets = { "rating,count:5", "category" }
};

var results = await searchClient.SearchAsync<Hotel>("*", options);

foreach (var facet in results.Value.Facets["rating"])
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Rating {facet.Value}: {facet.Count}");
}
Autocomplete and Suggestions
// Autocomplete
var autocompleteOptions = new AutocompleteOptions { Mode = AutocompleteMode.OneTermWithContext };
var autocomplete = await searchClient.AutocompleteAsync("lux", "suggester-name", autocompleteOptions);

// Suggestions
var suggestOptions = new SuggestOptions { UseFuzzyMatching = true };
var suggestions = await searchClient.SuggestAsync<Hotel>("lux", "suggester-name", suggestOptions);

See references/vector-search.md for detailed patterns.

using Azure.Search.Documents.Models;

// Pure vector search
var vectorQuery = new VectorizedQuery(embedding)
{
    KNearestNeighborsCount = 5,
    Fields = { "descriptionVector" }
};

var options = new SearchOptions
{
    VectorSearch = new VectorSearchOptions
    {
        Queries = { vectorQuery }
    }
};

var results = await searchClient.SearchAsync<Hotel>(null, options);

See references/semantic-search.md for detailed patterns.

var options = new SearchOptions
{
    QueryType = SearchQueryType.Semantic,
    SemanticSearch = new SemanticSearchOptions
    {
        SemanticConfigurationName = "my-semantic-config",
        QueryCaption = new QueryCaption(QueryCaptionType.Extractive),
        QueryAnswer = new QueryAnswer(QueryAnswerType.Extractive)
    }
};

var results = await searchClient.SearchAsync<Hotel>("best hotel for families", options);

// Access semantic answers
foreach (var answer in results.Value.SemanticSearch.Answers)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Answer: {answer.Text} (Score: {answer.Score})");
}

// Access captions
await foreach (var result in results.Value.GetResultsAsync())
{
    var caption = result.SemanticSearch?.Captions?.FirstOrDefault();
    Console.WriteLine($"Caption: {caption?.Text}");
}

Hybrid Search (Vector + Keyword + Semantic)

var vectorQuery = new VectorizedQuery(embedding)
{
    KNearestNeighborsCount = 5,
    Fields = { "descriptionVector" }
};

var options = new SearchOptions
{
    QueryType = SearchQueryType.Semantic,
    SemanticSearch = new SemanticSearchOptions
    {
        SemanticConfigurationName = "my-semantic-config"
    },
    VectorSearch = new VectorSearchOptions
    {
        Queries = { vectorQuery }
    }
};

// Combines keyword search, vector search, and semantic ranking
var results = await searchClient.SearchAsync<Hotel>("luxury beachfront", options);

Field Attributes Reference

AttributePurpose
SimpleFieldNon-searchable field (filters, sorting, facets)
SearchableFieldFull-text searchable field
VectorSearchFieldVector embedding field
IsKey = trueDocument key (required, one per index)
IsFilterable = trueEnable $filter expressions
IsSortable = trueEnable $orderby
IsFacetable = trueEnable faceted navigation
IsHidden = trueExclude from results
AnalyzerNameSpecify text analyzer

Error Handling

using Azure;

try
{
    var results = await searchClient.SearchAsync<Hotel>("query");
}
catch (RequestFailedException ex) when (ex.Status == 404)
{
    Console.WriteLine("Index not found");
}
catch (RequestFailedException ex)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Search error: {ex.Status} - {ex.ErrorCode}: {ex.Message}");
}

Best Practices

  1. Use DefaultAzureCredential over API keys for production

  2. Use FieldBuilder with model attributes for type-safe index definitions

  3. Use CreateOrUpdateIndexAsync for idempotent index creation

  4. Batch document operations for better throughput

  5. Use Select to return only needed fields

  6. Configure semantic search for natural language queries

  7. Combine vector + keyword + semantic for best relevance

Reference Files

FileContents
references/vector-search.mdVector search, hybrid search, vectorizers
references/semantic-search.mdSemantic ranking, captions, answers

Files

ATTRIBUTION.md

Attribution

This folder is an unmodified copy of the Agent Skill "azure-search-documents-dotnet", distributed by AutoGineer (https://autogineer.com/agent-skills).

The skill's own files are unmodified copies. AutoGineer is not affiliated with or endorsed by the author or the publisher.

Files added by AutoGineer

  • ATTRIBUTION.md: this file, written by AutoGineer

  • LICENSE: copied from LICENSE

Requirements and compatibility

Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta

“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.

Needs: Needs an API key

Security

No issues found by our static scan· No issues found

A static scan is not a guarantee. Skills are third-party content: review a skill before you let an agent use it.

Attribution and licence

Created by
Microsoft
Publisher
Microsoft (Official)
Source
microsoft/skills · .github/plugins/azure-sdk-dotnet/skills/azure-search-documents-dotnet · commit 0696600
Licence
MIT License (redistribution allowed)
  • LICENSE (added by AutoGineer from LICENSE)
  • ATTRIBUTION.md (written by AutoGineer)
Synced

AutoGineer is not affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft.

Download ZIP

The ZIP holds the skill’s files, its licence files and an ATTRIBUTION.md. Download azure-search-documents-dotnet.zip