Search 2.0 — complete GitHub-native search with clear/reset and real data

[SayanthRock]

Goal

Upgrade GitHub Rock Search into a complete, GitHub-native search experience using the existing authenticated GitHub API/repository architecture.

This is an overall Search improvement, not only a visual change.

Current audit

The current UnifiedSearchScreen already performs real GitHub searches through GitHubSearchRepository and GitHubRestApi.

Current capabilities:

• Repositories
• Owners/users
• Topics derived from real repository topic data
• All mode combining repositories + owners
• Debounced search
• Search history
• Pagination / Load more
• Clear icon in the text field

Current limitations:

• Search scope is incomplete compared with the range of GitHub search resources.
• Topics are derived from returned repository topics rather than being a first-class GitHub topic result.
• Clear only resets the current query; the overall search state/history UX is not polished.
• The screen is visually functional but not yet a premium GitHub Rock search experience.
• Search is coupled to every text change, which can create unnecessary GitHub requests/rate-limit pressure.
• Empty, loading, error, and pagination states need a clearer unified UX.
• Legacy Material icon usage remains in this screen and should ultimately follow issue Replace all legacy Material icons with the new GitHub Rock icon system #302.

Required Search 2.0

Real GitHub data only

Use the existing authenticated GitHub API infrastructure. Do not mock results, hard-code repositories/users, generate fake counts, create a second Retrofit/API client, or create fake search toggles.

Every displayed result must originate from GitHub data.

Complete search scopes

Where supported by the existing API architecture, expose real GitHub search resources:

• All
• Repositories
• Code
• Issues
• Pull requests
• Users
• Commits
• Topics

Do not add a UI scope unless its underlying API request and result handling are actually implemented.

If GitHub/API permissions or endpoint limitations prevent a scope from being available, show a truthful unavailable/permission state instead of fake results.

Search behavior

• Keep a single canonical query state.
• Trim/normalize the query.
• Avoid unnecessary requests while the user is still typing.
• Cancel obsolete requests safely.
• Do not let an older response overwrite a newer query.
• Preserve pagination per active search scope.
• Handle GitHub rate limits and network failures clearly.
• Do not search for empty/one-character queries unless the API explicitly supports it.

Clear Search

Provide a prominent, accessible Clear action whenever a query exists.

Clear must:

• immediately clear the text
• cancel the active search
• clear displayed results
• reset pagination/loading/error state
• return to the recent-search/empty-search state
• not navigate away
• not require reopening Search

Add a separate clearly labeled action for clearing search history if the existing preferences architecture supports it.

Do not confuse Clear search with Clear history.

Search history

Reuse the existing preferences/history architecture:

• recent searches when query is empty
• one-tap reuse
• clear history action
• duplicate suppression
• normalized values
• predictable ordering
• no sensitive data logging

Results UI

Create a polished native Compose result experience consistent with GitHub Rock:

• dark-first charcoal surfaces
• strong light-mode support
• rounded 20–28dp surfaces
• subtle borders
• no excessive gradients
• clear GitHub-native hierarchy
• compact metadata
• readable descriptions
• avatars where available
• repository language/stars/forks when supplied by GitHub
• issue/PR state where supplied
• commit SHA/message/author/date where supplied
• code path/repository context where supplied
• topic chips where supplied

Every result must have a meaningful click action when the corresponding destination exists.

All-results presentation

For All, present heterogeneous results as clearly separated sections/cards rather than pretending every resource is a repository.

Only render sections with actual results.

Empty/loading/error states

Use distinct states:

• Initial empty search
• Recent searches
• Searching
• Results
• No results
• Rate limited
• Authentication required
• Permission denied
• Network unavailable
• Generic GitHub/API error
• Loading more

Provide useful retry behavior where applicable.

Pagination

Use GitHub pagination metadata/results rather than assuming items.size == perPage when a more reliable API signal is available.

Prevent duplicate rows when loading additional pages.

Reset pagination whenever query changes, search scope changes, search is cleared, or a new search is submitted.

Architecture

Reuse:

• existing GitHubRestApi
• existing GitHubSearchRepository
• existing authentication/session state
• existing preferences
• existing navigation
• existing GitHub models where compatible

Do not introduce duplicate networking infrastructure.

Accessibility and interaction

• Clear content descriptions for search, back, clear, retry and result actions.
• IME Search action works.
• Touch targets meet Android accessibility expectations.
• Keyboard/focus behavior is predictable.
• Screen-reader users can understand result type and metadata.
• Respect reduced-motion preferences.
• Do not interfere with the existing navigation-bar press/hold slide interaction.

Visual interaction

Use GitHub Rock motion conventions:

• fast/quick feedback
• restrained transitions
• no bounce
• no unnecessary full-screen animation

Icon system

Follow issue #302 and migrate this screen away from legacy androidx.compose.material.icons when implementing the change. Use the centralized GitHub Rock icon system.

Verification

Follow:

Audit → root cause → Fix → Build/Test → Verify → Commit → CI → Next issue

Verify real repository/user/topic search, every implemented scope, Clear Search, Clear history, history reuse, empty results, network/API failures, pagination, rapid query changes, scope switching, authentication/guest behavior, dark/light mode, accessibility, and existing navigation/repository-opening behavior.

Do not claim completion without an exact commit SHA and CI/build evidence.

Acceptance criteria

Search is complete when GitHub Rock provides a fast, native, real-data GitHub search experience with clear/reset behavior, useful history, truthful search scopes, robust states, pagination, accessible results, and no duplicate API architecture or fake data.