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Space7’s search feature lets you discover public Spaces by keyword or hashtag without signing in. Each query runs two searches in parallel and returns deduplicated, categorised results.

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How search works

When you type a query in the home screen search bar, the SearchAPI function fires two requests simultaneously:
  1. Full-text search — matches Spaces whose title or description contain the query string.
  2. Tag search — finds Spaces whose tags array contains a tag that matches the query exactly.
Both result sets are filtered to public Spaces only before being returned to the UI. Private Spaces never appear in search results. 
export const SearchAPI = async (
  query: string,
): Promise<{
  tagSearchResults: SearchResult[];
  generalSearchResults: SearchResult[];
}> => {
  const trimmedQuery = query.trim();

  if (!trimmedQuery) {
    return { tagSearchResults: [], generalSearchResults: [] };
  }

  const tagSearchResults = await searchSpacesByTag(trimmedQuery);
  const generalSearchResults = await searchSpaces(trimmedQuery);

  // Only public spaces are surfaced
  const onlyPublicTagResults = tagSearchResults.filter(
    (space) => !space.visibility || space.visibility === "public",
  );
  const onlyPublicGeneralResults = generalSearchResults.filter(
    (space) => !space.visibility || space.visibility === "public",
  );

  return {
    tagSearchResults: onlyPublicTagResults,
    generalSearchResults: onlyPublicGeneralResults,
  };
};
Passing an empty or whitespace-only string to SearchAPI short-circuits both network calls and returns empty arrays immediately.

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API endpoints

Searches Space titles and descriptions for the provided query string.
GET /api/spaces/search?q=typescript
The q parameter is URL-encoded before the request is made. No authentication is required. Returns an array of SearchResult objects.
Finds Spaces that have a tag matching the given string exactly.
GET /api/spaces/tag/typescript
No authentication is required. Returns an array of SearchResult objects. The tag value is passed as a path segment, not a query parameter.

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SearchResult type

Both endpoints return the same SearchResult shape, which mirrors the Space type: 
type SearchResult = {
  space_id: string;
  title: string;
  description: string;
  visibility?: "public" | "private";
  creator: {
    user_id: string;
    username: string;
    profile_picture: string;
  };
  participant_count: number;
  tags: {
    tag_id: number;
    tag_name: string;
  }[];
};
FieldDescription
space_idUnique Space identifier, used to navigate into the Space
titleDisplay name of the Space
descriptionTopic description
visibilityAlways "public" in search results
creatorAuthor details including avatar URL
participant_countCurrent number of participants
tagsAll hashtags attached to the Space

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Interpreting results in the UI

The search screen presents two labelled sections:
  • Tag results — Spaces that have a tag matching your query. These tend to be the most relevant because tag matching is exact.
  • General results — Spaces whose title or description contains your query. Broader but useful for discovering Spaces you might not know the exact tag for.
Tapping any result card navigates you into that Space. If the Space is public you join automatically when you send your first message.
To search by hashtag specifically, type the tag name without a # prefix — for example, type gaming rather than #gaming. The tag search endpoint matches against the stored tag_name value directly.