Value of migrating from the JavaScript Search Framework (JSUI) to the Atomic library

This is for:

Developer

As search becomes an increasingly central part of how customers interact with brands, organizations need front-end frameworks that are modern, efficient, and built to scale.

Coveo Atomic offers a powerful set of web components designed to help you build intelligent, performance optimized, and customizable search interfaces.

Advantages of Coveo Atomic over the Coveo JavaScript Search Framework

When planning a migration, see JSUI component equivalences for a detailed mapping of JSUI features to Atomic components.

Tip

You can extend Atomic’s feature set by creating your own custom components. For advanced or highly customized solutions, you can use Coveo Headless to power these components, giving you a solid foundation for building search experiences.

In this article, we explore the advantages of Coveo Atomic through four strategic lenses:

Future-proofing

In the world of fast-paced digital experiences, the ability to adapt and innovate quickly is essential.

Coveo Atomic is a web component library that’s built on modern web standards, supported across all major browsers.

This architectural choice ensures compatibility with today’s front-end frameworks. It also lays a stable foundation for future innovations in web development.

By using native browser APIs Atomic provides a framework that’s easier to evolve and extend over time. Development teams can confidently build search experiences knowing that Atomic is aligned with long-term industry direction.

Tip

Atomic supports modern development practices, ensuring your search UI stays relevant as the digital landscape evolves.

Technical debt reduction

Atomic helps reduce technical debt by offering modular, reusable components with clear interfaces. These components are self-contained and follow consistent patterns. Teams can build and maintain search interfaces without using workarounds or deep customization.

Atomic supports configuration through HTML attributes and declarative slots. Developers can adjust behavior and layout without writing custom JavaScript or overriding internal logic.

This approach improves code quality, shortens onboarding time, and allows teams to focus on delivering business value rather than troubleshooting legacy implementations.

Tip

With Atomic, teams spend less time on technical complexity and more time building reliable, scalable solutions.

Subscription to innovation

Atomic receives regular updates in step with the Coveo Platform roadmap including:

  • UI improvements

  • Performance optimizations

  • Support for new platform capabilities (machine learning models and personalization tools)

Because Atomic is modular and configuration-driven, you can adopt most changes without refactoring. You often only need to change an attribute or component to unlock new features.

Tip

Atomic helps you adopt new features quickly, without the need for costly rewrites.

Lower total cost of ownership

Atomic improves efficiency across the lifecycle of a search project. It reduces the time needed to build, test, and maintain interfaces. You can create interfaces quickly with Atomic, and its standardized components help prevent common implementation issues.

Atomic reduces operating costs with:

  • Reusable components

  • Built-in accessibility

  • Performance optimizations

You can reuse layouts across products and regions, improving consistency and scaling faster.

Tip

Atomic helps reduce development time, support needs, and maintenance overhead, lowering the total cost of ownership.

Summary

The following table compares key capabilities and characteristics of Coveo’s JavaScript Search Framework (JSUI) framework with the Atomic library, helping you understand the benefits of migrating to Atomic.

Capability JSUI Atomic

Architecture

Custom JavaScript framework with coupled logic and rendering

Standards-based Web Components with encapsulated behavior

Framework compatibility

Designed for vanilla JavaScript with integration limitations

Framework-agnostic, usable in any front-end stack

UI control

Customizable via templates and JavaScript overrides

Declarative configuration through HTML attributes and slots

Customization model

Imperative; customization often requires JS and template overrides

Declarative; components are configurable without overriding internal logic

Innovation alignment

New features may require custom implementation or integration effort

Often updated with platform features baked directly into components

Modularity

Implementations are typically project-specific

Components can be reused across pages, apps, or projects

Maintainability

Can accumulate technical debt through custom overrides

Easier to maintain due to modularity and predictable component behavior

Implementation speed

Faster for teams already familiar with JSUI templates

Faster for new builds or projects needing standardized search interfaces

Accessibility

Varies depending on customization and implementation

Built-in accessibility and responsive design out of the box

Conclusion

JSUI has helped many organizations build search experiences, but Atomic helps teams deliver more with less effort both now and in the future.

With its standards-based architecture, easy configuration, and alignment with Coveo’s innovation roadmap, Atomic supports faster delivery, easier maintenance, and ongoing innovation.

Depending on your requirements, you may also want to consider Coveo Headless or Coveo Quantic. Headless gives you full control over UI development and is framework agnostic, while Quantic is designed for Salesforce environments and native Lightning Web Components.

For help mapping JSUI features to Atomic components, and evaluating all modern Coveo frameworks to find the best fit for your migration, see JSUI component equivalences.