diff --git a/src/lib/client/search.svelte.ts b/src/lib/client/search.svelte.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a9c0786
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/client/search.svelte.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,238 @@
+import type { SearchHit } from '$lib/server/recipes/search-local';
+import type { WebHit } from '$lib/server/search/searxng';
+
+export type SearchSnapshot = {
+  query: string;
+  hits: SearchHit[];
+  webHits: WebHit[];
+  searchedFor: string | null;
+  webError: string | null;
+  localExhausted: boolean;
+  webPageno: number;
+  webExhausted: boolean;
+};
+
+export type SearchStoreOptions = {
+  pageSize?: number;
+  debounceMs?: number;
+  filterDebounceMs?: number;
+  minQueryLength?: number;
+  filterParam?: () => string;
+  fetchImpl?: typeof fetch;
+};
+
+export class SearchStore {
+  #query = $state('');
+  hits = $state<SearchHit[]>([]);
+  webHits = $state<WebHit[]>([]);
+  searching = $state(false);
+  webSearching = $state(false);
+  webError = $state<string | null>(null);
+  searchedFor = $state<string | null>(null);
+  localExhausted = $state(false);
+  webPageno = $state(0);
+  webExhausted = $state(false);
+  loadingMore = $state(false);
+
+  get query(): string {
+    return this.#query;
+  }
+
+  set query(v: string) {
+    this.#query = v;
+    // Race-guard: when the query diverges from the last committed search,
+    // any currently shown hits are stale and must be cleared immediately.
+    if (this.searchedFor !== null && v.trim() !== this.searchedFor) {
+      this.hits = [];
+      this.webHits = [];
+      this.searchedFor = null;
+    }
+  }
+
+  private readonly pageSize: number;
+  private readonly debounceMs: number;
+  private readonly filterDebounceMs: number;
+  private readonly minQueryLength: number;
+  private readonly filterParam: () => string;
+  private readonly fetchImpl: typeof fetch;
+  private debounceTimer: ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | null = null;
+  private skipNextDebounce = false;
+
+  constructor(opts: SearchStoreOptions = {}) {
+    this.pageSize = opts.pageSize ?? 30;
+    this.debounceMs = opts.debounceMs ?? 300;
+    this.filterDebounceMs = opts.filterDebounceMs ?? 150;
+    this.minQueryLength = opts.minQueryLength ?? 4;
+    this.filterParam = opts.filterParam ?? (() => '');
+    this.fetchImpl = opts.fetchImpl ?? ((...a) => fetch(...a));
+  }
+
+  runDebounced(_q: string): void {
+    if (this.debounceTimer) clearTimeout(this.debounceTimer);
+    if (this.skipNextDebounce) {
+      this.skipNextDebounce = false;
+      return;
+    }
+    const q = this.query.trim();
+    if (q.length < this.minQueryLength) {
+      this.resetResults();
+      return;
+    }
+    this.searching = true;
+    this.webHits = [];
+    this.webSearching = false;
+    this.webError = null;
+    this.debounceTimer = setTimeout(() => {
+      void this.runSearch(q);
+    }, this.debounceMs);
+  }
+
+  async runSearch(q: string): Promise<void> {
+    this.localExhausted = false;
+    this.webPageno = 0;
+    this.webExhausted = false;
+    try {
+      const res = await this.fetchImpl(
+        `/api/recipes/search?q=${encodeURIComponent(q)}&limit=${this.pageSize}${this.filterParam()}`
+      );
+      const body = (await res.json()) as { hits: SearchHit[] };
+      if (this.query.trim() !== q) return;
+      this.hits = body.hits;
+      this.searchedFor = q;
+      if (this.hits.length < this.pageSize) this.localExhausted = true;
+      if (this.hits.length === 0) {
+        await this.runWebSearch(q, 1);
+      }
+    } finally {
+      if (this.query.trim() === q) this.searching = false;
+    }
+  }
+
+  private async runWebSearch(q: string, pageno: number): Promise<void> {
+    this.webSearching = true;
+    try {
+      const res = await this.fetchImpl(
+        `/api/recipes/search/web?q=${encodeURIComponent(q)}&pageno=${pageno}${this.filterParam()}`
+      );
+      if (this.query.trim() !== q) return;
+      if (!res.ok) {
+        const err = (await res.json().catch(() => ({}))) as { message?: string };
+        this.webError = err.message ?? `HTTP ${res.status}`;
+        this.webExhausted = true;
+        return;
+      }
+      const body = (await res.json()) as { hits: WebHit[] };
+      this.webHits = pageno === 1 ? body.hits : [...this.webHits, ...body.hits];
+      this.webPageno = pageno;
+      if (body.hits.length === 0) this.webExhausted = true;
+    } finally {
+      if (this.query.trim() === q) this.webSearching = false;
