feat: Add auto-launch functionality for local Meilisearch instances

[tpayet]

• Client can now automatically download and launch Meilisearch when no URL is provided
• Supports automatic binary detection and download for macOS and Linux
• Implements proper lifecycle management with cleanup on client destruction
• Adds context manager support for automatic cleanup
• Updates README with simplified onboarding experience
• Adds comprehensive tests for the new functionality

This feature greatly simplifies the developer experience by removing the need to manually install and run Meilisearch for local development and testing.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Pull Request

Related issue

Fixes #<issue_number>

What does this PR do?

• ...

PR checklist

Please check if your PR fulfills the following requirements:

• [ ] Does this PR fix an existing issue, or have you listed the changes applied in the PR description (and why they are needed)?
• [ ] Have you read the contributing guidelines?
• [ ] Have you made sure that the title is accurate and descriptive of the changes?

Thank you so much for contributing to Meilisearch!

Summary by CodeRabbit

• New Features

  • The client now supports automatic launching and management of a local Meilisearch server if no URL is provided, simplifying setup for local development and testing.
  • Context manager support has been added to the client for easier resource management.

• Documentation

  • Updated README to document the new auto-launch feature and raised the minimum Python version requirement to 3.9.
  • Added a comprehensive CLAUDE.md guide for contributors and code assistants.
  • Improved CONTRIBUTING.md with clearer test instructions.

• Tests

  • Added tests to verify the auto-launch functionality and client lifecycle management.

• Chores

  • Updated .gitignore to exclude Meilisearch-related files and directories.

[coderabbitai[bot]]

Walkthrough

A new auto-launch feature was introduced, allowing the Meilisearch Python client to automatically download, start, and manage a local Meilisearch server when no URL is provided. Supporting code, documentation, and tests were added or updated to reflect this functionality, including client lifecycle management and usage instructions.

Changes

File(s)	Change Summary
.gitignore	Added ignore rules for Meilisearch data and binary files (data.ms/, *.ms, meili_data/).
CLAUDE.md	New documentation file with project overview, architecture, development guidelines, and onboarding for Claude Code and contributors.
CONTRIBUTING.md	Clarified and expanded test instructions for auto-launch and manual Meilisearch setup.
README.md	Updated minimum Python version to 3.9; documented auto-launch feature with usage examples and expanded setup instructions.
meilisearch/_local_server.py	New module implementing LocalMeilisearchServer for managing a local Meilisearch process, including download and cleanup logic.
meilisearch/client.py	Modified Client to support optional URL, auto-launching local server, context management, and resource cleanup methods.
tests/auto_launch/conftest.py	Added test fixtures overriding parent fixtures for auto-launch test isolation.
tests/auto_launch/test_client_auto_launch.py	New tests verifying client auto-launch behavior, API key handling, resource cleanup, and non-auto-launch with explicit URL.

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
    participant User
    participant Client
    participant LocalMeilisearchServer
    participant MeilisearchServer

    User->>Client: Instantiate Client(url=None)
    Client->>LocalMeilisearchServer: Initialize and start()
    LocalMeilisearchServer->>LocalMeilisearchServer: Find/download binary
    LocalMeilisearchServer->>MeilisearchServer: Launch process
    LocalMeilisearchServer->>Client: Return server URL and API key
    Client->>User: Ready for API calls
    User->>Client: Perform Meilisearch operations
    Client->>MeilisearchServer: Forward API requests
    User->>Client: Close or exit context
    Client->>LocalMeilisearchServer: Stop server, cleanup

Poem

🐇
A server springs up with a hop and a cheer,
No URL needed, Meilisearch is here!
The client now launches with magical ease,
Downloads and runs with the greatest of breeze.
Tests and docs join this festive parade,
In Pythonic meadows, new features are made!

✨ Finishing Touches

• [ ] 📝 Generate Docstrings

---

Thanks for using CodeRabbit! It's free for OSS, and your support helps us grow. If you like it, consider giving us a shout-out.

❤️ Share

• X
• Mastodon
• Reddit
• LinkedIn

🪧 Tips

Chat

There are 3 ways to chat with CodeRabbit:

• Review comments: Directly reply to a review comment made by CodeRabbit. Example:
  • I pushed a fix in commit <commit_id>, please review it.
  • Explain this complex logic.
  • Open a follow-up GitHub issue for this discussion.
• Files and specific lines of code (under the "Files changed" tab): Tag @coderabbitai in a new review comment at the desired location with your query. Examples:
  • @coderabbitai explain this code block.
  • @coderabbitai modularize this function.
• PR comments: Tag @coderabbitai in a new PR comment to ask questions about the PR branch. For the best results, please provide a very specific query, as very limited context is provided in this mode. Examples:
  • @coderabbitai gather interesting stats about this repository and render them as a table. Additionally, render a pie chart showing the language distribution in the codebase.
  • @coderabbitai read src/utils.ts and explain its main purpose.
  • @coderabbitai read the files in the src/scheduler package and generate a class diagram using mermaid and a README in the markdown format.
  • @coderabbitai help me debug CodeRabbit configuration file.

Support

Need help? Create a ticket on our support page for assistance with any issues or questions.

Note: Be mindful of the bot's finite context window. It's strongly recommended to break down tasks such as reading entire modules into smaller chunks. For a focused discussion, use review comments to chat about specific files and their changes, instead of using the PR comments.

CodeRabbit Commands (Invoked using PR comments)

• @coderabbitai pause to pause the reviews on a PR.
• @coderabbitai resume to resume the paused reviews.
• @coderabbitai review to trigger an incremental review. This is useful when automatic reviews are disabled for the repository.
• @coderabbitai full review to do a full review from scratch and review all the files again.
• @coderabbitai summary to regenerate the summary of the PR.
• @coderabbitai generate docstrings to generate docstrings for this PR.
• @coderabbitai generate sequence diagram to generate a sequence diagram of the changes in this PR.
• @coderabbitai resolve resolve all the CodeRabbit review comments.
• @coderabbitai configuration to show the current CodeRabbit configuration for the repository.
• @coderabbitai help to get help.

Other keywords and placeholders

• Add @coderabbitai ignore anywhere in the PR description to prevent this PR from being reviewed.
• Add @coderabbitai summary to generate the high-level summary at a specific location in the PR description.
• Add @coderabbitai anywhere in the PR title to generate the title automatically.

CodeRabbit Configuration File (.coderabbit.yaml)

• You can programmatically configure CodeRabbit by adding a .coderabbit.yaml file to the root of your repository.
• Please see the configuration documentation for more information.
• If your editor has YAML language server enabled, you can add the path at the top of this file to enable auto-completion and validation: # yaml-language-server: $schema=https://coderabbit.ai/integrations/schema.v2.json

Documentation and Community

• Visit our Documentation for detailed information on how to use CodeRabbit.
• Join our Discord Community to get help, request features, and share feedback.
• Follow us on X/Twitter for updates and announcements.

[tpayet]

@coderabbitai review

[coderabbitai[bot]]

✅ Actions performed

Review triggered.

Note: CodeRabbit is an incremental review system and does not re-review already reviewed commits. This command is applicable only when automatic reviews are paused.