diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 114537c..e0ec513 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 This is a [plugin](https://arc.codes/docs/en/guides/plugins/overview) for [Architect](https://arc.codes/) that provisions managed [Amazon OpenSearch](https://aws.amazon.com/opensearch-service/) for the application.
 
-When you are using Architect's [sandbox](https://arc.codes/docs/en/reference/cli/sandbox) mode, the plugin [downloads and runs Elasticsearch locally](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/current/install-elasticsearch.html#elasticsearch-install-packages).
+When you are using Architect's [sandbox](https://arc.codes/docs/en/reference/cli/sandbox) mode, the plugin [downloads and runs OpenSearch locally](https://opensearch.org/downloads.html#opensearch).
 
 Pair this pacakge with [@nasa-gcn/architect-functions-search](https://github.com/nasa-gcn/architect-functions-search) to connect to the service from your Node.js Lambda function code.
 
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ Pair this pacakge with [@nasa-gcn/architect-functions-search](https://github.com
         dedicatedMasterCount 3
         dedicatedMasterType t3.small.search
 
-4.  Optionally, create a file called `sandbox-search.json` or `sandbox-search.js` in your project and populate it with sample data to be passed to [`client.bulk()`](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/client/javascript-api/current/bulk_examples.html). Here are some examples.
+4.  Optionally, create a file called `sandbox-search.json` or `sandbox-search.js` in your project and populate it with sample data to be passed to [`client.bulk()`](https://github.com/opensearch-project/opensearch-js/blob/main/guides/bulk.md). Here are some examples.
 
     ## sandbox-search.json
 
@@ -61,3 +61,41 @@ Pair this pacakge with [@nasa-gcn/architect-functions-search](https://github.com
                 {"title": "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan"}
             ]
         }
+
+## Connecting to OpenSearch from your application
+
+In your Architect application, use the [@nasa-gcn/architect-functions-search](https://github.com/nasa-gcn/architect-functions-search) package to connect to your OpenSearch instance. To install the package, run:
+
+```
+npm i @nasa-gcn/architect-functions-search
+```
+
+Then add the following JavaScript code to your application:
+
+```ts
+import { search } from '@nasa-gcn/architect-functions-search'
+
+const client = await search()
+```
+
+Now `client` is an instance of the [OpenSearch JavaScript client](https://opensearch.org/docs/latest/clients/javascript/index/), and you can call any client method on it — for example, [`client.index.create()`](https://opensearch.org/docs/latest/clients/javascript/index/#creating-an-index), [`client.index()`](https://opensearch.org/docs/latest/clients/javascript/index/#indexing-a-document), or [`client.search()`](https://opensearch.org/docs/latest/clients/javascript/index/#searching-for-documents).
+
+## Advanced usage from your application
+
+If you would like to manually connect to OpenSearch from your application, then you will need to sign your requests using [AWS SIG4](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/API/sig-v4-authenticating-requests.html); the OpenSearch client library provides the [`AwsSigv4Signer`](https://opensearch.org/docs/latest/clients/javascript/index/#authenticating-with-amazon-opensearch-service--aws-sigv4) helper to automate this.
+
+You can read the API endpoint information using [Architect service discovery](<https://arc.codes/docs/en/reference/runtime-helpers/node.js#arc.services()>):
+
+```ts
+import * as arc from '@architect/functions'
+
+const services = await arc.services()
+const searchConfig = services.nasa_gcn - architect_plugin_search
+```
+
+The `searchConfig` object has the following two properties:
+
+- `searchConfig.node`: the URL of the API endpoint.
+- `searchConfig.sig4service`: the value to pass for the `service` property in the `AwsSigv4Signer` constructor.
+
+See https://github.com/nasa-gcn/architect-functions-search/blob/main/index.ts for example code.
diff --git a/index.ts b/index.ts
index a3f8469..0192115 100644
--- a/index.ts
+++ b/index.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import { exists } from './paths'
 import { join } from 'path'
 import { pathToFileURL } from 'url'
 import { launch } from './run.js'
-import type { LocalOpenSearch } from './run.js'
+import type { LocalSearch } from './run.js'
 import { populate } from './data.js'
 import {
   cloudformationResources as serverlessCloudformationResources,
@@ -54,12 +54,20 @@ async function executeSearchRequests(cwd: string) {
   }
 }
 
+function getConfig(arc: {
+  search?: string[][]
+}): Record<string, string | undefined> {
+  if (arc.search) return Object.fromEntries(arc.search)
+  else return {}
+}
+
 export const deploy = {
   // @ts-expect-error: The Architect plugins API has no type definitions.
   start({ cloudformation, inventory, arc, stage }) {
     let resources
-    if (arc.search) {
-      resources = serviceCloudformationResources(Object.fromEntries(arc.search))
+    const config = getConfig(arc)
+    if (config.availabilityZoneCount) {
+      resources = serviceCloudformationResources(config)
     } else {
       const { app } = inventory.inv
       const collectionName = toCollectionName(`${app}-${stage}`)
@@ -84,7 +92,7 @@ export const deploy = {
   },
 }
 
-let local: LocalOpenSearch
+let local: LocalSearch
 
 export const sandbox = {
   async start({
diff --git a/run.ts b/run.ts
index dec69e2..075e233 100644
--- a/run.ts
+++ b/run.ts
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ import {
 import { pipeline } from 'stream/promises'
 import { createReadStream } from 'fs'
 
-export class LocalOpenSearch {
+export class LocalSearch {
   private readonly child!: ChildProcess
   private readonly tempDir!: string
   readonly port!: number
@@ -93,8 +93,6 @@ export class LocalOpenSearch {
   }
 }
 
-export async function launch(
-  ...args: Parameters<typeof LocalOpenSearch.launch>
-) {
-  return await LocalOpenSearch.launch(...args)
+export async function launch(...args: Parameters<typeof LocalSearch.launch>) {
+  return await LocalSearch.launch(...args)
 }