diff --git a/config/dev.exs b/config/dev.exs
index 2b0b9d3be..e022eaad1 100644
--- a/config/dev.exs
+++ b/config/dev.exs
@@ -100,3 +100,9 @@ config :ex_aws, :s3,
 
 # Define the base host to use
 config :admin, :base_host, "localhost:3114"
+
+# Define the backend host to use
+config :admin, :backend_host, "localhost:3000"
+
+# Publication index (development defaults)
+config :admin, :publication_reindex_headers, [{"meilisearch-rebuild", "secret"}]
diff --git a/config/prod.exs b/config/prod.exs
index c785a6bfc..c520d2b65 100644
--- a/config/prod.exs
+++ b/config/prod.exs
@@ -44,3 +44,6 @@ config :admin, :logger, [
 
 # Runtime production configuration, including reading
 # of environment variables, is done on config/runtime.exs.
+
+config :admin,
+  publication_reindex_headers: {"meilisearch-rebuild", System.get_env("PUBLICATION_INDEX_HEADER_VALUE")}
diff --git a/config/runtime.exs b/config/runtime.exs
index e1b7aa37b..6e62bf599 100644
--- a/config/runtime.exs
+++ b/config/runtime.exs
@@ -144,6 +144,7 @@ if config_env() == :prod do
     end
 
