Files
buzz/desktop/src/app
tulsi 29f2054c69 highlight search terms in results and messages (#6702)
**Category:** fix
**User Impact:** Search terms are now highlighted in yellow in Cmd+F
results and in the message opened from a result.

**Problem:** Search returned relevant messages, but users still had to
reread each preview and destination message to discover where the query
appeared. Search navigation could also lose or misapply highlighting
during rapid typing, repeated navigation, thread opening, and forum
navigation.

**Solution:** Render match-focused previews with a shared yellow
treatment, carry the result query through navigation, and apply it only
to the clicked destination. The implementation binds highlights to the
debounced result set, supports token and prefix matching, and handles
channels, threads, forums, diffs, and wave messages consistently.

<details>
<summary>File changes</summary>

**desktop/src/app/AppShell.tsx**
Carries the active result query into search-hit navigation so the
destination can preserve the user's context.

**desktop/src/app/navigation/searchHitEventCache.ts**
Adds a bounded, one-shot cache for result queries and navigation IDs
alongside cached search-hit events.

**desktop/src/app/navigation/searchHitNavigation.test.mjs**
Covers query retention, one-shot consumption, repeated same-route
activations, forum posts, forced routing, and cancellation.

**desktop/src/app/navigation/searchHitNavigation.ts**
Associates each search-result activation with a unique navigation ID and
forwards it to channel or forum destinations.

**desktop/src/app/navigation/useAppNavigation.ts**
Extends channel and forum navigation to carry search navigation state
without changing normal navigation behavior.

**desktop/src/app/routes/ChannelRouteScreen.tsx**
Consumes search highlight state after navigation and retains it for the
selected message while clearing it on community context changes.

**desktop/src/app/routes/channels.$channelId.posts.$postId.tsx**
Validates and forwards forum search-navigation IDs.

**desktop/src/app/routes/channels.$channelId.tsx**
Validates and forwards channel search-navigation IDs.

**desktop/src/features/channels/ui/ChannelPane.tsx**
Passes the selected result ID and query into the main timeline and open
thread panel.

**desktop/src/features/channels/ui/ChannelPane.types.ts**
Defines the destination-highlight contract for channel panes.

**desktop/src/features/channels/ui/ChannelScreen.tsx**
Routes destination highlighting to either forum content or the channel
timeline.

**desktop/src/features/channels/ui/ChannelScreen.types.ts**
Defines route-level search-highlight inputs.

**desktop/src/features/channels/ui/ForumChannelContent.tsx**
Forwards search context into expanded forum threads.

**desktop/src/features/forum/ui/ForumThreadPanel.tsx**
Highlights the matching text in the selected forum post or reply.

**desktop/src/features/forum/ui/ForumView.tsx**
Carries selected-result context from forum routing into the thread
panel.

**desktop/src/features/messages/ui/DiffMessage.tsx**
Forwards the query into diff descriptions and rendered diff content.

**desktop/src/features/messages/ui/DiffViewer.tsx**
Provides a highlighted match excerpt for structured diffs and highlights
fallback raw diff text.

**desktop/src/features/messages/ui/MessageRow.tsx**
Passes destination queries into normal Markdown, diff, and wave message
renderers.

**desktop/src/features/messages/ui/MessageThreadPanel.tsx**
Applies highlighting to the selected thread head or reply without
tinting unrelated messages.

**desktop/src/features/messages/ui/WaveMessageAttachment.tsx**
Highlights matches in wave-message fallback text.

**desktop/src/features/search/lib/searchMatch.test.mjs**
Covers case-insensitive, literal, multi-term, prefix, one-character, and
late-preview matches.

**desktop/src/features/search/lib/searchMatch.ts**
Centralizes token extraction, case-insensitive match splitting, and
match-focused preview generation.

**desktop/src/features/search/ui/HighlightedSearchText.tsx**
Adds the reusable accessible mark renderer used by result and
specialized message surfaces.

**desktop/src/features/search/ui/TopbarSearch.tsx**
Highlights result previews, centers excerpts around matches, strips
search operators, and hides stale results during debounce transitions.

**desktop/src/features/sidebar/ui/AppSidebar.types.ts**
Updates the sidebar search callback contract to include the result
query.

**desktop/src/features/sidebar/ui/AppSidebarPinnedHeader.tsx**
Passes query-aware result selection through the pinned search entry
point.

**desktop/src/shared/lib/rehypeSearchHighlight.ts**
Uses the shared matcher to mark every matching Markdown text segment
while leaving code blocks untouched.

**desktop/src/shared/lib/searchHighlightStyle.ts**
Defines one yellow highlight treatment for light and dark themes.

**desktop/src/shared/ui/markdown/nodeCache.test.mjs**
Verifies all Markdown matches, one-character scoped searches, code
exclusion, and transient cache behavior.

**desktop/src/shared/ui/markdown/nodeCache.ts**
Enables transient highlighting for one-character scoped searches without
polluting the Markdown cache.

**desktop/tests/e2e/smoke.spec.ts**
Exercises result and destination highlighting, same-route forum
activation, and stale-query suppression end to end.

</details>

## Reproduction steps

1. Open a channel containing a longer message and press Cmd+F.
2. Search for a word that appears later in the message, such as
`mentions`.
3. Confirm each matching result shows the word in yellow and keeps the
match visible in its preview.
4. Open a result and confirm the same term is highlighted in yellow in
the destination message.
5. Repeat with a thread reply or forum post, and quickly change the
query to confirm stale results are not selectable.

## Demo

- **Before:** Search results returned the correct message but offered no
visual indication of where the query matched; opening the message also
showed no match treatment.
- **After:** Every matching term is marked in yellow in the result
preview and in the exact channel, thread, or forum message opened from
that result.

---------

Signed-off-by: tulsi <tulsi@block.xyz>
2026-08-25 16:22:12 +00:00
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