openclaw/skills/tidb-sql/references/full-text-search.md

title
TiDB Full-Text Search (SQL)

TiDB Full-Text Search (SQL)

TiDB provides a full-text search feature that can replace MySQL-style keyword search use cases.

Availability gate (important)

Full-text search availability can depend on TiDB Cloud tier/region and TiDB version. Always confirm your deployment's capability before relying on it.

Create a full-text index

Create with table:

CREATE TABLE stock_items(
  id INT,
  title TEXT,
  FULLTEXT INDEX (title) WITH PARSER MULTILINGUAL
);

Or add to an existing table:

ALTER TABLE stock_items
  ADD FULLTEXT INDEX (title) WITH PARSER MULTILINGUAL
  ADD_COLUMNAR_REPLICA_ON_DEMAND;

Parsers:

• STANDARD: best for space/punctuation-delimited languages (often English)
• MULTILINGUAL: supports mixed languages (including CJK)

Note: ADD_COLUMNAR_REPLICA_ON_DEMAND is used in the official examples for enabling full-text search indexing. If your TiDB deployment rejects this clause, remove it and follow the deployment-specific guidance.

Query with ranking

Use FTS_MATCH_WORD(query, column) in both WHERE and ORDER BY:

SELECT *
FROM stock_items
WHERE FTS_MATCH_WORD('bluetooth earbuds', title)
ORDER BY FTS_MATCH_WORD('bluetooth earbuds', title) DESC
LIMIT 10;

Count matches:

SELECT COUNT(*)
FROM stock_items
WHERE FTS_MATCH_WORD('bluetooth earbuds', title);

Migration note (MySQL FULLTEXT)

Do not assume MySQL FULLTEXT behavior/availability carries over to TiDB in all deployments. If the user says "use FULLTEXT", clarify whether they mean "MySQL FULLTEXT index" or "TiDB full-text search feature".