Serving controls (also called controls) change the default behavior of how a request is served when results are returned. Serving controls act at a data-store level.
For example, controls can boost and bury results, filter entries from returned results, associate strings with each other as synonyms, or redirect results to specified URIs.
About serving controls
To change the results of a request, first create a serving control. Then, attach that control to the serving config of an app. A serving config configures metadata that's used to generate serving time results, such as search results or answers. A serving control only affects requests served by the app if the control is attached to the app's serving config.
Some controls, such as boost controls, have dependencies on data stores. If a data store is removed from an app, then any data store-dependent controls are also removed from that app and become inactive, but are not deleted.
Serving control types
The following types of serving controls are available:
Control | Description | Available for |
---|---|---|
Boost control | Changes the returned order of results | Search apps with data stores that support a schema, such as data stores that contain structured data, websites with structured data (advanced website indexing), or unstructured data with metadata |
Filter control | Removes entries from returned results | Search apps with data stores that support a schema, such as data stores that contain structured data, websites (advanced website indexing and basic website search), or unstructured data with metadata |
Synonyms control | Associates queries with each other | Search apps with website (advanced website indexing), structured, or unstructured data stores |
Redirect control | Redirects to a specified URI | All search apps |
Promote control | Promotes a specified link for a query | Only basic website search apps |
About conditions
When creating a control, you can optionally define a condition that determines when the control is applied. Conditions are defined using condition fields. The following condition fields are available:
queryTerms
. An optional control that's applied when specific queries are searched for. When thequeryTerms
condition is used, the control is applied when the value ofqueryTerms
matches a term inSearchRequest.query
. Query terms can only be used when theControl.searchUseCase
is set asSOLUTION_TYPE_SEARCH
. Up to 10 differentqueryTerms
can be specified on a singleControl.condition
. If no query terms are specified, thequeryTerms
field is ignored.For a promote serving control, these additional constraints are applicable:
queryTerms
condition cannot be specified if you're specifying thequeryRegex
conditionfullMatch
must be set totrue
activeTimeRange
. An optional control that's applied when a request occurs within a specified time range. It checks that the time a request was received is betweenactiveTimeRange.startTime
andactiveTimeRange.endTime
. Up to 10activeTimeRange
ranges can be specified on a singleControl.condition
. If theactiveTimeRange
field isn't specified, the field is ignored.queryRegex
. Only available for a promote serving control, an optional condition that applies the control when the query matches the specified regular expression. This condition cannot be specified if you're specifying thequeryTerms
condition.
If multiple conditions are specified for a control, the control is applied to the search request when both condition types are satisfied. If multiple values for the same condition are specified, only one of the values needs to match for that condition to be satisfied.
For example, consider the following condition with two query terms specified:
"queryTerms": [
{
"value": "gShoe",
"fullMatch": true
},
{
"value": "gBoot",
"fullMatch": true
}
]
The condition will be satisfied for a request with
SearchRequest.query="gShoe"
or a request with SearchRequest.query="gBoot"
,
but won't be satisfied with SearchRequest.query="gSandal"
or any other
string.
If no conditions are specified, the control is always applied.
For more information, see the Condition
field in the API
reference.
Create and attach boost serving controls
A boost serving control is defined as a control with a boostAction
.
Use the following instructions to create a boost serving control.
For field details, see the
engines.controls
API reference and the
engines.controls.create
API reference.
Find your app ID. If you already have your app ID, skip to the next step.
In the Google Cloud console, go to the Agentspace page.
On the Apps page, find the name of your app and get the app's ID from the ID column.
