Search Configuration

Stardust includes powerful full-text search powered by Pagefind — no external service or API keys required.

Default Search (Pagefind)

Search works out of the box with zero configuration:

search:
  enabled: true

Pagefind provides:

• Full-text search across all pages
• Instant results as you type
• Works entirely client-side (no API keys needed)
• Automatic search index built during stardust build

Customizing Search

Placeholder Text

search:
  placeholder: "Search documentation..."

Keyboard Shortcut

Change the hotkey to open search:

search:
  hotkey: "k"  # Opens with Cmd+K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows/Linux)

Default is / (press / to open search).

Disabling Search

search:
  enabled: false

Or hide just the search button while keeping functionality:

header:
  showSearch: false

Search Behavior

Opening Search

Users can open search by:

• Clicking the search button in the header
• Pressing the hotkey (/ by default)
• Pressing Cmd+K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Windows/Linux)

Keyboard Navigation

Search Syntax

Pagefind supports:

• Simple keywords: configuration
• Multiple terms: dark mode theme
• Phrases: "code blocks"

Excluding Content from Search

Exclude Pages

Use frontmatter to exclude specific pages:

---
title: Internal Page
search: false
---

Exclude Sections

Add data-pagefind-ignore to HTML elements:

<div data-pagefind-ignore>
  This content won't be indexed.
</div>

Or in markdown with custom components:

<div data-pagefind-ignore>

Content here won't appear in search results.

</div>

Search Index

Build Index

The search index is automatically built when you run:

stardust build

The index is stored in dist/pagefind/ and is approximately 1-5% of your content size.

Development Mode

During development (stardust dev), search uses a temporary index that updates automatically as you edit content.

Performance Tips

Complete Search Configuration

search:
  enabled: true
  placeholder: "Search docs..."
  hotkey: "/"
  pageSize: 8  # results shown per page, with a Load more button