   config :admin, base_host: base_host
+  config :admin, backend_host: base_host
 
   # Config the File Items bucket name
   config :admin, :file_items_bucket, System.get_env("FILE_ITEMS_BUCKET_NAME", "file-items")
diff --git a/lib/admin/publications/search_index.ex b/lib/admin/publications/search_index.ex
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..30393f07d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/admin/publications/search_index.ex
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+defmodule Admin.Publications.SearchIndex do
+  @moduledoc """
+  Utilities to trigger a publication reindex on an external indexing endpoint.
+
+  It expects the following application config in `:admin`:
+
+    config :admin, :publications,
+      publication_index_url
+      publication_index_header_value
+
+  """
+
+  require Logger
+
+  defp http_client, do: Application.get_env(:admin, :publication_index_http_client, Req)
+
+  @doc """
+  Trigger a reindex by calling the configured endpoint with the configured header.
+
+  Returns `{:ok, %Req.Response{}}` on success or `{:error, error_code}` on failure.
+  """
+  def reindex do
+    with {:ok, client, url, headers} <- build_reindex_request() do
+
+      req = client.new(method: :get, url: url, headers: headers)
+
+      IO.puts("Reindex request: #{inspect(req)}")
+
+      case client.request(req) do
+        %Req.Response{} = resp ->
+          if resp.status in 200..299 do
+            {:ok, resp}
+          else
+            Logger.error("SearchIndex.reindex failed: #{inspect(resp)}")
+            {:error, resp.status}
+          end
+
+        {:ok, %Req.Response{} = resp} ->
+          if resp.status in 200..299 do
+            {:ok, resp}
+          else
+            Logger.error("SearchIndex.reindex failed: #{inspect(resp)}")
+            {:error, resp.status}
+          end
+
+        {:error, reason} ->
+          Logger.error("SearchIndex.reindex failed: #{inspect(reason)}")
+          {:error, 500}
+
+        other ->
+          Logger.error("SearchIndex.reindex unexpected response: #{inspect(other)}")
+          {:error, :unexpected_response}
+      end
+    end
+  end
+
+  @doc false
+  # Build the HTTP client, url, and headers for the reindex request.
+  defp build_reindex_request do
+
+    case Application.get_env(:admin, :backend_host) do
+      nil ->
+        {:error, :missing_publication_index_url}
+
+        url ->
+          case Application.get_env(:admin, :publication_reindex_headers) do
+            :error ->
+              {:error, :missing_publication_index_header_value}
+
+          headers_value ->
+            client = http_client()
+            {:ok, client, "http://#{url}/items/collections/search/rebuild", headers_value}
+        end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/admin_web/components/layouts.ex b/lib/admin_web/components/layouts.ex
index 21df18475..df17863d4 100644
--- a/lib/admin_web/components/layouts.ex
+++ b/lib/admin_web/components/layouts.ex
@@ -165,6 +165,7 @@ defmodule AdminWeb.Layouts do
                 <ul class="p-2">
                   <li><.link navigate={~p"/published_items"}>Recent</.link></li>
                   <li><.link navigate={~p"/published_items/featured"}>Featured</.link></li>
+                  <li><.link navigate={~p"/published_items/search_index"}>Search Index</.link></li>
                 </ul>
               </li>
               <li><.link navigate={~p"/publishers"}>Apps</.link></li>
@@ -212,6 +213,9 @@ defmodule AdminWeb.Layouts do
                   <li>
                     <.link navigate={~p"/published_items/featured"}>Featured</.link>
                   </li>
+                  <li>
+                    <.link navigate={~p"/published_items/search_index"}>Search Index</.link>
+                  </li>
                 </ul>
               </details>
             </li>
diff --git a/lib/admin_web/live/publication_search_index_live.ex b/lib/admin_web/live/publication_search_index_live.ex
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8b25d2a8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/admin_web/live/publication_search_index_live.ex
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+defmodule AdminWeb.PublicationSearchIndexLive do
+  use AdminWeb, :live_view
+
+  alias Admin.Publications.SearchIndex
+
+  @impl true
+  def render(assigns) do
+    ~H"""
+    <Layouts.admin flash={@flash} current_scope={@current_scope}>
+      <div class="p-6">
+        <.header>
+          Index Status
+          <:subtitle>
+            You can start a reindex of the library index. This is useful if your search engine is not up to date.
+          </:subtitle>
+        </.header>
+        <div role="alert" class="alert alert-warning">
+          <.icon name="hero-exclamation-triangle" />
+          <span>This operation is heavy on the database and might take some time to complete.</span>
+        </div>
+        <p class="my-4">{@status || ""}</p>
+        <div>
+          <button
+            phx-click="reindex"
+            class="px-4 py-2 disabled:bg-gray-600 bg-blue-600 text-white rounded"
+            disabled={@indexing}
+          >
+            Start Reindex
+          </button>
+        </div>
+      </div>
+    </Layouts.admin>
+    """
+  end
+
+  @impl true
+  def mount(_params, _session, socket) do
+    {:ok, assign(socket, status: nil, indexing: false)}
+  end
+
+  @impl true
+  def handle_event("reindex", _params, socket) do
+    case SearchIndex.reindex() do
+      {:ok, _resp} ->
+        {:noreply,
+         assign(socket,
+           indexing: true,
+           status: "Reindex has started. It might take some time to complete."
+         )}
+
+      {:error, reason} ->
+        {:noreply,
+         assign(socket,
+           indexing: false,
+           status: "Reindex failed with error #{inspect(reason)}"
+         )}
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/admin_web/router.ex b/lib/admin_web/router.ex
index 7e0da8273..1e50b535f 100644
--- a/lib/admin_web/router.ex
+++ b/lib/admin_web/router.ex
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ defmodule AdminWeb.Router do
 
       # published_items
       live "/published_items/:id/unpublish", PublishedItemLive.Unpublish, :unpublish
+      live "/published_items/search_index", PublicationSearchIndexLive, :index
 
