Search

Zorto includes built-in client-side search. At build time, it generates a SQLite database of all your pages. In the browser, sql.js (SQLite compiled to WASM) loads the database and runs queries entirely client-side — no server required.

How it works #

Build time #

When generate_search = true, Zorto creates a search.db file in your output directory containing every page and section:

Pre-computed lowercase columns (title_lower, description_lower, content_lower) enable case-insensitive matching without runtime overhead.

Client side #

The search modal dynamically loads sql.js from CDN and fetches /search.db as a binary blob. The database is created in memory and cached for the session — subsequent searches are instant.

Ranking #

Results are scored by where the match occurs:

Scores are additive — a match in both title and description scores higher than title alone. Results are ordered by total score, limited to the top 10.

Why LIKE instead of FTS5 #

SQLite’s FTS5 (full-text search) extension would be ideal, but the standard sql.js WASM build doesn’t include it. Zorto uses LIKE queries with pre-computed lowercase columns instead. This trades some search sophistication (no stemming or phrase matching) for broad compatibility — it works in every browser that supports WASM, with no custom sql.js build required.

The search UI #

The search modal opens with Ctrl+K (or Cmd+K on macOS). It includes:

• A text input with 100ms debounce (minimum 3 characters to search)
• Keyboard navigation: arrow keys to move, Enter to open, Escape to close
• Result snippets from description or content with highlighted matches
• Mobile support via a search button in the header

Further reading #

• Add search to your site — enable and configure search
• Configuration — the generate_search setting