Ensured Ghost accounts are ranked higher during search (#1449)

ref https://linear.app/ghost/issue/BER-3069/prioritise-ghost-sites-higher

Ensured Ghost accounts are ranked higher during search by checking if the
account is "internal" on the instance or not

Author: mike182uk

src/http/api/views/account.search.view.integration.test.ts

@@ -417,6 +417,49 @@ describe('AccountSearchView', () => {
             expect(accounts[2].name).toBe('Test Charlie');
         });
 
+        it('should prioritize Ghost sites (internal accounts) over external accounts', async () => {
+            const [viewer] = await fixtureManager.createInternalAccount();
+
+            // Create an internal account (Ghost site) - has user record
+            // Use a name starting with Z to ensure alphabetical sort would put it last
+            const [ghostSite] = await fixtureManager.createInternalAccount();
+
+            await db('accounts')
+                .where('id', ghostSite.id)
+                .update({ name: 'Test Zebra Ghost Site' });
+
+            // Create external accounts - no user record
+            // Use names starting with A and B to ensure alphabetical sort would put them first
+            await db('accounts').insert([
+                {
+                    ap_id: 'https://example.com/users/alice',
+                    username: 'alice',
+                    domain: 'example.com',
+                    ap_inbox_url: 'https://example.com/users/alice/inbox',
+                    name: 'Test Alice External',
+                },
+                {
+                    ap_id: 'https://example.com/users/bob',
+                    username: 'bob',
+                    domain: 'example.com',
+                    ap_inbox_url: 'https://example.com/users/bob/inbox',
+                    name: 'Test Bob External',
+                },
+            ]);
+
+            const accounts = await accountSearchView.searchByName(
+                'Test',
+                viewer.id,
+            );
+
+            expect(accounts).toHaveLength(3);
+            // Ghost site should appear first despite having name starting with Z
+            expect(accounts[0].name).toBe('Test Zebra Ghost Site');
+            // External accounts should be sorted alphabetically after Ghost sites
+            expect(accounts[1].name).toBe('Test Alice External');
+            expect(accounts[2].name).toBe('Test Bob External');
+        });
+
         it('should limit results to maximum', async () => {
             const [viewer] = await fixtureManager.createInternalAccount();
 
@@ -799,5 +842,50 @@ describe('AccountSearchView', () => {
             expect(accounts).toHaveLength(1);
             expect(accounts[0].handle).toBe('@alice@example.com');
         });
+
+        it('should prioritize Ghost sites (internal accounts) over external accounts', async () => {
+            const [viewer] = await fixtureManager.createInternalAccount();
+
+            // Create an internal account (Ghost site)
+            // Use a name starting with Z to ensure alphabetical sort would put it last
+            const [ghostSite] = await fixtureManager.createInternalAccount();
+            await db('accounts')
+                .where('id', ghostSite.id)
+                .update({ name: 'Zebra Ghost Site' });
+
+            const ghostSiteDomain = new URL(ghostSite.apId.toString()).hostname;
+
+            // Create external accounts on the same domain as the ghost site - no user record
+            // Use names starting with A and B to ensure alphabetical sort would put them first
+            await db('accounts').insert([
+                {
+                    ap_id: `https://${ghostSiteDomain}/users/alice`,
+                    username: 'alice',
+                    domain: ghostSiteDomain,
+                    ap_inbox_url: `https://${ghostSiteDomain}/users/alice/inbox`,
+                    name: 'Alice External',
+                },
+                {
+                    ap_id: `https://${ghostSiteDomain}/users/bob`,
+                    username: 'bob',
+                    domain: ghostSiteDomain,
+                    ap_inbox_url: `https://${ghostSiteDomain}/users/bob/inbox`,
+                    name: 'Bob External',
+                },
+            ]);
+
+            const accounts = await accountSearchView.searchByDomain(
+                ghostSiteDomain,
+                viewer.id,
+            );
+
+            // Should have 3 accounts (ghostSite + 2 external)
+            expect(accounts).toHaveLength(3);
+            // Ghost site should appear first despite having name starting with Z
+            expect(accounts[0].name).toBe('Zebra Ghost Site');
+            // External accounts should be sorted alphabetically after Ghost sites
+            expect(accounts[1].name).toBe('Alice External');
+            expect(accounts[2].name).toBe('Bob External');
+        });
     });
 });

src/http/api/views/account.search.view.ts

@@ -49,13 +49,24 @@ export class AccountSearchView {
                 END AS followed_by_me
             `),
             )
+            // Compute is_ghost_site (has associated user record)
+            .select(
+                this.db.raw(`
+                CASE
+                    WHEN users.account_id IS NOT NULL THEN 1
+                    ELSE 0
+                END AS is_ghost_site
+            `),
+            )
             .leftJoin('follows', function () {
                 this.on('follows.following_id', 'accounts.id').andOnVal(
                     'follows.follower_id',
                     '=',
                     viewerAccountId.toString(),
                 );
             })
+            // Join users table to detect Ghost sites (internal accounts)
+            .leftJoin('users', 'users.account_id', 'accounts.id')
             // Filter out blocked accounts
             .leftJoin('blocks', function () {
                 this.on('blocks.blocked_id', 'accounts.id').andOnVal(
@@ -76,7 +87,8 @@ export class AccountSearchView {
             })
             .whereNull('blocks.id')
             .whereNull('domain_blocks.id')
-            // Order by name alphabetically
+            // Order by Ghost sites first, then alphabetically by name
+            .orderBy('is_ghost_site', 'desc')
             .orderBy('accounts.name', 'asc')
             // Limit results
             .limit(SEARCH_RESULT_LIMIT);
@@ -127,13 +139,24 @@ export class AccountSearchView {
                 END AS followed_by_me
             `),
             )
+            // Compute is_ghost_site (has associated user record)
+            .select(
+                this.db.raw(`
+                CASE
+                    WHEN users.account_id IS NOT NULL THEN 1
+                    ELSE 0
+                END AS is_ghost_site
+            `),
+            )
             .leftJoin('follows', function () {
                 this.on('follows.following_id', 'accounts.id').andOnVal(
                     'follows.follower_id',
                     '=',
                     viewerAccountId.toString(),
                 );
             })
+            // Join users table to detect Ghost sites (internal accounts)
+            .leftJoin('users', 'users.account_id', 'accounts.id')
             // Filter out blocked accounts
             .leftJoin('blocks', function () {
                 this.on('blocks.blocked_id', 'accounts.id').andOnVal(
@@ -154,6 +177,9 @@ export class AccountSearchView {
             })
             .whereNull('blocks.id')
             .whereNull('domain_blocks.id')
+            // Order by Ghost sites first, then alphabetically by name
+            .orderBy('is_ghost_site', 'desc')
+            .orderBy('accounts.name', 'asc')
             // Limit results
             .limit(limit);