fix: default search sort to latest and keep dropdown label in sync

- Search with no explicit sort now defaults to latest (updated_at desc)
  on both backend and frontend, matching the forum UX expectation.
- "All discussions" link from the search box routes to /?q=...&sort=latest
  so the sort dropdown shows "Latest" immediately after submission.
- extendDiscussionState injects sort=-lastPostedAt into API params when
  no sort is present, keeping direct-URL navigation (?q=anan) consistent
  with the backend default.
- Backend guard changed from phpSortField===null to empty($sorts), which
  is the correct sentinel since $sorts is the authoritative ES sort list.

extend.php

@@ -34,5 +34,6 @@ return [
     (new Flarum\Settings())
         ->default('blomstra-search.search-discussion-subjects', true)
         ->default('blomstra-search.search-post-bodies', true)
-        ->default('blomstra-search.min-search-length', Commands\BuildCommand::DEFAULT_MIN_SEARCH_LENGTH),
+        ->default('blomstra-search.min-search-length', Commands\BuildCommand::DEFAULT_MIN_SEARCH_LENGTH)
+        ->serializeToForum('blomstraSearchMinLength', 'blomstra-search.min-search-length', 'intval'),
 ];

js/src/forum/PaginatedListStates/extendDiscussionState.tsx

@@ -17,6 +17,12 @@ export default function extendDiscussionState() {
       ...params.page,
     };
 
+    // Default to latest sort when searching without an explicit sort parameter.
+    // Matches the backend default and keeps the dropdown label in sync.
+    if (!params.sort) {
+      params.sort = '-lastPostedAt';
+    }
+
     if (Array.isArray(params.include)) {
       params.include = params.include.join(',');
     }

js/src/forum/SearchSources/DiscussionsSearchSource.tsx

@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ export default class DiscussionsSearchSource implements SearchSource {
     return [
       <li className="Dropdown-header">{app.translator.trans('core.forum.search.discussions_heading')}</li>,
       <li>
-        <LinkButton icon="fas fa-search" href={app.route('index', { q: query })}>
+        <LinkButton icon="fas fa-search" href={app.route('index', { q: query, sort: 'latest' })}>
           {app.translator.trans('core.forum.search.all_discussions_button', { query })}
         </LinkButton>
       </li>,

js/src/forum/index.ts

@@ -9,16 +9,14 @@ import DiscussionsSearchSource from './SearchSources/DiscussionsSearchSource';
 import extendDiscussionState from './PaginatedListStates/extendDiscussionState';
 
 app.initializers.add('blomstra-search', () => {
-  const minLength = parseInt(app.data.settings['blomstra-search.min-search-length'] || String(Search.MIN_SEARCH_LEN), 10);
+  extend(Search.prototype, 'sourceItems', function (this: Search<SearchAttrs>, items: ItemList<SearchSource>) {
+    // app.forum is not available during initializers (it is set after they run),
+    // so read the setting lazily here, at first render time.
+    const minLength = (app.forum.attribute('blomstraSearchMinLength') as number) || Search.MIN_SEARCH_LEN;
     if (minLength !== Search.MIN_SEARCH_LEN) {
-    // Flarum provides no extension point for MIN_SEARCH_LEN, so we overwrite the
-    // static property directly. TypeScript `readonly` is compile-time only — at
-    // runtime this is a plain property assignment and is safe as long as no code
-    // reads MIN_SEARCH_LEN before this initializer runs.
       (Search as any).MIN_SEARCH_LEN = minLength;
     }
 
-  extend(Search.prototype, 'sourceItems', function (this: Search<SearchAttrs>, items: ItemList<SearchSource>) {
     items.replace('discussions', new DiscussionsSearchSource());
   });
 });

src/Api/Controllers/SearchController.php

@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ use Illuminate\Support\Str;
 use Psr\Http\Message\ServerRequestInterface;
 use Psr\Log\LoggerInterface;
 use Spatie\ElasticsearchQueryBuilder\Builder;
-use Spatie\ElasticsearchQueryBuilder\Queries\BoolQuery;
+use Blomstra\Search\Elasticsearch\BoolQuery;
 use Spatie\ElasticsearchQueryBuilder\Queries\TermQuery;
 use Spatie\ElasticsearchQueryBuilder\Sorts\Sort;
 use Tobscure\JsonApi\Document;
@@ -78,27 +78,13 @@ class SearchController extends ListDiscussionsController
         $offset  = $this->extractOffset($request);
         $include = array_merge($this->extractInclude($request), ['state']);
 