Run the following curl commands to create your controls.
curl -X POST \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -H "X-Goog-User-Project: PROJECT_ID" \ "https://discoveryengine.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/collections/default_collection/engines/APP_ID/controls?controlId=CONTROL_ID" \ -d '{ "displayName": "DISPLAY_NAME", "solutionType": "SOLUTION_TYPE_SEARCH", "useCases": [ "USE_CASE" ], "conditions": { "queryTerms": [ { "value": "VALUE", "fullMatch": FULL_MATCH } ], "activeTimeRange": [ { "startTime": "START_TIMESTAMP", "endTime": "END_TIMESTAMP" } ] }, "boostAction": { "boost": BOOST_VALUE, "filter": "FILTER", "dataStore": "DATA_STORE_RESOURCE_PATH" } }'
Replace the following:
PROJECT_ID
: the number or ID of your Google Cloud project.APP_ID
: the ID of the app.CONTROL_ID
: a unique identifier for the control. The ID can contain [1-63] characters that can be letters, digits, hyphens, and underscores.DISPLAY_NAME
: the human-readable name for the control. Google recommends that this name provide an indication of when or why to use the control. Must be a UTF-8 encoded string with length [1,128].USE_CASE
: must be eitherSEARCH_USE_CASE_SEARCH
orSEARCH_USE_CASE_BROWSE
. IfSEARCH_USE_CASE_BROWSE
is specified, thenCondition.queryTerms
can't be used in the condition.CONDITION
: an optional field that defines when the control should be applied. Contains the following fields:VALUE
: the specific query value to match against. It's a lowercase UTF-8 string with length[1, 5000]
. IfFULL_MATCH_1
istrue
, this field can have at most three space-separated terms.FULL_MATCH
: a boolean that indicates whether the search query needs to exactly match the query term. When set totrue
, it requiresSearchRequest.query
to completely match thequeryTerm.value
. When set tofalse
, it requiresSearchRequest.query
to containqueryTerm.value
as a substring.START_TIMESTAMP
: a timestamp in RFC 3339 UTC "Zulu" format to indicate the start of a time range.END_TIMESTAMP
: a timestamp in RFC 3339 UTC "Zulu" format to indicate the end of a time range.
BOOST_VALUE
: a floating point number in the range [-1,1]. When the value is negative, results are demoted (they appear lower down in the results). When the value is positive, results are promoted (they appear higher up in the results). For more information, seeboostAction
.FILTER
: a string specifying requirements that must be met by the document. If the document matches all the requirements, the boost is applied. Otherwise there is no change. If this field is empty, then the boost is applied to all documents in the data store. For the filtering syntax, see Filter expression syntax. Note: The document fieldtitle
can't be filtered.DATA_STORE_RESOURCE_PATH
: the full resource path of the data store whose documents should be boosted by this control. The format of the full resource path isprojects/PROJECT_NUMBER/locations/LOCATION_ID/collections/default_collection/dataStores/DATA_STORE_ID
. This data store must be attached to the engine specified in the request.
Attach the control to the app's serving config using the
engines.servingConfigs.patch
method.curl -X PATCH \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -H "X-Goog-User-Project: PROJECT_ID" \ "https://discoveryengine.googleapis.com/v1alpha/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/collections/default_collection/engines/APP_ID/servingConfigs/default_search?update_mask=boost_control_ids" \ -d '{ "boostControlIds": ["BOOST_ID_1", "BOOST_ID_2"] }'
Replace
BOOST_ID_N
with the control IDs that you created in the previous step.
Create and attach filter serving controls
A filter serving control is defined as a control with a filterAction
.
Use the following instructions to create a filter serving control.
For field details, see the
engines.controls
API reference and the
engines.controls.create
API reference.
Find your app ID. If you already have your app ID, skip to the next step.
In the Google Cloud console, go to the Agentspace page.
On the Apps page, find the name of your app and get the app's ID from the ID column.
