AI Search for Ghost
Put the AI Search Bar behind your Ghost theme's own search icon
Overview
Ghost search matches words. A reader who types "when are you open at the weekend" gets nothing, although your Visiting the roastery post answers it in its first line. The AI Search Bar reads the question and finds the post, even when the two share no words at all.
The bar sits behind the search icon your theme already has, so readers find it where they already look. The / and Cmd+K shortcuts open it too.
What You Need
- A Ghost site, version 5.0 or later. Self-hosted and Ghost(Pro) both work.
- Access to Ghost Admin, so you can open Settings.
- An Asyntai account. The setup makes one for you if you do not have one yet, free.
Installing
- Download asyntai-ai-search-ghost.zip and open
asyntai-search.htmlfrom it in any text editor. - In Ghost Admin open Settings → Code injection.
- Paste the whole file into the Site footer box and press Save.
- Open
https://yoursite.com/#asyntai-searchin your browser. A setup panel appears. - Press Connect and sign in, or create a free account, in the window that opens.
- The panel prints the same block back with your site id filled in. Press Copy the code, paste it over what you pasted in step 3, and save again.
That is the whole install. There is no theme to edit and nothing to upload.
Why you paste twice
Ghost runs no code of ours on its server, so there is nowhere on your site for your site id to live except that block. The second paste is the block writing itself out for you, with the id already in place, so there is nothing to type by hand.
Where the Bar Appears
Every official Ghost theme marks its search icon with data-ghost-search. The block takes that click before Ghost's own search sees it and opens the AI bar instead. The same is true of the / and Cmd+K shortcuts.
On a theme that has a plain search form instead of an icon, the bar takes the form's place.
Settings
Three lines sit at the top of the block. Only the first is filled in for you.
| Line | What it does |
|---|---|
SITE_ID | Your site id. The setup panel fills this in. |
ACCENT | Highlight colour, for example '#111111'. Leave it empty for the default. |
PLACEHOLDER | The text inside the empty bar. Leave it empty for the default. |
When the Bar Holds Back
The bar renders only when we confirm it can answer. It stays out of the way when:
- your plan does not include the AI Search Bar yet,
- this month's allowance is used up,
- we have not finished reading your site, which takes a few minutes after you connect.
In each of those cases your theme's own search keeps working exactly as it did before. A search box that cannot answer is worse than no change at all, so the bar waits for a clear yes.
Reading Your Posts
We read your site the same way a reader does, by following your pages. Published posts and pages are found automatically, and new ones are picked up as we re-read the site. Nothing is sent to us from inside Ghost, and there is no API key to create.
Removing It
Delete the block from Settings → Code injection → Site footer and save. Your theme's search returns to normal at once.
Troubleshooting
| What you see | What to do |
|---|---|
| The setup panel does not open | Check that the block is in the Site footer box and not the header, and that you saved. The address must end in /#asyntai-search. |
| The panel says "Connected" but the icon opens the old search | We are still reading your site. Give it a few minutes and reload. The panel tells you what we are waiting for. |
| The bar appears for you but not for readers | The second paste is missing. Open /#asyntai-search, copy the block again, and paste it over the one in Code injection. |
| Nothing changed after you pasted | Some Ghost themes cache the footer. Open the site in a private window to be sure you are seeing the new code. |
Need Help?
Email [email protected] and we will set it up with you.