Create a custom recommendations app

Note: This feature is a Preview offering, subject to the "Pre-GA Offerings Terms"of theGCP Service Specific Terms.Pre-GA products and features may have limited support, andchanges to pre-GA products and features may not be compatible with other pre-GAversions. For more information, see thelaunch stage descriptions.Further, by using this feature, you agree to theGenerative AI Preview terms and conditions("Preview Terms"). For this feature, you can process personal data as outlined in theCloud Data Processing Addendum,subject to applicable restrictions and obligations in the Agreement (as defined in the Preview Terms).

This page describes how to create a custom recommendations app.

Console

To use the Google Cloud console to create a custom recommendations app, followthese steps:

  1. In the Google Cloud console, go to theAI Applications page.

    AI Applications

  2. On theApps page, clickCreate app.

  3. On theCreate App page, underRecommendations engine, clickCreate.

  4. In theYour app name field, enter a name for your app. Your app IDappears under the engine name.

  5. Optional: ClickEdit to edit your app ID.

  6. ClickContinue.

  7. To connect to a data store, on theData Stores page, select a data storethat contains structured data or choose to create a data store.Do one of the following:

    • Select an existing data store, if one is available. A data store can beattached to only one app, and it can't be removed from the app later.

    • Create a new structured data store and ingest data into it. Do this byclickingCreate data store and following the steps in theCreate anew data store pane that opens. Then select your new data store. Formore information about creating a data store, seeCreate acustom recommendations data store.

  8. Optional: To see a list of unavailable data stores, clickLearn why.

    A table is displayed with a list of data stores and the reason why they areunavailable. Here are some of the reasons why a data store might beunavailable:

    • Your data store type allows connection to only one app and the datastore is already connected.
    • Your data store and your app are in different regions.
    • Your data store and your app are of different types. For example, youcannot connect a media data store to a custom recommendations app.
    • Your data store has basic website search, whereas acustom recommendations app requires a data store with advanced website indexing.

  9. ClickCreate.

REST

Before you use the command line to create an app, you must have an existing datastore. If you don't have a data store, create one following the steps inCreate a custom recommendations data store.

Note: This feature is experimental.

To use the command line to create a recommendations app, follow these steps:

  1. Find your data store ID. If you already have your data storeID, skip to the next step.

    1. In the Google Cloud console, go to theAI Applications page andin the navigation menu, clickData Stores.

      Go to the Data Stores page

    2. Click the name of your data store.

    3. On theData page for your data store, get the data store ID.

  2. Create an app and connect it to a structured data store. A data storecan be attached to only one app and can't be removed from the app later.

    Key Term: In Vertex AI Search, the termapp can be used interchangeably with the termengine in the context of APIs.
    curl-XPOST\-H"Authorization: Bearer$(gcloudauthprint-access-token)"\-H"Content-Type: application/json"\-H"X-Goog-User-Project:PROJECT_ID"\"https://discoveryengine.googleapis.com/v1alpha/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/global/collections/default_collection/engines?engineId=APP_ID"\-d'{  "displayName": "APP_DISPLAY_NAME",  "dataStoreIds": ["DATA_STORE_ID"],  "solutionType": ["SOLUTION_TYPE_RECOMMENDATION"],  "similarDocumentsConfig": {}}'

    Replace the following:

    • PROJECT_ID: the ID of your Google Cloud project.
    • APP_ID: the ID of the recommendations app that you want to create.
    • APP_DISPLAY_NAME: the display name of the recommendations app that you want to create.
    • DATA_STORE_ID: the ID of an existing recommendations data storethat you want to add to the recommendations app.

What's next

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Last updated 2026-02-19 UTC.