test(e2e): autosuggest journeys, gated on the flag

Feature state is read from its observable effect — whether the search
box is a combobox — because /api/flags is denied to the public on
purpose. Same approach as the distance journeys.

The three endpoint tests are ungated: /api/suggest is live whether or
not the UI is, which is what lets it be smoke-tested in an environment
where the feature is still dark.

The flag-off journey asserts the plain search still works, not just that
the combobox is absent. Verified against staging, where the flag is off:
it passes and the flag-on journey correctly skips.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_015mWQnpye9F299NVRCCSRvj

backend/app.py

@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ from .data_loader import (
     get_supplementary_data,
     get_supplementary_data_batch,
     search_schools_typesense,
+    suggest_schools_typesense,
 )
 from .data_loader import get_data_info as get_db_info
 from . import flags
@@ -296,8 +297,36 @@ def clean_filter_values(series: pd.Series) -> list[str]:
 # SECURITY MIDDLEWARE & HELPERS
 # =============================================================================
 
-# Rate limiter
-limiter = Limiter(key_func=get_remote_address)
+def client_key(request: Request) -> str:
+    """The rate-limit bucket: the real caller, not the proxy in front of them.
+
+    `get_remote_address` reads request.client.host. In staging and production
+    the backend has no published ports and sits on the internal network, so its
+    only caller is the Next proxy — meaning every browser user on the site
+    shared one bucket. Measured before this fix: 70 concurrent requests to
+    /api/schools returned 60 OK and 10 refused.
+
+    CF-Connecting-IP first, because Cloudflare (in front of both environments)
+    sets it on every origin request and *overwrites* any client-supplied value,
+    which a parsed X-Forwarded-For chain does not guarantee. The XFF fallback is
+    forgeable, but only by a caller already inside the Docker network, which is
+    the one place nothing untrusted can reach.
+    """
+    cf = request.headers.get("cf-connecting-ip")
+    if cf:
+        return cf.strip()
+    xff = request.headers.get("x-forwarded-for")
+    if xff:
+        return xff.split(",")[0].strip()
+    return get_remote_address(request)
+
+
+# Rate limiter. No in-app global ceiling: slowapi's default_limits and
+# application_limits are both keyed by key_func (so per-client, not global)
+# and the latter only applies with SlowAPIMiddleware installed, which this app
+# does not use. A global cap belongs at Cloudflare, which is already in the
+# path. See the spec's §1 for why that is deliberate.
+limiter = Limiter(key_func=client_key)
 
 
 class SecurityHeadersMiddleware(BaseHTTPMiddleware):
@@ -355,6 +384,7 @@ CACHE_RULES: list[tuple[str, tuple[int, int, int]]] = [
     ("/api/schools/",           (300,  3600,  86400)),  # /api/schools/{urn}
     ("/api/rankings",           (60,   600,   3600)),
     ("/api/compare",            (60,   600,   3600)),
+    ("/api/suggest",            (60,   3600,  86400)),  # autosuggest
     ("/api/schools",            (30,   300,   1800)),   # search list
 ]
 
@@ -1271,6 +1301,38 @@ async def get_place(request: Request, kind: str, slug: str,
     }
 
 
+# Two characters. One is not a query — it matches thousands of schools and the
+# response is useless, so it is not worth a round trip.
+SUGGEST_MIN_QUERY = 2
+
+
+@app.get("/api/suggest")
+@limiter.limit("120/minute")
+async def suggest_schools(
+    request: Request,
+    q: str = Query("", max_length=100),
+    limit: int = Query(8, ge=1, le=20),
+):
+    """School name suggestions, from Typesense alone.
+
+    Deliberately not a mode of /api/schools: that path filters and sorts the
+    full in-memory DataFrame, which is far too expensive to run per keystroke.
+
+    Nothing here returns an error for ordinary input. A short query, no
+    matches, or Typesense being unreachable are all 200 with an empty list —
+    a dropdown that quietly does not appear is the right failure for a
+    keystroke path, and there is no DataFrame fallback because the 25,000-row
+    substring scan is precisely what this endpoint exists to avoid.
+
+    120/minute rather than the default 60: a 200 ms debounce makes typing
+    legitimately bursty.
+    """
+    query = q.strip()
+    if len(query) < SUGGEST_MIN_QUERY:
+        return {"suggestions": []}
+    return {"suggestions": suggest_schools_typesense(query, limit)}
+
+
 @app.get("/api/flags")
 @limiter.limit(f"{settings.rate_limit_per_minute}/minute")
 async def get_feature_flags(request: Request):

backend/data_loader.py

@@ -100,6 +100,46 @@ def search_schools_typesense(query: str, limit: int = 250) -> List[int]:
         return []
 
