diff --git a/src/item/itemSettings.ts b/src/item/itemSettings.ts
index 2d88fd24..69d75a0a 100644
--- a/src/item/itemSettings.ts
+++ b/src/item/itemSettings.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ export type ItemSettings = {
   isResizable?: boolean;
   isCollapsible?: boolean;
   enableSaveActions?: boolean;
+  /**
+   * @deprecated use entities tags and item tags instead
+   */
   tags?: string[];
   displayCoEditors?: boolean;
   // allow null to delete setting in the backend
diff --git a/src/search/search.ts b/src/search/search.ts
index 9284e528..e36ea7b5 100644
--- a/src/search/search.ts
+++ b/src/search/search.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import { ItemTypeUnion } from '@/item/itemType.js';
-
-export const INDEX_NAME = 'itemIndex';
+import { TagCategory } from '@/tag/tag.js';
 
 type IndexMember = {
   id: string;
@@ -13,14 +12,13 @@ export type IndexItem = {
   creator: IndexMember;
   description: string;
   type: ItemTypeUnion;
-  categories: string[];
   content: string;
   isPublishedRoot: boolean;
   isHidden: boolean;
   createdAt: string;
   updatedAt: string;
   lang: string;
-};
+} & { [key in TagCategory]: string[] };
 
 // TODO: get type from meilisearch library?
 type Hits = IndexItem & {
diff --git a/src/tag/factory.ts b/src/tag/factory.ts
index 3acfd245..effe853b 100644
--- a/src/tag/factory.ts
+++ b/src/tag/factory.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 import { v4 } from 'uuid';
 
-import { TagCategory } from './tag.js';
+import { Tag, TagCategory } from './tag.js';
 import { faker } from '@faker-js/faker';
 
 export function TagFactory(
   args: { name?: string; category?: TagCategory } = {},
-) {
+): Tag {
   return {
     id: v4(),
     name: args.name ?? faker.word.noun(),
diff --git a/src/tag/tag.ts b/src/tag/tag.ts
index 85e4b6c8..70eecbbf 100644
--- a/src/tag/tag.ts
+++ b/src/tag/tag.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
+import { UUID } from '@/types.js';
+
 export enum TagCategory {
   Level = 'level',
   Discipline = 'discipline',
   ResourceType = 'resource-type',
 }
+
+export type Tag = { id: UUID; name: string; category: TagCategory };