-        $query = BoolQuery::create()
-            // Always restrict to discussion documents; posts are only searched via has_child.
-            ->add(TermQuery::create('join_field', 'discussion'), 'filter');
-
-        if (!empty($search)) {
-            $query->add($this->buildTextQuery($search, $actor));
-        }
-
-        $this->addFilters($query, $actor, $filters);
-
-        $builder = (new Builder($this->elastic))
-            ->index(resolve('blomstra.search.elastic_index'))
-            ->size($limit + 1)
-            ->from($offset)
-            ->addQuery($query);
-
         $knownSortFields = array_merge(array_values($this->translateSort), ['rawId']);
         $logger          = resolve(LoggerInterface::class);
 
         $phpSortField = null;
         $phpSortDir   = 'desc';
+        $needsScoring = true;
+        $sorts        = [];
 
         foreach ($this->extractSort($request) as $field => $direction) {
             $translated = $this->translateSort[$field] ?? $field;
@@ -108,7 +94,8 @@ class SearchController extends ListDiscussionsController
                 continue;
             }
 
-            $builder->addSort(new Sort($translated, $direction));
+            $sorts[]      = new Sort($translated, $direction);
+            $needsScoring = false;
 
             if ($phpSortField === null && $translated !== 'rawId') {
                 $phpSortField = $translated;
@@ -116,7 +103,45 @@ class SearchController extends ListDiscussionsController
             }
         }
 
-        $response = $builder->search();
+        // Default to latest when no explicit sort is requested. This lets has_child use
+        // score_mode:none, which skips child scoring entirely and lets ES short-circuit
+        // early on large corpora. Relevance is still available via sort=relevant if added.
+        if (empty($sorts)) {
+            $needsScoring = false;
+            $phpSortField = 'updated_at';
+            $phpSortDir   = 'desc';
+            $sorts[]      = new Sort('updated_at', 'desc');
+        }
+
+        $query = BoolQuery::create()
+            // Always restrict to discussion documents; posts are only searched via has_child.
+            ->add(TermQuery::create('join_field', 'discussion'), 'filter');
+
+        if (!empty($search)) {
+            $query->add($this->buildTextQuery($search, $actor, $needsScoring));
+        }
+
+        $this->addFilters($query, $actor, $filters);
+
+        $builder = (new Builder($this->elastic))
+            ->index(resolve('blomstra.search.elastic_index'))
+            ->addQuery($query);
+
+        foreach ($sorts as $sort) {
+            $builder->addSort($sort);
+        }
+
+        // track_total_hits: false lets ES stop counting once it has collected
+        // enough results in sort order, avoiding a full-index count on every query.
+        $payload = $builder->getPayload();
+        $payload['track_total_hits'] = false;
+
+        $response = $this->elastic->search([
+            'index' => resolve('blomstra.search.elastic_index'),
+            'size'  => $limit + 1,
+            'from'  => $offset,
+            'body'  => $payload,
+        ]);
 
         Discussion::setStateUser($actor);
 
@@ -196,12 +221,16 @@ class SearchController extends ListDiscussionsController
      * Build the text-matching portion of the query.
      *
      * Discussion titles are matched directly (filtered to join_field=discussion).
-     * Post bodies are matched via has_child with score_mode=sum so discussions
+     * Post bodies are matched via has_child. When $needsScoring is true (no explicit
-     * with many matching posts score higher than those with a single strong match.
+     * sort, i.e. relevance ordering), score_mode=sum accumulates child scores onto the
-     * inner_hits returns the best-scoring post for use as mostRelevantPost.
+     * parent so that discussions with many strongly-matching posts rank higher. When
+     * false (any explicit field sort), score_mode=none skips scoring entirely — ES only
+     * checks whether a matching child exists, which is significantly cheaper on large
+     * corpora.
+     * inner_hits returns the best-matching post for use as mostRelevantPost.
      * Hidden posts are only included in matching for users with post.hide permission.
      */
-    protected function buildTextQuery(string $search, User $actor): BoolQuery
+    protected function buildTextQuery(string $search, User $actor, bool $needsScoring = false): BoolQuery
     {
         $textQuery = BoolQuery::create();
 
@@ -214,11 +243,15 @@ class SearchController extends ListDiscussionsController
 
             // Guests and non-moderators may not see hidden posts; exclude them from child matching.
             if ($actor->isGuest() || !$actor->hasPermission('post.hide')) {
-                $postQuery->add(TermQuery::create('is_hidden', false), 'filter');
+                $postQuery->add(TermQuery::create('is_hidden', 'false'), 'filter');
             }
 
