---
title: .NET client API
slug: cms-12/docs/net-client-api
docTags: 
createdAt: 2026-08-10T15:55:55.000Z
---

The .NET client API for Optimizely Search & Navigation is built on the premise of "convention over configuration," meaning it "just works" using a set of default conventions. Using code, you can customize these conventions to suit your needs. This topic describes configuring Optimizely Search & Navigation to work with the .NET API.

To use the .NET API, add references to the required assemblies, `EPiServer.Find.dll` and `NewtonSoft.Json.dll`. Then configure the service URL and default index name in `web.config/app.config` by adding  the following code:

```xml
<configuration>
  <configSections>
    <section name="episerver.find"
             type="EPiServer.Find.Configuration, EPiServer.Find"
             requirePermission="false"/>
  </configSections>
  <episerver.find serviceUrl="http://..." defaultIndex="myindex"/>
</configuration>
```

You can also configure the service URL and default index name in the `appSettings` section like this:

```xml
<configuration>
  <add key="episerver:FindServiceUrl" value="https://inte.find.episerver.net/test" />
	<add key="episerver:FindDefaultIndex" value="test" />
</configuration>
```

The .NET client API can get settings from the `Web.config/configSections` or `Web.config/appSettings` section. The settings value in `appSettings` takes higher priority and overwrites the value in `configSections`.

Next, create an instance of the `Client` class and start working with the Find service. See [Client class](docId\:UNQusUQ7qiw14HnbONJB2) for more details about next steps.