Run the following curl commands to create your controls.
curl -X POST \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -H "X-Goog-User-Project: PROJECT_ID" \ "https://discoveryengine.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/collections/default_collection/engines/APP_ID/controls?controlId=CONTROL_ID" \ -d '{ "displayName": "DISPLAY_NAME", "solutionType": "SOLUTION_TYPE_SEARCH", "useCases": ["USE_CASE"], "conditions": { "queryTerms": [ { "value": "VALUE", "fullMatch": FULL_MATCH } ], "activeTimeRange": [ { "startTime": "START_TIMESTAMP", "endTime": "END_TIMESTAMP" } ] }, "filterAction": { "filter": "FILTER" } }'
Replace the following:
PROJECT_ID
: the number or ID of your Google Cloud project.APP_ID
: the ID of the app.CONTROL_ID
: a unique identifier for the control. The ID can contain [1-63] characters that can be letters, digits, hyphens, and underscores.DISPLAY_NAME
: the human-readable name for the control. Google recommends that this name provide an indication of when or why to use the control. Must be a UTF-8 encoded string with length [1,128].USE_CASE
: must be eitherSEARCH_USE_CASE_SEARCH
orSEARCH_USE_CASE_BROWSE
. IfSEARCH_USE_CASE_BROWSE
is specified, thenCondition.queryTerms
can't be used in the condition.CONDITION
: an optional field that defines when the control should be applied. Contains the following fields:VALUE
: the specific query value to match against. It's a lowercase UTF-8 string with length[1, 5000]
. IfFULL_MATCH_1
istrue
, this field can have at most three space-separated terms.FULL_MATCH
: a boolean that indicates whether the search query needs to exactly match the query term. When set totrue
, it requiresSearchRequest.query
to completely match thequeryTerm.value
. When set tofalse
, it requiresSearchRequest.query
to containqueryTerm.value
as a substring.START_TIMESTAMP
: a timestamp in RFC 3339 UTC "Zulu" format to indicate the start of a time range.END_TIMESTAMP
: a timestamp in RFC 3339 UTC "Zulu" format to indicate the end of a time range.
FILTER
: a string specifying requirements that must be met by the document. If the document matches all the requirements, the document is returned in the results. Otherwise the document is not in the results. For the filtering syntax, see Filter expression syntax. For more information, seefilterAction
. Note: The document fieldtitle
can't be filtered.
Attach the control to the app's serving config using the
engines.servingConfigs.patch
method.curl -X PATCH \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -H "X-Goog-User-Project: PROJECT_ID" \ "https://discoveryengine.googleapis.com/v1alpha/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/collections/default_collection/engines/APP_ID/servingConfigs/default_search?update_mask=filter_control_ids" \ -d '{ "filterControlIds": ["FILTER_ID_1", "FILTER_ID_2"] }'
Replace
FILTER_ID_N
with the control IDs that you created in the previous step.
Create and attach synonyms serving controls
A synonyms serving control is defined as a control with a synonymsAction
.
Use the following instructions to create a synonyms serving control.
For field details, see the
engines.controls
API reference and the
engines.controls.create
API reference.
Find your app ID. If you already have your app ID, skip to the next step.
In the Google Cloud console, go to the Agentspace page.
On the Apps page, find the name of your app and get the app's ID from the ID column.
Run the following curl commands to create your controls.
curl -X POST \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -H "X-Goog-User-Project: PROJECT_ID" \ "https://discoveryengine.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/collections/default_collection/engines/APP_ID/controls?controlId=CONTROL_ID" \ -d '{ "displayName": "DISPLAY_NAME", "solutionType": "SOLUTION_TYPE_SEARCH", "useCases": ["USE_CASE"], "conditions": { "queryTerms": [ { "value": "VALUE", "fullMatch": FULL_MATCH } ], "activeTimeRange": [ { "startTime": "START_TIMESTAMP", "endTime": "END_TIMESTAMP" } ] }, "synonymsAction": { "synonyms": ["SYNONYMS_1","SYNONYMS_2"] } }'
Replace the following:
PROJECT_ID
: the number or ID of your Google Cloud project.APP_ID
: the ID of the app.CONTROL_ID
: a unique identifier for the control. The ID can contain [1-63] characters that can be letters, digits, hyphens, and underscores.DISPLAY_NAME
: the human-readable name for the control. Google recommends that this name provide an indication of when or why to use the control. Must be a UTF-8 encoded string with length [1,128].USE_CASE
: must be eitherSEARCH_USE_CASE_SEARCH
orSEARCH_USE_CASE_BROWSE
. IfSEARCH_USE_CASE_BROWSE
is specified, thenCondition.queryTerms
can't be used in the condition.CONDITION
: an optional field that defines when the control should be applied. Contains the following fields:VALUE
: the specific query value to match against. It's a lowercase UTF-8 string with length[1, 5000]
. IfFULL_MATCH_1
istrue
, this field can have at most three space-separated terms.FULL_MATCH
: a boolean that indicates whether the search query needs to exactly match the query term. When set totrue
, it requiresSearchRequest.query
to completely match thequeryTerm.value
. When set tofalse
, it requiresSearchRequest.query
to containqueryTerm.value
as a substring.START_TIMESTAMP
: a timestamp in RFC 3339 UTC "Zulu" format to indicate the start of a time range.END_TIMESTAMP
: a timestamp in RFC 3339 UTC "Zulu" format to indicate the end of a time range.