+    }
+  }
+
+  async loadMore(): Promise<void> {
+    if (this.loadingMore) return;
+    const q = this.query.trim();
+    if (!q) return;
+    this.loadingMore = true;
+    try {
+      if (!this.localExhausted) {
+        const res = await this.fetchImpl(
+          `/api/recipes/search?q=${encodeURIComponent(q)}&limit=${this.pageSize}&offset=${this.hits.length}${this.filterParam()}`
+        );
+        const body = (await res.json()) as { hits: SearchHit[] };
+        if (this.query.trim() !== q) return;
+        const more = body.hits;
+        const seen = new Set(this.hits.map((h) => h.id));
+        const deduped = more.filter((h) => !seen.has(h.id));
+        this.hits = [...this.hits, ...deduped];
+        if (more.length < this.pageSize) this.localExhausted = true;
+      } else if (!this.webExhausted) {
+        const nextPage = this.webPageno + 1;
+        const wasEmpty = this.webHits.length === 0;
+        if (wasEmpty) this.webSearching = true;
+        try {
+          const res = await this.fetchImpl(
+            `/api/recipes/search/web?q=${encodeURIComponent(q)}&pageno=${nextPage}${this.filterParam()}`
+          );
+          if (this.query.trim() !== q) return;
+          if (!res.ok) {
+            const err = (await res.json().catch(() => ({}))) as { message?: string };
+            this.webError = err.message ?? `HTTP ${res.status}`;
+            this.webExhausted = true;
+            return;
+          }
+          const body = (await res.json()) as { hits: WebHit[] };
+          const more = body.hits;
+          const seen = new Set(this.webHits.map((h) => h.url));
+          const deduped = more.filter((h) => !seen.has(h.url));
+          if (deduped.length === 0) {
+            this.webExhausted = true;
+          } else {
+            this.webHits = [...this.webHits, ...deduped];
+            this.webPageno = nextPage;
+          }
+        } finally {
+          if (this.query.trim() === q) this.webSearching = false;
+        }
+      }
+    } finally {
+      this.loadingMore = false;
+    }
+  }
+
+  reSearch(): void {
+    const q = this.query.trim();
+    if (q.length < this.minQueryLength) return;
+    if (this.debounceTimer) clearTimeout(this.debounceTimer);
+    this.searching = true;
+    this.webHits = [];
+    this.webSearching = false;
+    this.webError = null;
+    this.debounceTimer = setTimeout(() => void this.runSearch(q), this.filterDebounceMs);
+  }
+
+  reset(): void {
+    if (this.debounceTimer) clearTimeout(this.debounceTimer);
+    this.debounceTimer = null;
+    this.query = '';
+    this.resetResults();
+  }
+
+  private resetResults(): void {
+    this.hits = [];
+    this.webHits = [];
+    this.searchedFor = null;
+    this.searching = false;
+    this.webSearching = false;
+    this.webError = null;
+    this.localExhausted = false;
+    this.webPageno = 0;
+    this.webExhausted = false;
+  }
+
+  captureSnapshot(): SearchSnapshot {
+    return {
+      query: this.query,
+      hits: this.hits,
+      webHits: this.webHits,
+      searchedFor: this.searchedFor,
+      webError: this.webError,
+      localExhausted: this.localExhausted,
+      webPageno: this.webPageno,
+      webExhausted: this.webExhausted
+    };
+  }
+
+  restoreSnapshot(s: SearchSnapshot): void {
+    this.skipNextDebounce = true;
+    this.query = s.query;
+    this.hits = s.hits;
+    this.webHits = s.webHits;
+    this.searchedFor = s.searchedFor;
+    this.webError = s.webError;
+    this.localExhausted = s.localExhausted;
+    this.webPageno = s.webPageno;
+    this.webExhausted = s.webExhausted;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/tests/unit/search-store.test.ts b/tests/unit/search-store.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ca5f4fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/search-store.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,220 @@
+// @vitest-environment jsdom
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach } from 'vitest';
+import { SearchStore, type SearchSnapshot } from '../../src/lib/client/search.svelte';
+
+type FetchMock = ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>;
+
+function mockFetch(responses: Array<{ ok?: boolean; status?: number; body: unknown }>): FetchMock {
+  const calls = [...responses];
+  return vi.fn(async () => {
+    const r = calls.shift();
+    if (!r) throw new Error('fetch called more times than expected');
+    return {
+      ok: r.ok ?? true,
+      status: r.status ?? 200,
+      json: async () => r.body
+    } as Response;
