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Search System Migration

TorrentPier now supports Manticore Search as a modern replacement for the legacy Sphinx API. All new projects are recommended to use Manticore, since it is fully compatible with the SphinxQL protocol but offers much more functionality.

Why Manticore?​

  • Actively maintained and developed
  • Drop-in compatibility with existing SphinxQL queries
  • Real-time indexes (RT) — instant indexing without rebuilds
  • Extended search operators (filters, full-text, boolean search, JSON fields)
  • Replication and sharding support for high-load environments
  • Works with common Sphinx client libraries

Sync System​

TorrentPier automatically synchronizes data with Manticore through helper functions:

// Topics
sync_topic_to_manticore($topic_id, $topic_title, $forum_id, 'upsert');
sync_topic_to_manticore($topic_id, null, null, 'delete');

// Posts
sync_post_to_manticore($post_id, $post_text, $topic_title, $topic_id, $forum_id, 'upsert');
sync_post_to_manticore($post_id, null, null, null, null, 'delete');

// Users
sync_user_to_manticore($user_id, $username, 'upsert');
sync_user_to_manticore($user_id, null, 'delete');

Each sync function supports two modes:

  • upsert — insert or update a record in the index
  • delete — remove a record from the index

All calls are wrapped in try/catch and errors are logged to manticore_errors.log so that search issues do not affect forum availability.

Configuration​

$bb_cfg['search_engine_type'] = 'manticore';
$bb_cfg['manticore_host'] = '127.0.0.1';
$bb_cfg['manticore_port'] = 9306;
$bb_cfg['search_fallback_to_mysql'] = true;

Migration Steps​

  1. Install and run Manticore Search
  2. Enable Manticore in config/config.php
  3. Reindex existing posts and topics:
    1. Go to the Admin Control Panel
    2. On the main page, in the Update section, click Reindex search
    3. This will rebuild the search index with all existing content