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@magicpages/ghost-typesense-search-ui

A beautiful, accessible search interface for Ghost blogs using Typesense. This package provides a drop-in replacement for Ghost's default search functionality, offering enhanced features and seamless integration with Typesense.

Search UI Preview

Features

  • 🔍 Real-time search powered by Typesense (needs a Typesense server)
  • 🎨 Beautiful, accessible interface
  • 🌓 Automatic dark mode support
  • ⌨️ Full keyboard navigation
  • 📱 Responsive design for all devices
  • 🎯 Configurable common searches suggestions
  • ⚡ Lightweight and performant
  • 🔎 Smart context-aware search result highlighting
  • 📝 Plaintext content search for improved relevance
  • 💡 Exact phrase matching support
  • 🔍 Contextual excerpts that show search term in context
  • 🧩 Support for nested fields
  • 🛡️ Style encapsulation with Web Components - Uses Shadow DOM to prevent Ghost theme styles from interfering with the search UI

Installation

There are two ways to integrate the search UI into your Ghost site:

Option 1: Replace Ghost's Default Search (Recommended)

This is the preferred method as it prevents loading two search scripts, resulting in better performance. You'll need access to your Ghost configuration.

Add to your config.[environment].json:

"sodoSearch": {
    "url": "https://unpkg.com/@magicpages/ghost-typesense-search-ui/dist/search.min.js"
}

Or set the environment variable:

sodoSearch__url=https://unpkg.com/@magicpages/ghost-typesense-search-ui/dist/search.min.js

Option 2: Code Injection Method

If you're using a managed Ghost host like Ghost(Pro) where you can't modify the configuration, use this method. The script will automatically remove any traces of the default search to prevent conflicts, but cannot prevent the sodo-search.min.js from being loaded.

Add to your site's code injection (Settings → Code injection → Site Header):

<script src="https://unpkg.com/@magicpages/ghost-typesense-search-ui/dist/search.min.js"></script>

For either method, you can also self-host the search.min.js and add that URL instead of https://unpkg.com/@magicpages/ghost-typesense-search-ui/dist/search.min.js.

Configuration

Configure the search by adding a global configuration object before loading the script. You can add this to your theme, or use Ghost's code injection to add it to your site's header.

<script>
window.__MP_SEARCH_CONFIG__ = {
    typesenseNodes: [{
        host: 'your-typesense-host',
        port: '443',
        protocol: 'https'
    }], // also supports a Typesense cluster
    typesenseApiKey: 'your-search-only-api-key', // Under no circumstances use an admin API key here. These values are stored client-side and are therefore accessible to the end user.
    collectionName: 'your-collection-name',
    theme: 'system', // 'light', 'dark', or 'system'
    enableHighlighting: true, // highlight search terms in results
    commonSearches: ['Getting Started', 'Tutorials', 'API'] // can also be empty
};
</script>

Configuration Options

Option Type Required Description
typesenseNodes Array Yes Array of Typesense node configurations
typesenseApiKey String Yes Search-only API key from Typesense
collectionName String Yes Name of your Typesense collection
theme String No UI theme: 'light', 'dark', or 'system' (default)
enableHighlighting Boolean No Whether to highlight search terms in results (default: true)
commonSearches Array No Array of suggested search terms
searchFields Object No Customize field weights and highlighting

Search Fields Configuration

Customize search relevance with field weights and highlighting:

searchFields: {
    title: { weight: 5, highlight: true },
    plaintext: { weight: 4, highlight: true },
    excerpt: { weight: 3, highlight: true },
    html: { weight: 1, highlight: true }
}

The default weights are optimized to provide the most relevant results, prioritizing title matches, then plaintext content, followed by excerpt and HTML content.

Usage

The search interface can be triggered in multiple ways:

  • Click the search icon in your Ghost theme
  • Press / on your keyboard
  • Navigate to /#/search URL
  • Use URL query parameters: /?s=your search term or /?q=your search term
  • Programmatically via window.magicPagesSearch.openModal()

URL-Based Search

You can trigger searches directly from URLs using two formats:

1. Query Parameter Format

https://yourblog.com/?s=getting+started
https://yourblog.com/?q=tutorials

Both s and q query parameters are supported for maximum compatibility with legacy links.

