Manage serving configs

This page describes how to delete, edit, and list serving configs, as well as review statistics about each configuration.

For help with creating a new serving config, see Create serving configs.

If you have existing placements, or create new placements, Vertex AI Search for retail automatically creates a serving config associated with each placement. Creating a serving config does not create a corresponding placement. Deleting a serving config deletes its corresponding placement, and deleting a placement deletes its corresponding serving config.

Edit serving configs

You can edit serving configs using the Search for Retail console or the API.

Note: If you are making significant changes to a a serving config that contains a Page-Level Optimization model, the Page-Level Optimization model might return suboptimal results while it is retraining. Because it can take a long time to retrain the Page-Level Optimization model, consider recreating the Page-Level Optimization model and its associated serving config.

Edit serving configs in the console

You can see and edit the controls for each serving config on the Serving Configs page. Click a serving config to see its Details page, which lists all serving and site-wide controls for that configuration.

On this page, you can edit controls, create new controls, or apply existing controls to the configuration.

It takes a few minutes for newly created or updated serving configs to be ready to serve live traffic. You can test changes right away on the Evaluate page.

Edit serving configs inline

You can update serving config fields, add serving controls, and remove serving controls inline using API methods.

Patch serving configs inline

To update fields in a serving config, use ServingConfig.patch and include an instance of ServingConfig in the request body. Specify the fields to update with the updateMask parameter, or leave it unset to update all supported fields.

For more about this method, see the ServingConfig.patch API reference.

curl -X PATCH \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth application-default print-access-token)" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
-d '{
      "name": "projects/PROJECT_NUMBER/locations/global/catalogs/default_catalog/servingConfigs/SERVING_CONFIG_ID",
      "FIELD_NAME_1": "NEW_FIELD_VALUE_1"
      "FIELD_NAME_2": "NEW_FIELD_VALUE_2"
    }' \
'https://retail.googleapis.com/v2beta/projects/PROJECT_NUMBER/locations/global/catalogs/default_catalog/servingConfigs/SERVING_CONFIG_ID?updateMask=FIELD_NAME_1,FIELD_NAME_2'

Add controls to serving configs inline

To add a control to a serving config, use ServingConfig.addControl. The control is added in the last position of the list of controls it belongs to. For example, a facetSpec control is applied in the last position of servingConfig.facetSpecIds.

For more about this method, see the ServingConfig.addControl API reference.

curl -X POST \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth application-default print-access-token)" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
-d '{
      "controlID": "CONTROL_ID"
    }' \
'https://retail.googleapis.com/v2beta/projects/PROJECT_NUMBER/locations/global/catalogs/default_catalog/servingConfigs/SERVING_CONFIG_ID:addControl'

Remove controls from serving configs inline

To remove a control from a serving config, use ServingConfig.removeControl.

For more about this method, see the ServingConfig.removeControl API reference.

curl -X POST \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth application-default print-access-token)" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
-d '{
      "controlID": "CONTROL_ID"
    }' \
'https://retail.googleapis.com/v2beta/projects/PROJECT_NUMBER/locations/global/catalogs/default_catalog/servingConfigs/SERVING_CONFIG_ID:removeControl'

View serving configs

You can view serving configs using the Search for Retail console or the API.

View serving configs in the console

You can see all of your serving configs on the Serving Configs page.

View serving configs inline

To see a single serving config inline, use ServingConfig.get.

For more about this method, see the ServingConfig.get API reference.

curl -X GET \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth application-default print-access-token)" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
'https://retail.googleapis.com/v2beta/projects/PROJECT_NUMBER/locations/global/catalogs/default_catalog/servingConfigs/SERVING_CONFIG_ID'

To list all serving configs inline, use ServingConfig.list.

Optionally, you can use the parameter pageSize to set a maximum number of results to return. If more results are available, the list response includes a page token. You can pass a page token in the pageToken parameter of a list request to retrieve the next page of results.

For more about this method, see the ServingConfig.list API reference.

curl -X GET \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth application-default print-access-token)" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
'https://retail.googleapis.com/v2beta/projects/PROJECT_NUMBER/locations/global/catalogs/default_catalog/servingConfigs?pageSize=PAGE_SIZE&pageToken=PAGE_TOKEN'

Delete a serving config

You can delete serving configs using the Search for Retail console or the API.

Note: If you delete a serving config that is being used by a Page-Level Optimization model, also delete and re-create the Page-Level Optimization model. Otherwise the Page-Level Optimization model will return the deleted serving config.

Delete serving configs in the console

To delete a serving config in the console:

1. Go to the Serving Configs page in the Search for Retail console.
   
   Go to the Serving configs page

2. Click the serving config you want to delete to open its details page.

3. Click Delete in the button bar at the top of the page.

4. If the serving config is considered active, you must retype its ID and click Confirm to complete the deletion.

Delete a serving config inline

To delete a single serving config inline, use ServingConfig.delete.

For more about this method, see the ServingConfig.delete API reference.

curl -X DELETE \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $(gcloud auth application-default print-access-token)" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8" \
'https://retail.googleapis.com/v2beta/projects/PROJECT_NUMBER/locations/global/catalogs/default_catalog/servingConfigs/SERVING_CONFIG_ID'

Reviewing serving config statistics

You can see details for each serving config on the Serving Configs page. For any configuration in the table, click View analytics to see its statistics.

Click-through-rate shows the clicks per search for the serving config. Conversion rate indicates the purchases per search for the configuration.

Note: The time periods for statistics are in the Pacific time zone. For example, daily statistics represent the data from yesterday at midnight Pacific time to today at midnight Pacific time.