# How does completion suggester work?

**URL:** <https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-does-completion-suggester-work/133972>\
**Category:** Elasticsearch\
**Created:** [May 31, 2018, 6:06am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-does-completion-suggester-work/133972 "2018-05-31T06:06:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![YuWatanabe](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/user_avatar/discuss.elastic.co/yuwatanabe/32/13259_2.png) [@YuWatanabe](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/YuWatanabe)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2018, 6:06am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-does-completion-suggester-work/133972/1 "2018-05-31T06:06:56Z")

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Hello.

I am in a situation where I will need to implement autocomplete function . I'm thinking of using the _completion suggester_ .

I have read below two related sources and would like to ask for help .

**Completion Suggester**

> **[Completion Suggester | Elasticsearch Reference \[6.2\] | Elastic](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/6.2/search-suggesters-completion.html#search-suggesters-completion)**

**You complete me**

> **[You Complete Me](https://www.elastic.co/blog/you-complete-me)**

Q1. In the blog , it says that suggester is not the same as regular full text query.

> Why has it returned just Mercure Hotel Munich? Why doesn't it include Hotel Monaco or Marriot? The reason is that an FST query is not the same as a full text query. We can't find words anywhere within a phrase. Instead, we have to start at the left of the graph and move towards the right. The only suggestion that starts with an m is the Mercure Hotel Munich.

However, in the latest document, you can specify _analyzer_ and _search\_analyzer_ for suggester field. How does the suggester search actually work if you specify analyzer where the search is not full text query ?

Q2. At best , I am expecting to maintain _input_ in _suggestion fied_ in near realtime. Generally, do you maintain the _input_ periodically (e.g every 5 min ) for auto completion or could it possibly be maintained near real time ?

I appreciate if someone can give me advice me about my questions.

Best Regards,  
Yu Watanabe

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/elastic/original/3X/1/a/1ac57faf039f6b580b3f104ef42a2a89e41014de.png) [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)\
**Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 6:07am UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/how-does-completion-suggester-work/133972/2 "2018-06-28T06:07:03Z")

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