***

title: start
slug: /reference/python/agents/search/search-service/start
description: Start the HTTP search service.
max-toc-depth: 3
---------------------

For a complete index of all SignalWire documentation pages, fetch https://signalwire.com/docs/llms.txt

Start the HTTP service. This method blocks until the server is shut down
(e.g., via SIGINT). The service exposes search, health check, and index
reload endpoints.

## **Parameters**

<ParamField path="host" type="str" default="0.0.0.0" toc={true}>
  Host address to bind to.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="port" type="Optional[int]" toc={true}>
  Port to bind to. Defaults to the port set in the constructor.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="ssl_cert" type="Optional[str]" toc={true}>
  Path to an SSL certificate file for HTTPS. Overrides environment settings.
</ParamField>

<ParamField path="ssl_key" type="Optional[str]" toc={true}>
  Path to an SSL key file for HTTPS. Overrides environment settings.
</ParamField>

## **Returns**

`None` -- This method blocks and does not return until the server is stopped.

## **Example**

```python {7}
from signalwire.search import SearchService

service = SearchService(
    indexes={"docs": "./docs.swsearch"},
    basic_auth=("admin", "secret"),
)
service.start(port=8001)  # Blocks here, serving at http://0.0.0.0:8001/
```