Add recent notes to empty search

Author: arkan

internal/app/app.go

@@ -496,10 +496,23 @@ func (s *Server) home(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 
 func (s *Server) search(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	q := r.URL.Query().Get("q")
-	res, err := s.searcher.Search(q)
+	qTrimmed := strings.TrimSpace(q)
+	var res []SearchResult
+	var recent []NoteMeta
+	var err error
+	if qTrimmed != "" {
+		res, err = s.searcher.Search(qTrimmed)
+	} else {
+		var idx *VaultIndex
+		idx, err = s.vault.BuildIndex()
+		if err == nil {
+			recent = recentNoteMetas(idx, 100)
+		}
+	}
 	c := s.common("Search")
 	c["Q"] = q
 	c["Results"] = res
+	c["RecentNotes"] = recent
 	c["Err"] = err
 	s.render(w, "search", c)
 }

internal/app/search_dashboard_test.go

@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 package app
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
 	"net/http/httptest"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 )
 
 func TestBacklinksAndSearch(t *testing.T) {
@@ -61,6 +63,55 @@ func TestSearchRanksTitleMatchesAndHighlightsSnippets(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestEmptySearchPageShowsHundredMostRecentlyModifiedNotes(t *testing.T) {
+	v := makeVault(t)
+	base := time.Date(2026, 5, 30, 12, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+	for i := 0; i < 105; i++ {
+		rel := fmt.Sprintf("Recent/Note-%03d.md", i)
+		p := filepath.Join(v.Root, filepath.FromSlash(rel))
+		if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(p), 0o755); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		if err := os.WriteFile(p, []byte(fmt.Sprintf("# Recent %03d\n", i)), 0o644); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+		mt := base.Add(time.Duration(i) * time.Minute)
+		if err := os.Chtimes(p, mt, mt); err != nil {
+			t.Fatal(err)
+		}
+	}
+
+	s := NewServer(v, "", "")
+	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	r := httptest.NewRequest("GET", "/_search", nil)
+	s.ServeHTTP(w, r)
+	body := w.Body.String()
+
+	for _, want := range []string{
+		`<h2>Recently modified</h2>`,
+		`Showing the 100 latest Markdown files by modification date.`,
+		`Recent 104`,
+		`Recent/Note-104.md`,
+	} {
+		if !strings.Contains(body, want) {
+			t.Fatalf("empty search page missing %q in:\n%s", want, body)
+		}
+	}
+	recentSectionStart := strings.Index(body, `class="recent-search-results card"`)
+	if recentSectionStart < 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("missing recent results section in:\n%s", body)
+	}
+	recentSection := body[recentSectionStart:]
+	if strings.Contains(recentSection, `<small>Recent/Note-004.md`) {
+		t.Fatalf("empty search page should cap recent notes to 100; oldest extra note leaked in recent section:\n%s", recentSection)
+	}
+	newest := strings.Index(recentSection, `Recent/Note-104.md`)
+	older := strings.Index(recentSection, `Recent/Note-103.md`)
+	if newest < 0 || older < 0 || newest > older {
+		t.Fatalf("recent notes should be sorted by descending mtime; got indexes newest=%d older=%d", newest, older)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestSearchQuerySyntaxFiltersTagsPathsTitlesFrontmatterAndPhrases(t *testing.T) {
 	v := makeVault(t)
 	searcher := NewSearcher(v)

internal/app/templates/search.html

@@ -1 +1,11 @@
-{{define "search"}}{{template "layout-start" .}}<div class="page-header"><div><p class="eyebrow">Find anything</p><h1>Search</h1></div></div><form class="search big search-page-form" action="/_search"><input name="q" value="{{.Q}}" placeholder="Search notes, tags, paths, or exact phrases…" autofocus><button class="btn primary">Search</button></form><details class="search-help"><summary>Search syntax</summary><p class="muted">Examples: <code>tag:daily</code>, <code>path:&quot;Areas/Daily Briefings&quot;</code>, <code>title:Target</code>, <code>frontmatter:title=&quot;Daily Briefing&quot;</code>, <code>&quot;exact phrase&quot;</code>.</p><ul><li><code>tag:daily</code> filters by tag.</li><li><code>path:&quot;Areas/Daily Briefings&quot;</code> filters by path.</li><li><code>title:Target</code> filters by title.</li><li><code>frontmatter:title=&quot;Daily Briefing&quot;</code> filters frontmatter.</li><li><code>&quot;exact phrase&quot;</code> searches an exact phrase.</li></ul></details>{{if .Err}}<p class="error">{{.Err}}</p>{{end}}{{if .Results}}<ul class="results rich-results">{{range .Results}}<li class="search-result-card"><a class="result-title" href="{{.URL}}">{{.Title}}</a><div class="result-path">{{.RelPath}}{{if .LineNo}} · line {{.LineNo}}{{end}}</div><p class="result-snippet">{{safe .SnippetHTML}}</p></li>{{end}}</ul>{{else}}{{if .Q}}<div class="empty-state"><h2>No results for <code>{{.Q}}</code></h2><p>Try a broader search, remove a filter, or open Search syntax for examples.</p></div>{{end}}{{end}}{{template "layout-end" .}}{{end}}
+{{define "search"}}{{template "layout-start" .}}
+<div class="page-header"><div><p class="eyebrow">Find anything</p><h1>Search</h1></div></div>
+<form class="search big search-page-form" action="/_search"><input name="q" value="{{.Q}}" placeholder="Search notes, tags, paths, or exact phrases…" autofocus><button class="btn primary">Search</button></form>
+<details class="search-help"><summary>Search syntax</summary><p class="muted">Examples: <code>tag:daily</code>, <code>path:&quot;Areas/Daily Briefings&quot;</code>, <code>title:Target</code>, <code>frontmatter:title=&quot;Daily Briefing&quot;</code>, <code>&quot;exact phrase&quot;</code>.</p><ul><li><code>tag:daily</code> filters by tag.</li><li><code>path:&quot;Areas/Daily Briefings&quot;</code> filters by path.</li><li><code>title:Target</code> filters by title.</li><li><code>frontmatter:title=&quot;Daily Briefing&quot;</code> filters frontmatter.</li><li><code>&quot;exact phrase&quot;</code> searches an exact phrase.</li></ul></details>
+{{if .Err}}<p class="error">{{.Err}}</p>{{end}}
+{{if .Q}}
+  {{if .Results}}<ul class="results rich-results">{{range .Results}}<li class="search-result-card"><a class="result-title" href="{{.URL}}">{{.Title}}</a><div class="result-path">{{.RelPath}}{{if .LineNo}} · line {{.LineNo}}{{end}}</div><p class="result-snippet">{{safe .SnippetHTML}}</p></li>{{end}}</ul>{{else}}<div class="empty-state"><h2>No results for <code>{{.Q}}</code></h2><p>Try a broader search, remove a filter, or open Search syntax for examples.</p></div>{{end}}
+{{else}}
+  <section class="recent-search-results card"><div class="section-heading"><div><p class="eyebrow">Files</p><h2>Recently modified</h2></div><span class="count">{{len .RecentNotes}}</span></div><p class="muted">Showing the 100 latest Markdown files by modification date.</p><ul class="compact-list">{{range .RecentNotes}}<li><a href="{{.URL}}">{{.Title}}</a><small>{{.RelPath}} · {{.ModTime.Format "2006-01-02 15:04"}}</small></li>{{else}}<li class="empty-state">No Markdown files found.</li>{{end}}</ul></section>
+{{end}}
+{{template "layout-end" .}}{{end}}