+  });
+}
+
+describe('SearchStore', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.useRealTimers();
+  });
+
+  it('keeps results empty while query is <= 3 chars (debounced)', async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    const fetchImpl = mockFetch([]);
+    const store = new SearchStore({ fetchImpl, debounceMs: 50 });
+    store.query = 'abc';
+    store.runDebounced(store.query);
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(100);
+    expect(store.searching).toBe(false);
+    expect(fetchImpl).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it('fires local search after debounce when query > 3 chars', async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    const fetchImpl = mockFetch([
+      { body: { hits: [{ id: 1, title: 'Pasta', description: null, image_path: null, source_domain: null, avg_stars: null, last_cooked_at: null }] } }
+    ]);
+    const store = new SearchStore({ fetchImpl, debounceMs: 50, pageSize: 30 });
+    store.query = 'pasta';
+    store.runDebounced(store.query);
+    expect(store.searching).toBe(true);
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(100);
+    await vi.waitFor(() => expect(fetchImpl).toHaveBeenCalled());
+    expect(fetchImpl.mock.calls[0][0]).toMatch(/\/api\/recipes\/search\?q=pasta&limit=30/);
+    expect(store.hits).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(store.searchedFor).toBe('pasta');
+    expect(store.localExhausted).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('falls back to web search when local returns zero hits', async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    const fetchImpl = mockFetch([
+      { body: { hits: [] } },
+      { body: { hits: [{ url: 'https://chefkoch.de/x', title: 'Foo', domain: 'chefkoch.de', snippet: null, thumbnail: null }] } }
+    ]);
+    const store = new SearchStore({ fetchImpl, debounceMs: 50 });
+    store.query = 'pizza';
+    store.runDebounced(store.query);
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(100);
+    await vi.waitFor(() => expect(store.webHits).toHaveLength(1));
+    expect(fetchImpl).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2);
+    expect(fetchImpl.mock.calls[1][0]).toMatch(/\/api\/recipes\/search\/web\?q=pizza&pageno=1/);
+    expect(store.webPageno).toBe(1);
+  });
+
+  it('races-guards: stale response discarded when query changed mid-flight', async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    const fetchImpl = mockFetch([
+      { body: { hits: [{ id: 99, title: 'Stale', description: null, image_path: null, source_domain: null, avg_stars: null, last_cooked_at: null }] } }
+    ]);
+    const store = new SearchStore({ fetchImpl, debounceMs: 10 });
+    store.query = 'stale-query';
+    store.runDebounced(store.query);
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(15);
+    store.query = 'different';
+    await vi.waitFor(() => expect(fetchImpl).toHaveBeenCalled());
+    expect(store.hits).toEqual([]);
+  });
+
+  it('loadMore: drains local first (offset pagination)', async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    const page1 = Array.from({ length: 30 }, (_, i) => ({ id: i, title: `r${i}`, description: null, image_path: null, source_domain: null, avg_stars: null, last_cooked_at: null }));
+    const page2 = Array.from({ length: 5 }, (_, i) => ({ id: i + 30, title: `r${i + 30}`, description: null, image_path: null, source_domain: null, avg_stars: null, last_cooked_at: null }));
+    const fetchImpl = mockFetch([
+      { body: { hits: page1 } },
+      { body: { hits: page2 } }
+    ]);
+    const store = new SearchStore({ fetchImpl, debounceMs: 10, pageSize: 30 });
+    store.query = 'meal';
+    store.runDebounced(store.query);
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(15);
+    await vi.waitFor(() => expect(store.hits).toHaveLength(30));
+    expect(store.localExhausted).toBe(false);
+    await store.loadMore();
+    expect(store.hits).toHaveLength(35);
+    expect(fetchImpl.mock.calls[1][0]).toMatch(/offset=30/);
+    expect(store.localExhausted).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('loadMore: switches to web pagination after local exhausted', async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    const local = [{ id: 1, title: 'local', description: null, image_path: null, source_domain: null, avg_stars: null, last_cooked_at: null }];
+    const webP1 = [{ url: 'https://a.com', title: 'A', domain: 'a.com', snippet: null, thumbnail: null }];