SYNONYMS_N
: a list of strings that are associated with each other, making it more likely for each to show similar results. While it's more likely that you get similar results, when you search for each of the synonym entries, you might not receive all the relevant results for all the associated synonyms. You must specify at least two synonyms and you can specify up to 100 synonyms. Each synonym must be UTF-8 encoded and in lowercase. No duplicate strings are allowed. For example, you can add "pixel", "android phone", and "google phone" as synonyms. For more information, seesynonymsAction
.
Attach the control to the app's serving config using the
engines.servingConfigs.patch
method.curl -X PATCH \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -H "X-Goog-User-Project: PROJECT_ID" \ "https://discoveryengine.googleapis.com/v1alpha/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/collections/default_collection/engines/APP_ID/servingConfigs/default_search?update_mask=synonyms_control_ids" \ -d '{ "synonymsControlIds": ["SYNONYMS_ID_1", "SYNONYMS_ID_2"] }'
Replace
SYNONYMS_ID_N
with the control IDs that you created in the previous step.
Create and attach redirect serving controls
A redirect serving control allows redirecting users to a provided URI.
Redirect controls are defined as a control with a redirectAction
.
Use the following instructions to create a redirect serving control.
For field details, see the
engines.controls
API reference and the
engines.controls.create
API reference.
Find your app ID. If you already have your app ID, skip to the next step.
In the Google Cloud console, go to the Agentspace page.
On the Apps page, find the name of your app and get the app's ID from the ID column.
Run the following curl commands to create your controls.
curl -X POST \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -H "X-Goog-User-Project: PROJECT_ID" \ "https://discoveryengine.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/collections/default_collection/engines/APP_ID/controls?controlId=CONTROL_ID" \ -d '{ "displayName": "DISPLAY_NAME", "solutionType": "SOLUTION_TYPE_SEARCH", "useCases": ["USE_CASE"], "conditions": { "queryTerms": [ { "value": "VALUE", "fullMatch": FULL_MATCH } ], "activeTimeRange": [ { "startTime": "START_TIMESTAMP", "endTime": "END_TIMESTAMP" } ] }, "redirectAction": { "redirectURI": "REDIRECT_URI" } }'
Replace the following:
PROJECT_ID
: the number or ID of your Google Cloud project.APP_ID
: the ID of the app.CONTROL_ID
: a unique identifier for the control. The ID can contain [1-63] characters that can be letters, digits, hyphens, and underscores.DISPLAY_NAME
: the human-readable name for the control. Google recommends that this name provide an indication of when or why to use the control. Must be a UTF-8 encoded string with length [1,128].USE_CASE
: must be eitherSEARCH_USE_CASE_SEARCH
orSEARCH_USE_CASE_BROWSE
. IfSEARCH_USE_CASE_BROWSE
is specified, thenCondition.queryTerms
can't be used in the condition.CONDITION
: an optional field that defines when the control should be applied. Contains the following fields:VALUE
: the specific query value to match against. It's a lowercase UTF-8 string with length[1, 5000]
. IfFULL_MATCH_1
istrue
, this field can have at most three space-separated terms.FULL_MATCH
: a boolean that indicates whether the search query needs to exactly match the query term. When set totrue
, it requiresSearchRequest.query
to completely match thequeryTerm.value
. When set tofalse
, it requiresSearchRequest.query
to containqueryTerm.value
as a substring.START_TIMESTAMP
: a timestamp in RFC 3339 UTC "Zulu" format to indicate the start of a time range.END_TIMESTAMP
: a timestamp in RFC 3339 UTC "Zulu" format to indicate the end of a time range.