       # apps
       scope "/apps" do
diff --git a/test/admin/publications/publication_search_index_test.exs b/test/admin/publications/publication_search_index_test.exs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..14254a2ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/admin/publications/publication_search_index_test.exs
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+defmodule Admin.Publications.PublicationSearchIndexTest do
+  use ExUnit.Case, async: true
+
+  alias Admin.Publications.SearchIndex
+
+  setup do
+    # ensure we start with a clean client config
+    Application.delete_env(:admin, :publication_index_http_client)
+    :ok
+  end
+
+  test "returns error when url is missing" do
+    Application.delete_env(:admin, :publication_index_url)
+    Application.put_env(:admin, :publication_index_header_value, "token")
+
+    assert {:error, :missing_publication_index_url} = SearchIndex.reindex()
+  end
+
+  test "returns error when header value is missing" do
+    Application.put_env(:admin, :publication_index_url, "http://example")
+    Application.delete_env(:admin, :publication_index_header_value)
+
+    assert {:error, :missing_publication_index_header_value} = SearchIndex.reindex()
+  end
+
+  test "returns ok on 2xx response" do
+    Application.put_env(:admin, :publication_index_url, "http://example")
+    Application.put_env(:admin, :publication_index_header_value, "token")
+
+    client =
+      Module.concat([__MODULE__, :SuccessClient])
+
+    defmodule client do
+      def new(_opts), do: :req_request
+
+      def request(_req) do
+        resp = %Req.Response{status: 200, body: "ok"}
+        {:ok, resp}
+      end
+    end
+
+    Application.put_env(:admin, :publication_index_http_client, client)
+
+    assert {:ok, resp} = SearchIndex.reindex()
+    assert resp.status == 200
+  end
+
+  test "returns error on non-2xx response" do
+    Application.put_env(:admin, :publication_index_url, "http://example")
+    Application.put_env(:admin, :publication_index_header_value, "token")
+
+    client = Module.concat([__MODULE__, :BadResponseClient])
+
+    defmodule client do
+      def new(_opts), do: :req_request
+
+      def request(_req) do
+        resp = %Req.Response{status: 500, body: "nope"}
+        {:ok, resp}
+      end
+    end
+
+    Application.put_env(:admin, :publication_index_http_client, client)
+
+    assert {:error, 500} = SearchIndex.reindex()
+  end
+
+  test "returns error tuple when client errors" do
+    Application.put_env(:admin, :publication_index_url, "http://example")
+    Application.put_env(:admin, :publication_index_header_value, "token")
+
+    client = Module.concat([__MODULE__, :ErrClient])
+
+    defmodule client do
+      def new(_opts), do: :req_request
+
+      def request(_req), do: {:error, :econnrefused}
+    end
+
+    Application.put_env(:admin, :publication_index_http_client, client)
+
+    assert {:error, :econnrefused} = SearchIndex.reindex()
+  end
+end
diff --git a/test/admin_web/live/publication_index_live_test.exs b/test/admin_web/live/publication_index_live_test.exs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fd1d97d4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/admin_web/live/publication_index_live_test.exs
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+defmodule AdminWeb.PublicationIndexLiveTest do
+  use AdminWeb.ConnCase, async: true
+
+  import Phoenix.LiveViewTest
+
+  setup %{conn: conn} do
+    %{conn: conn} = register_and_log_in_user(%{conn: conn})
+    :ok
+    {:ok, conn: conn}
+  end
+
+  test "shows error when reindex fails", %{conn: conn} do
+    Application.put_env(:admin, :publication_index_url, "http://example")
+    Application.put_env(:admin, :publication_index_header_value, "token")
+
+    client = Module.concat([__MODULE__, :FailClient])
+
+    defmodule client do
+      def new(_opts), do: :req_request
+      def request(_req), do: {:error, :econnrefused}
+    end
+
+    Application.put_env(:admin, :publication_index_http_client, client)
+
+    {:ok, view, _html} = live(conn, "/publications/reindex")
+
+    view |> element("button", "Start Reindex") |> render_click()
+
+    assert render(view) =~ "Reindex failed"
+  end
+
+  test "show waitingstatus on success", %{conn: conn} do
+    Application.put_env(:admin, :publication_index_url, "http://example")
+    Application.put_env(:admin, :publication_index_header_value, "token")
+
+    client = Module.concat([__MODULE__, :OkClient])
+
+    defmodule client do
+      def new(_opts), do: :req_request
+      def request(_req) do
+        resp = %Req.Response{status: 200, body: "ok"}
+        {:ok, resp}
+      end
+    end
+
+    Application.put_env(:admin, :publication_index_http_client, client)
+
+    {:ok, view, _html} = live(conn, "/publications/reindex")
+
+    view |> element("button", "Start Reindex") |> render_click()
+
+    refute render(view) =~ "Reindex failed"
+
+    assert view |> element("button[disabled]", "Start Reindex") |> has_element?()
+  end
+end