+    const webP2 = [{ url: 'https://b.com', title: 'B', domain: 'b.com', snippet: null, thumbnail: null }];
+    const fetchImpl = mockFetch([
+      { body: { hits: local } },
+      { body: { hits: webP1 } },
+      { body: { hits: webP2 } }
+    ]);
+    const store = new SearchStore({ fetchImpl, debounceMs: 10, pageSize: 30 });
+    store.query = 'soup';
+    store.runDebounced(store.query);
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(15);
+    await vi.waitFor(() => expect(store.hits).toHaveLength(1));
+    expect(store.localExhausted).toBe(true);
+    await store.loadMore();
+    expect(store.webHits).toHaveLength(1);
+    await store.loadMore();
+    expect(store.webHits).toHaveLength(2);
+    expect(store.webPageno).toBe(2);
+  });
+
+  it('web search error sets webError and marks webExhausted', async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    const fetchImpl = mockFetch([
+      { body: { hits: [] } },
+      { ok: false, status: 502, body: { message: 'SearXNG unreachable' } }
+    ]);
+    const store = new SearchStore({ fetchImpl, debounceMs: 10 });
+    store.query = 'anything';
+    store.runDebounced(store.query);
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(15);
+    await vi.waitFor(() => expect(store.webError).toBe('SearXNG unreachable'));
+    expect(store.webExhausted).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('reset(): clears query, results, and pending debounce', async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    const fetchImpl = mockFetch([]);
+    const store = new SearchStore({ fetchImpl, debounceMs: 100 });
+    store.query = 'foobar';
+    store.runDebounced(store.query);
+    store.reset();
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(200);
+    expect(store.query).toBe('');
+    expect(store.hits).toEqual([]);
+    expect(fetchImpl).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it('captureSnapshot / restoreSnapshot: round-trips without re-fetching', async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    const fetchImpl = mockFetch([]);
+    const store = new SearchStore({ fetchImpl, debounceMs: 50 });
+    const snap: SearchSnapshot = {
+      query: 'lasagne',
+      hits: [{ id: 7, title: 'Lasagne', description: null, image_path: null, source_domain: null, avg_stars: null, last_cooked_at: null }],
+      webHits: [],
+      searchedFor: 'lasagne',
+      webError: null,
+      localExhausted: true,
+      webPageno: 0,
+      webExhausted: false
+    };
+    store.restoreSnapshot(snap);
+    expect(store.query).toBe('lasagne');
+    expect(store.hits).toHaveLength(1);
+    store.runDebounced(store.query);
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(100);
+    expect(fetchImpl).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    const round = store.captureSnapshot();
+    expect(round).toEqual(snap);
+  });
+
+  it('filterParam option: gets appended to both local and web requests', async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    const fetchImpl = mockFetch([
+      { body: { hits: [] } },
+      { body: { hits: [] } }
+    ]);
+    const store = new SearchStore({
+      fetchImpl,
+      debounceMs: 10,
+      filterParam: () => '&domains=chefkoch.de'
+    });
+    store.query = 'curry';
+    store.runDebounced(store.query);
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(15);
+    await vi.waitFor(() => expect(fetchImpl).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2));
+    expect(fetchImpl.mock.calls[0][0]).toMatch(/&domains=chefkoch\.de/);
+    expect(fetchImpl.mock.calls[1][0]).toMatch(/&domains=chefkoch\.de/);
+  });
+
+  it('reSearch: immediate re-run with current query on filter change', async () => {
+    vi.useFakeTimers();
+    let filter = '';
+    const fetchImpl = mockFetch([
+      { body: { hits: [] } },
+      { body: { hits: [] } },
+      { body: { hits: [{ id: 1, title: 'filtered', description: null, image_path: null, source_domain: null, avg_stars: null, last_cooked_at: null }] } }
+    ]);
+    const store = new SearchStore({
+      fetchImpl,
+      debounceMs: 10,
+      filterDebounceMs: 5,
+      filterParam: () => filter
+    });
+    store.query = 'broth';
+    store.runDebounced(store.query);
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(15);
+    filter = '&domains=chefkoch.de';
+    store.reSearch();
+    await vi.advanceTimersByTimeAsync(10);
+    await vi.waitFor(() => expect(store.hits).toHaveLength(1));
+    const last = fetchImpl.mock.calls.at(-1)?.[0] as string;
+    expect(last).toMatch(/&domains=chefkoch\.de/);
+  });
+});