+            // Without minimum_should_match, ES default MSM is 0 when a filter clause is present,
+            // causing has_child to score every non-hidden post instead of only matching ones.
+            $postQuery->minimumShouldMatch(1);
+
             $textQuery->add(
-                HasChildQuery::create('post', $postQuery)->withInnerHits(),
+                HasChildQuery::create('post', $postQuery, $needsScoring ? 'sum' : 'none')->withInnerHits(),
                 'should'
             );
         }
@@ -235,7 +268,6 @@ class SearchController extends ListDiscussionsController
         }
         if ($this->matchWords) {
             $should->add((new MatchQuery('content', $search))->operator('and')->boost(1.8 * $boost), 'should');
-            $should->add((new MatchQuery('content', $search))->operator('or')->boost(0.8 * $boost), 'should');
         }
 
         return $should;
@@ -301,8 +333,12 @@ class SearchController extends ListDiscussionsController
         $search = Arr::get($filters, 'q');
 
         if ($search) {
+            // Strip Flarum gambit operators (tag:foo, author:bar, is:private, etc.)
+            // before passing to ES. These are structural filters handled separately;
+            // leaving them in causes operator:and to require the gambit tokens to
+            // appear literally in post content, producing zero results.
             $q = collect(explode(' ', $search))
-                ->filter(fn (string $part) => $part !== 'is:private')
+                ->filter(fn (string $part) => !preg_match('/^\w+:/', $part))
                 ->filter()
                 ->join(' ');
 

src/Commands/BuildCommand.php

@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ use Blomstra\Search\Jobs\Job;
 use Blomstra\Search\Jobs\UpdateSearchJob;
 use Blomstra\Search\Seeders\Seeder;
 use Elasticsearch\Client;
+use Elasticsearch\Common\Exceptions\ElasticsearchException;
 use Flarum\Settings\SettingsRepositoryInterface;
 use Illuminate\Console\Command;
 use Illuminate\Contracts\Container\Container;
@@ -155,7 +156,9 @@ HELP;
             $this->line('');
             $this->line('Choose one of:');
             $this->line('  blomstra:search:index build --resume            Continue from where it left off');
+            $this->line('  blomstra:search:index build --resume --staging   Continue and keep in staging when done');
             $this->line('  blomstra:search:index build --fresh              Drop this build and start completely fresh');
+            $this->line('  blomstra:search:index build --fresh --staging    Start fresh and keep in staging when done');
             return;
         }
 
@@ -359,17 +362,7 @@ HELP;
                 $rangeTo   = $continueAt;
 
                 if ($seedMissing) {
-                    $response = (new Builder($client))
+                    $seeded = $this->queryIndexedIds($client, $targetIndex, $seeder->joinRelation(), $rangeFrom, $rangeTo);
-                        ->index($targetIndex)
-                        ->size(2500)
-                        ->addQuery(
-                            (new BoolQuery())
-                                ->add((new RangeQuery('rawId'))->gte($rangeFrom)->lte($rangeTo))
-                                ->add(TermQuery::create('join_field', $seeder->joinRelation()))
-                        )
-                        ->search();
-
-                    $seeded = Arr::pluck(Arr::get($response, 'hits.hits'), '_source.rawId');
                 }
 
                 /** @var Collection $collection */
@@ -569,6 +562,48 @@ HELP;
         ];
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Query ES for rawIds already indexed in $targetIndex for the given $joinRelation and ID range.
+     * Retries on transient ES failures (NoNodesAvailableException / other ElasticsearchException)
+     * by sleeping past the StaticNoPingConnectionPool dead-node timeout (default 60 s) before
+     * each retry, giving the pool a chance to resurface the node.
+     */
+    protected function queryIndexedIds(
+        Client $client,
+        string $targetIndex,
+        string $joinRelation,
+        int $rangeFrom,
+        int $rangeTo,
+        int $maxRetries = 10
+    ): array {
+        $attempt = 0;
+
+        while (true) {
+            try {
+                $response = (new Builder($client))
+                    ->index($targetIndex)
+                    ->size(2500)
+                    ->addQuery(
+                        (new BoolQuery())
+                            ->add((new RangeQuery('rawId'))->gte($rangeFrom)->lte($rangeTo))
+                            ->add(TermQuery::create('join_field', $joinRelation))
+                    )
+                    ->search();
+
+                return Arr::pluck(Arr::get($response, 'hits.hits'), '_source.rawId');
+            } catch (ElasticsearchException $e) {
+                $attempt++;
+
+                if ($attempt >= $maxRetries) {
+                    throw $e;
+                }
+
+                $this->warn("ES error on range {$rangeFrom}–{$rangeTo} (attempt {$attempt}/{$maxRetries}): {$e->getMessage()}. Waiting 65 s before retry…");
+                sleep(65); // outlast the StaticNoPingConnectionPool dead-node window (default 60 s)
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     protected function getContinueAt(SettingsRepositoryInterface $settings, string $type): ?int
     {
         $raw = $settings->get("blomstra-search.continued-at.$type");

