Image Artist: Re-indexing the Search API

In some situations, the Image Artist Search (Public) API can become out of sync with the Datastore (Internal) API. When this happens, items that are visible in the Image Artist web interface may not appear in Search API results.

If you notice this behaviour, the Search API index can be safely rebuilt by re‑indexing it.

When to Re‑index

Re‑indexing is recommended if:

Objects appear correctly in the Image Artist UI
The same objects are missing when queried via the Search API

Rebuilding the index forces the Search API to resync with the underlying datastore.

Re‑indexing Options

The simplest way to trigger a re‑index is through the Swagger Web Interface.

For instructions on how to access Swagger, see the following article:

Image Artist: Using the Swagger Interface to query the Search API

Once in Swagger, you can trigger an index rebuild using the following endpoint:

Re‑indexing Using Command‑Line Tools (curl example)

If you prefer, you can also initiate the re‑index using third‑party tools such as curl or httpie. The example below uses curl.

This process consists of two steps:

Step 1: Request the Authentication Token

First, retrieve an authentication token using the admin account.

curl --request POST \
  --url https://<ImageArtist_domain>/api/1.1/authentication/token \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --insecure \
  --data-raw '{
    "userName": "admin", 
    "password": "<PASSWORD>", 
    "urls": ["/api/1.1/*"]
  }'

Where:

<ImageArtist_domain> is the domain name or IP address of the Image Artist instance
<PASSWORD> is the password for the Image Artist admin user

If successful, the response will contain a token, for example:

{
  "token":"cabc3148-baed-4c1a-811e-845b8ff2492f",
  "urls":["/api/1.1/*"]
}

Step 2: Trigger the Re-Index

Next, pass the authentication token when calling the re‑index endpoint.

curl --request PUT \
  --url https://<ImageArtist_domin>/api/admin/search_index/all/ \
  --header 'PKI-Columbus-Authentication: <AUTHENTICATION_TOKEN>' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --insecure \
  --data-raw ''

Where:

<ImageArtist_domain> is the domain name or IP address of the Image Artist instance
<AUTHENTICATION_TOKEN> is the token returned in Step 1

If the request succeeds, the API will return a 200 OK response:

{
  "status":"OK"
}

Important Warning

Before performing a re‑index, it is strongly recommended that you create a backup of the PostgreSQL database. This allows the system to be restored if any unexpected issues occur during the re‑indexing process.

Refer to the following article:

Image Artist: Backing up the Postgres databases

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When to Re‑index

Re‑indexing Options

Re‑indexing Using Command‑Line Tools (curl example)

Step 1: Request the Authentication Token

Important Warning

Comments

When to Re‑index

Re‑indexing Options

Re‑indexing Using Command‑Line Tools (curl example)

Step 1: Request the Authentication Token

Important Warning

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