Kovah/LinkAce

Search Improvements

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#1050 opened on Dec 17, 2025

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EnhancementHelp wanted

Description

Currently, searching stuff in LinkAce can be quite cumbersome as it relies heavily on the database itself. Search in database is quite limited due to the collation (way of storing the data) and different search functions.

Improvements

  • Links, lists and tags should by searchable by full text. Case should be irrelevant. Searching Fox should return entries for FOX, fox, foxes,...
  • Optional: search should be fuzzy: searching fox zoo should return Visiting the Foxes in the Zoo.
  • Search must be compatible with SQLite, MySQL and Postgres. Limited support by SQLite might be acceptable but must be documented and communicated accordingly.
  • Users should not be prompted to set up another database system like Meilisearch (with the exception if this is entirely optional and easy to configure, i.e. via Scout).

Contributor guide

Tech stack
phplaravelsqlsqlitemysqlpostgresql
Domain
backenddatabase
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
4
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
over 1 week
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
mostly clear
Prerequisites
PHP/Laravel basicsDatabase search conceptsSQLite/MySQL/Postgres familiarity
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
20
Research direction
Investigate current search implementation in LinkAce by looking at models like Link, List, Tag and their controllers. The search likely uses database LIKE queries; review the collation settings. For full text search, consider Laravel Scout with a driver that supports multiple databases, or implement raw SQL using database specific full text functions. Check existing migration files and the comments in the issue for suggested approaches. The issue mentions Scout as an optional external driver, so evaluate its integration cost.