2. Clean Hash Path Format

https://yourblog.com/#/search/getting+started

Keyboard Shortcuts

  • /: Open search
  • ↑/↓: Navigate through results
  • Enter: Select result
  • Esc: Close search

Customization

The search UI automatically detects and uses your Ghost site's accent color by reading the --ghost-accent-color CSS variable. This ensures that the search interface matches your site's branding.

The UI also includes a built-in dark mode that automatically activates based on the user's system preferences. It can also be overwritten in the UI's configuration.

Web Component Architecture

This search UI is built as a Web Component (<magicpages-search>) with Shadow DOM encapsulation. This means:

  • Complete style isolation: Ghost theme styles cannot interfere with the search UI
  • No CSS conflicts: The search UI styles won't leak into your page
  • Consistent appearance: The search UI looks the same regardless of theme styles
  • Better performance: Scoped styles are more efficient

The component still respects your site's accent color through CSS custom properties, which inherit into Shadow DOM.

Internationalization (i18n)

The search UI supports full internationalization, allowing you to translate all UI elements to any language.

Basic Usage

Add translations to your configuration. You only need to provide the strings you want to override:

window.__MP_SEARCH_CONFIG__ = {
  // ... existing config
  locale: 'de', // Optional: specify the locale
  i18n: {
    searchPlaceholder: 'Suche nach allem',
    loadingMessage: 'Suche läuft...',
    noResultsMessage: 'Keine Ergebnisse gefunden'
  }
}

Available Translation Keys

Key Default (English) Description
searchPlaceholder "Search for anything" Placeholder text in search input
commonSearchesTitle "Common searches" Heading for common searches section
emptyStateMessage "Start typing to search..." Message shown when search is empty
loadingMessage "Searching..." Message shown while searching
noResultsMessage "No results found for your search" Message when no results found
navigateHint "to navigate" Keyboard hint for navigation
closeHint "to close" Keyboard hint for closing
ariaSearchLabel "Search" ARIA label for search input
ariaCloseLabel "Close search" ARIA label for close button
ariaResultsLabel "Search results" ARIA label for results region
ariaArticleExcerpt "Article excerpt" ARIA label for article excerpts
ariaModalLabel "Search" ARIA label for modal
untitledPost "Untitled" Fallback for posts without titles

Example Translations

German (Deutsch):

i18n: {
  searchPlaceholder: 'Suche nach allem',
  commonSearchesTitle: 'Häufige Suchanfragen',
  emptyStateMessage: 'Beginnen Sie mit der Eingabe...',
  loadingMessage: 'Suche läuft...',
  noResultsMessage: 'Keine Ergebnisse gefunden',
  navigateHint: 'zum Navigieren',
  closeHint: 'zum Schließen',
  ariaSearchLabel: 'Suche',
  ariaCloseLabel: 'Suche schließen',
  untitledPost: 'Ohne Titel'
}

Spanish (Español):

i18n: {
  searchPlaceholder: 'Buscar cualquier cosa',
  commonSearchesTitle: 'Búsquedas comunes',
  emptyStateMessage: 'Comienza a escribir para buscar...',
  loadingMessage: 'Buscando...',
  noResultsMessage: 'No se encontraron resultados',
  navigateHint: 'para navegar',
  closeHint: 'para cerrar',
  ariaSearchLabel: 'Buscar',
  ariaCloseLabel: 'Cerrar búsqueda',
  untitledPost: 'Sin título'
}

French (Français):

i18n: {
  searchPlaceholder: 'Rechercher n\'importe quoi',
  commonSearchesTitle: 'Recherches courantes',
  emptyStateMessage: 'Commencez à taper pour rechercher...',
  loadingMessage: 'Recherche en cours...',
  noResultsMessage: 'Aucun résultat trouvé',
  navigateHint: 'pour naviguer',
  closeHint: 'pour fermer',
  ariaSearchLabel: 'Rechercher',
  ariaCloseLabel: 'Fermer la recherche',
  untitledPost: 'Sans titre'
}

Partial Overrides

You don't need to provide all translation keys. Any keys you don't provide will fall back to English:

i18n: {
  searchPlaceholder: 'Buscar', // Only override this one
  // Everything else uses English defaults
}

License

MIT © MagicPages