# Add Search Index Support for Korean (ko)

**URL:** <https://zola.discourse.group/t/add-search-index-support-for-korean-ko/2597>\
**Category:** Feature requests\
**Created:** [May 6, 2025, 3:12am UTC](https://zola.discourse.group/t/add-search-index-support-for-korean-ko/2597 "2025-05-06T03:12:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![hahwul](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/zola.discourse.group/hahwul/32/1445_2.png) [@hahwul](https://zola.discourse.group/u/hahwul)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 3:12am UTC](https://zola.discourse.group/t/add-search-index-support-for-korean-ko/2597/1 "2025-05-06T03:12:10Z")

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Hello Zola Community,

I’d like to propose adding support for building search indexes for the Korean language (ko).

Currently, Zola reports that building a search index for ko is not supported when `build_search_index = true` is set in the `[languages.ko]` section of config.toml.

My understanding is that elasticlunr-rs, the search library Zola uses, has capabilities for handling Korean text([elasticlunr-rs/Cargo.toml at 5c50f78aa0b3a0769dff613f6d550135e3e20ee3 · mattico/elasticlunr-rs · GitHub](https://github.com/mattico/elasticlunr-rs/blob/5c50f78aa0b3a0769dff613f6d550135e3e20ee3/Cargo.toml#L40) / v3.0.2). To confirm this and explore adding the support, I’ve made a modification in my fork of the Zola repository.

> <https://github.com/hahwul/zola/commit/a3f7d2b1a2fed1dca6cdb8b25277f6cdfa75465d>

In this branch, I’ve enabled the ko feature for elasticlunr-rs in the relevant Cargo.toml file. I’ve tested this locally on a Korean-language site, and the search index builds and functions correctly.

_Output_

 ![Screenshot 2025-05-06 at 11.49.45 AM](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/free1/uploads/zola1/original/2X/d/d9ee545f776c66004198b2acf53324591397d42a.png)

_Zola binary size check_

```bash
# build master branch
wc -c target/release/zola
 34567728 target/release/zola

# build add-ko-to-build-search-index branch
wc -c target/release/zola
 34600768 target/release/zola

```

Following the guidance in the CONTRIBUTING.md regarding proposing new features, I wanted to open a discussion here before creating a formal Pull Request.

Is adding Korean search support something the core team and community are interested in? Are there any known complexities or considerations related to Korean text processing that I should be aware of?

I’m happy to discuss the implementation details and refine the changes based on your feedback.

Thanks for your time and guidance!

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![keats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/34f0e0/32.png) [@keats](https://zola.discourse.group/u/keats)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2025, 10:59am UTC](https://zola.discourse.group/t/add-search-index-support-for-korean-ko/2597/2 "2025-05-06T10:59:56Z")

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We can add it