# ReactiveSearch is Now Fully Open Source

> The entire ReactiveSearch stack is now completely free and open-source: API gateway, dashboard, search relevancy, pipelines, AI search, analytics, access control, caching, UI builder and more. No paywalls, no hosted-only features.

## What is ReactiveSearch?

ReactiveSearch is an API gateway that sits between your client applications and Elasticsearch (or OpenSearch). It supercharges your search cluster with:

*   **Search Relevancy** — fine-tune results without touching Elasticsearch configs
    
*   **Pipelines** — composable, scriptable query and indexing pipelines
    
*   **AI Search** — vector search, kNN, hybrid search out of the box
    
*   **Analytics** — search analytics, click analytics, conversions
    
*   **Access Control** — API keys, Role-based access, field-level security
    
*   **Speed & Caching** — query caching and rate limiting
    
*   **UI Builder** — no-code search UI builder
    
*   **Data Management** — import, browse and manage your indices visually
    

It works with any client — React, Vue, Flutter, React Native, vanilla JavaScript, REST APIs — or the built-in no-code UI builder.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/589eed69710ea4825970a84c/cd069e74-4455-497b-8608-a7f4496bf942.svg align="center")

## Get Started in 4 Steps

The entire stack runs with Docker. Here's how to get it up in under 5 minutes.

### 1\. Clone and start the services

```shell
git clone https://github.com/appbaseio/reactivesearch-api-docker.git \
  && cd reactivesearch-api-docker

docker-compose -f docker-compose-with-elasticsearch.yaml up -d
```

This starts Elasticsearch, ReactiveSearch API, Nginx (with TLS) and Fluent Bit (for log shipping) — all with a single command.

<details data-node-type="hn-details-summary">
<summary>Using OpenSearch?</summary>
<p>Use the OpenSearch compose file instead:</p><pre class="not-prose"><code class="language-shell">docker-compose -f docker-compose-with-opensearch.yaml up -d</code></pre>
</details>

### 2\. Verify the service is running

```shell
curl http://localhost:8000 -u rs-admin-user:rs-password
```

You should see a response like:

```json
{
  "name": "elasticsearch",
  "cluster_name": "docker-cluster",
  "version": {
    "number": "9.3.0",
    "build_flavor": "default",
    "build_type": "docker",
    "build_hash": "17b451d8...",
    "build_date": "2026-01-29T10:05:46.708Z",
    "build_snapshot": false,
    "lucene_version": "10.3.2"
  },
  "tagline": "You Know, for Search"
}
```

This confirms ReactiveSearch is running and connected to your search cluster.

### 3\. Connect the Dashboard

Open [dash.reactivesearch.io](http://dash.reactivesearch.io) in your browser and sign in.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/589eed69710ea4825970a84c/9f2159a2-2543-445a-8e49-c247f2ec31f4.png align="center")

### 4\. Start building

After signing in you'll land on the **Cluster Overview** — your central hub for managing indices, configuring search relevancy, building search UIs, setting up analytics and more.

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/uploads/covers/589eed69710ea4825970a84c/bb922ac1-bec7-4b16-bb34-f9feade3172a.png align="center")

## Why Open Source

Open source has always been central to ReactiveSearch. Projects like [ReactiveSearch UI](https://github.com/appbaseio/reactivesearch) (1M+ installs, 4.9K GitHub stars) and [Dejavu](https://github.com/appbaseio/dejavu) (4.7M Docker pulls, 8.5K GitHub stars) have been community staples for years.

And with ReactiveSearch project having reached a maturity, it now makes sense to give it fully to the community. With the current state of AI tooling, anyone can self-host, customize and extend it without friction. This is the most complete version of ReactiveSearch, and now it's yours.

The API and UI libraries are available under the Apache 2.0 license (and MIT license for some UI libraries).

You can support the project by [sponsoring ReactiveSearch on GitHub](https://github.com/sponsors/appbaseio).

## Resources

*   [**Quickstart Guide**](https://docs.reactivesearch.io/docs/gettingstarted/quickstart/) — Import data, preview search and build your first search UI
    
*   [**Create a Search Pipeline**](https://docs.reactivesearch.io/docs/pipelines/how-to/) — Learn how to create a search pipeline
    
*   [**Build a Search UI**](https://reactivesearch.io/how-to/build-search-ui) — Hands-on demos with ReactiveSearch UI libraries
    
*   [**GitHub**](https://github.com/appbaseio/reactivesearch-api) — Star the repo, fork it, contribute