REDIRECT_URI_N
: a URI where you are redirected. Can have a maximum length of 2000 characters. For example, if the value of the query term is "support", you can set a redirect to your technical support page instead of returning (or failing to return) search results for "support". In this example, the redirect URI becomes"https://www.example.com/support"
. For more information, seeredirectAction
.
Attach the control to the app's serving config using the
engines.servingConfigs.patch
method.curl -X PATCH \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -H "X-Goog-User-Project: PROJECT_ID" \ "https://discoveryengine.googleapis.com/v1alpha/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/collections/default_collection/engines/APP_ID/servingConfigs/default_search?update_mask=redirect_control_ids" \ -d '{ "redirectControlIds": ["REDIRECT_ID_1", "REDIRECT_ID_2"] }'
Replace
REDIRECT_ID_N
with the control IDs that you created in the previous step.
Create and attach promote serving controls
A promote serving control lets you display a link as a promoted result. This control is available only for website data stores with basic website search.
Unlike other serving controls, you don't need to attach a promote control to the serving config of the app. Creating and enabling a promote control for an app activates the promote control. Additionally, unlike other serving controls, you can turn a promotion control on or off by enabling or disabling it.
Promote controls are defined using a promoteAction
.
To successfully create a promote control, one of the following fields is required in the creation request:
- The
queryTerms
field withfullMatch
set totrue
- The
queryRegex
field
Use the following instructions to create a promote serving control.
For field details, see the
engines.controls
API reference and the
engines.controls.create
API reference.
Find your app ID. If you already have your app ID, skip to the next step.
In the Google Cloud console, go to the Agentspace page.
On the Apps page, find the name of your app and get the app's ID from the ID column.
Run the following curl commands to create your controls.
curl -X POST \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -H "X-Goog-User-Project: PROJECT_ID" \ "https://discoveryengine.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/collections/default_collection/engines/APP_ID/controls?controlId=CONTROL_ID" \ -d '{ "displayName": "DISPLAY_NAME", "solutionType": "SOLUTION_TYPE_SEARCH", "useCases": ["USE_CASE"], "conditions": { "queryTerms": [ { "value": "VALUE", "fullMatch": true } ], "activeTimeRange": [ { "startTime": "START_TIMESTAMP", "endTime": "END_TIMESTAMP" } ], "queryRegex": "VALUE_REGEX" }, "promoteAction": { "dataStore": "DATA_STORE_RESOURCE_PATH", "searchLinkPromotion": { "title": "URI_TITLE", "uri": "URI", "description": "URI_DESCRIPTION", "enabled": ENABLED_TRUE|FALSE, } } }'
Replace the following:
PROJECT_ID
: the number or ID of your Google Cloud project.APP_ID
: the ID of the app.CONTROL_ID
: a unique identifier for the control. The ID can contain [1-63] characters that can be letters, digits, hyphens, and underscores.DISPLAY_NAME
: the human-readable name for the control. Google recommends that this name provide an indication of when or why to use the control. Must be a UTF-8 encoded string with length [1,128].USE_CASE
: must be eitherSEARCH_USE_CASE_SEARCH
orSEARCH_USE_CASE_BROWSE
. IfSEARCH_USE_CASE_BROWSE
is specified, thenCondition.queryTerms
can't be used in the condition.Condition
: an optional object that defines when the control should be applied. Contains the following fields:queryTerms
: Cannot be used with thequeryRegex
field.VALUE
: the specific query value to match against. It's a lowercase UTF-8 string with length[1, 5000]
.
activeTimeRange
:START_TIMESTAMP
: a timestamp in RFC 3339 UTC "Zulu" format to indicate the start of a time range.END_TIMESTAMP
: a timestamp in RFC 3339 UTC "Zulu" format to indicate the end of a time range.
queryRegex
: Cannot be used with thequeryTerms
field.VALUE_REGEX
: a regular expression to match the query against. This is only available for the promote serving control.