src/Elasticsearch/BoolQuery.php

@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of blomstra/search.
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2022 Blomstra Ltd.
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE.md
+ * file that was distributed with this source code.
+ *
+ */
+
+namespace Blomstra\Search\Elasticsearch;
+
+class BoolQuery extends \Spatie\ElasticsearchQueryBuilder\Queries\BoolQuery
+{
+    protected ?int $minimumShouldMatch = null;
+
+    public static function create(): static
+    {
+        return new self();
+    }
+
+    public function minimumShouldMatch(int $minimum): static
+    {
+        $this->minimumShouldMatch = $minimum;
+
+        return $this;
+    }
+
+    public function toArray(): array
+    {
+        $array = parent::toArray();
+
+        if ($this->minimumShouldMatch !== null) {
+            $array['bool']['minimum_should_match'] = $this->minimumShouldMatch;
+        }
+
+        return $array;
+    }
+}

src/Jobs/Job.php

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ namespace Blomstra\Search\Jobs;
 
 use Blomstra\Search\Seeders\Seeder;
 use Flarum\Queue\AbstractJob;
-use Illuminate\Support\Collection;
+use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Collection;
 
 abstract class Job extends AbstractJob
 {

src/Jobs/UpdateSearchJob.php

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ namespace Blomstra\Search\Jobs;
 
 use Blomstra\Search\Exceptions\SeedingException;
 use Elasticsearch\Client;
+use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Collection as EloquentCollection;
 use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
 use Illuminate\Support\Arr;
 
@@ -50,10 +51,11 @@ class UpdateSearchJob extends Job
 
         $items = Arr::get($response, 'items');
 
-        $error = Arr::get(Arr::first($items), 'index.error.reason');
+        $failed = array_filter($items, fn ($item) => isset($item['index']['error']));
+        $error  = Arr::get(Arr::first($failed), 'index.error.reason', 'unknown error');
 
         throw new SeedingException(
-            "Failed to seed: $error",
+            "Failed to seed: $error (" . count($failed) . '/' . count($items) . ' items failed)',
             $items
         );
     }

src/Provider.php

@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ use Flarum\Settings\SettingsRepositoryInterface;
 use Illuminate\Contracts\Container\Container;
 use Illuminate\Contracts\Events\Dispatcher;
 use Illuminate\Contracts\Queue\Queue;
-use Illuminate\Support\Collection;
+use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Collection;
 use Laminas\Stratigility\MiddlewarePipe;
 use Psr\Log\LoggerInterface;
 
@@ -47,7 +47,13 @@ class Provider extends AbstractServiceProvider
 
         $this->container->singleton(Elastic::class, function (Container $container) use ($settings, $config) {
             $builder = ClientBuilder::create()
-                ->setHosts([$settings->get('blomstra-search.elastic-endpoint')]);
+                ->setHosts([$settings->get('blomstra-search.elastic-endpoint')])
+                ->setConnectionParams([
+                    'client' => [
+                        'connect_timeout' => 2,  // fail fast if ES is unreachable
+                        'timeout'         => 10, // allow time for complex queries
+                    ],
+                ]);
 
             if ($config->inDebugMode()) {
                 $builder->setLogger($container->make(LoggerInterface::class));

src/Seeders/DiscussionSeeder.php

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ use FoF\Byobu\Events as Byobu;
 use FoF\DiscussionViews\Events\DiscussionWasViewed;
 use Illuminate\Contracts\Events\Dispatcher;
 use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Builder;
-use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Collection;
+use Illuminate\Support\Collection;
 use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
 
 class DiscussionSeeder extends Seeder
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ class DiscussionSeeder extends Seeder
     {
         $events->listen([
             // flarum/core events
-            Core\Started::class, Core\Restored::class,
+            Core\Started::class, Core\Restored::class, Core\Renamed::class,
             // fof/byobu discussion recipients events.
             Byobu\DiscussionMadePublic::class, Byobu\RemovedSelf::class, Byobu\RecipientsChanged::class,
         ], function ($event) use ($callable) {