Q: can I call the search page with a parameter containing a pre-defined query text in order to start the search immediately with this query parameter?

In instantsearch.js?

well, in my app.js loaded by the search form

In

additionalSearchParameters

try setting the

query

key to a default query string.

ah, right

@A J Another option is to set

routing: true

in instantsearch, but not sure if that will work in your case given that the search experience is inside your CMS. More context here: https://www.algolia.com/doc/guides/building-search-ui/going-further/routing-urls/js/#basic-urls