DATA_STORE_RESOURCE_PATH
: the full resource path of the data store whose search results contain the promoted URL. The format of the full resource path isprojects/PROJECT_NUMBER/locations/LOCATION_ID/collections/default_collection/dataStores/DATA_STORE_ID
. This data store must be attached to the engine specified in the request.URI_TITLE
: a required field to specify the title of the URI, which is displayed in the search result.URI
: a required field to specify the URI link where the search result leads the user. This URI need not be included in the data store.URI_DESCRIPTION
: an optional field to describe the URI, which is displayed in the search result.ENABLED_TRUE|FALSE
: an optional boolean field to indicate whether the promote control is turned on and attached to the app. When you set this field tofalse
, the promote serving control is turned off and for the control to take effect, you must update the control by enabling it, as explained in the next step. For more information, seepromoteAction
.
Optional: To turn a promote control on or off after the control is created, call the
engines.control.patch
method.curl -X PATCH \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -H "X-Goog-User-Project: PROJECT_ID" \ "https://discoveryengine.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/collections/default_collection/engines/APP_ID/controls/CONTROL_ID?updateMask=promoteAction.searchLinkPromotion.enabled" \ -d '{ "promoteAction": { "searchLinkPromotion": { "enabled": ENABLED_TRUE|FALSE, } } }'
Example
When you send a search request to the app with a query that matches the query or query regular expression specified for the promote control, the promoted link appears in the response.
For example, suppose that you create a promote control with the following configuration:
{ "conditions": [ { "queryTerms": [ { "value": "artificial intelligence", "fullMatch": true } ] } ]" ... promoteAction": { "dataStore": "https://discoveryengine.googleapis.com/v1alpha/projects/123456/locations/us/collections/default_collection/dataStores/basic-website-data-store" \ "searchLinkPromotion": { "title": "What is AI?", "uri": "https://cloud.google.com/learn/what-is-artificial-intelligence", "description": "Explain what is AI" "enabled": true } } }
Then, you send the following search request:
curl -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth print-access-token)" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ "https://discoveryengine.googleapis.com/v1alpha/projects/123456/locations/us/collections/default_collection/engines/basic-website-app/servingConfigs/default_search:search" \ -d '{ "query": "artificial intelligence" }'
You should receive a JSON response similar to the following truncated response.
The response contains the searchLinkPromotions
field that contains the
promoted link.
{ "results": [...], "totalSize": 3, "attributionToken": "_gHw_QoMCMSbhboGELuI1qwCEiQ2NzQwYmYzYi0wMDAwLTJmYTctYTk1OC0yNDA1ODg4MzZmYjgiB0dFTkVSSUMqvAGrxIotzua1L5neqC_n7YgtxPzLMIOymiK0kq4wxPi8MPn2sy3LmrQw6d3EMNSynRWc1rctnN3YMOuCsS3ogrEto4CXIsLwnhX89rMtkKS0MJbeqC-jibMtkPeyMMTGsTCZ3dgw5O2ILa7Eii2NpLQw5t3EMN6PmiKOvp0VwfzLMICymiKq-LMt0ea1L634sy3Fy_MXtreMLbeSrjDHxrEwzpq0MMH4vDCgibMtn9a3LZSSxTCOkckw24-aIjAB", "guidedSearchResult": {}, "summary": {}, "searchLinkPromotions": [ { "title": "What is AI?", "uri": "https://cloud.google.com/learn/what-is-artificial-intelligence", "description": "Explain what is AI" } ] }
What's next
- To understand the impact of a serving control on the search quality of an app, evaluate search quality.