Pass abortSignal through SearchRequestAdapter to multiSearch.perform()

[isaacrowntree]

Problem

When using the adapter with InstantSearch's geo search (e.g. useGeoSearch with map panning), rapid refine() calls can stack up many concurrent multiSearch.perform() requests. If a search takes longer than the debounce interval, previous in-flight requests aren't cancelled — they all run to completion (or timeout), wasting resources and potentially returning stale results.

Context

The Typesense JS SDK already supports request cancellation via AbortSignal:

• MultiSearch.perform(searches, commonParams, options) accepts options.abortSignal (PR #297, shipped in v2.1.0)
• ApiCall translates the signal to an Axios CancelToken and properly handles node health tracking for aborted requests (PR #253)

However, SearchRequestAdapter.request() calls multiSearch.perform() with only two arguments:

// SearchRequestAdapter.js, request() method
return this.typesenseClient.multiSearch.perform(searchRequest, commonParams);
//                                                                          ^ no 3rd arg

The third options parameter (where abortSignal would go) is never passed through.

Proposed Solution

Option A: Internal AbortController management (recommended)

Since the Algolia SearchClient interface doesn't pass an AbortSignal to search(), the adapter could manage its own AbortController internally — aborting the previous in-flight search when a new one starts:

// In TypesenseInstantsearchAdapter
let activeController = null;

async searchTypesenseAndAdapt(instantsearchRequests) {
  if (activeController) activeController.abort();
  const controller = new AbortController();
  activeController = controller;

  try {
    // ... existing logic, but pass abortSignal through to request()
    return await this._adaptAndPerformTypesenseRequest(
      instantsearchRequests,
      { abortSignal: controller.signal }
    );
  } finally {
    if (activeController === controller) activeController = null;
  }
}

Option B: Pass-through only

At minimum, expose an options parameter on SearchRequestAdapter.request() and forward it to multiSearch.perform(), allowing consumers to manage their own AbortController:

async request(options) {
  // ... existing search building logic ...
  return this.typesenseClient.multiSearch.perform(searchRequest, commonParams, options);
}

Impact

In our production app, a single user panning a map generates 10-15 concurrent requests that all timeout after 2s. This produces the majority of our Typesense-related errors. Adding cancellation at this layer would eliminate the issue.

Current Workaround

We're monkey-patching adapter.typesenseClient.multiSearch.perform after construction to inject an AbortController per call (also wrapping clearCache to re-apply after client replacement). Works, but would be cleaner as a first-class feature.

[tharropoulos]

Hey @isaacrowntree ,

Could you describe a flow where passing in an external abort controller work with Instantsearch? I can' t think of a good enough API for this, since you'd have to invoke the search method itself.

I was thinking of having a default abort controller but have the ability to pass in another one and rely on AbortController's any method to combine them, but this will rely on having a good enough API the search method.