 
+# The most a public endpoint will return in one response.
+SUGGEST_MAX_LIMIT = 20
+
+# Fields a suggestion row carries, and the default when the document omits an
+# optional one. phase and school_type are optional in the Typesense schema.
+_SUGGEST_FIELDS = ("school_name", "local_authority", "postcode",
+                   "phase", "school_type")
+
+
+def suggest_schools_typesense(query: str, limit: int = 8) -> List[dict]:
+    """Autosuggest rows straight from Typesense. Never raises.
+
+    Returns documents rather than URNs, unlike search_schools_typesense, so the
+    caller needs no DataFrame. Every field below is already in the index — see
+    pipeline/scripts/sync_typesense.py — which is what makes this cheap enough
+    to run per keystroke.
+    """
+    client = _get_typesense_client()
+    if client is None:
+        return []
+    try:
+        result = client.collections["schools"].documents.search({
+            "q": query,
+            "query_by": "school_name,local_authority",
+            "per_page": max(1, min(limit, SUGGEST_MAX_LIMIT)),
+            "typo_tokens_threshold": 1,
+        })
+    except Exception:
+        # A dropdown that quietly stops appearing is the right failure here.
+        return []
+
+    rows = []
+    for hit in result.get("hits", []):
+        doc = hit.get("document", {})
+        row = {"urn": int(doc.get("urn", 0))}
+        row.update({f: str(doc.get(f, "") or "") for f in _SUGGEST_FIELDS})
+        rows.append(row)
+    return rows
+
+
 def normalize_school_type(school_type: Optional[str]) -> Optional[str]:
     """Convert cryptic school type codes to user-friendly names."""
     if not school_type:

backend/flags.py

@@ -50,6 +50,13 @@ REGISTRY: dict[str, Flag] = {
             ),
             added=date(2026, 8, 23),
         ),
+        Flag(
+            name="school_autosuggest",
+            description=(
+                "School name suggestions as you type in the main search box."
+            ),
+            added=date(2026, 8, 26),
+        ),
     )
 }
 

backend/tests/test_rate_limit_key.py

@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+"""The rate-limit bucket must be the caller, not the proxy in front of them.
+
+`get_remote_address` reads request.client.host. In staging and production the
+backend has no published ports and its only caller is the Next proxy, so that
+host is the Next container — one bucket for every browser user on the site.
+Measured before this fix: 70 concurrent requests, 60 served and 10 refused.
+"""
+
+from starlette.datastructures import Headers
+
+from backend.app import client_key
+
+
+class _Req:
+    """Enough of a Request for the key function: headers and a client host."""
+
+    def __init__(self, headers: dict, host: str = "10.0.0.9"):
+        self.headers = Headers(headers)
+        self.client = type("C", (), {"host": host})()
+        self.scope = {"type": "http", "client": (host, 0),
+                      "headers": [(k.lower().encode(), v.encode())
+                                  for k, v in headers.items()]}
+
+
+def test_cloudflare_header_wins():
+    # Cloudflare sets CF-Connecting-IP and overwrites any client-supplied
+    # value, so it is trustworthy in a way a parsed XFF chain is not.
+    assert client_key(_Req({"cf-connecting-ip": "203.0.113.7"})) == "203.0.113.7"
+
+
+def test_forwarded_for_is_the_fallback_and_takes_the_first_entry():
+    # Left-most is the original client; everything after it is proxies.
+    assert client_key(
+        _Req({"x-forwarded-for": "203.0.113.7, 10.0.0.2"})) == "203.0.113.7"
+
+
+def test_remote_address_is_the_last_resort():
+    assert client_key(_Req({}, host="10.0.0.9")) == "10.0.0.9"
+
+
+def test_cloudflare_header_beats_forwarded_for():
+    key = client_key(_Req({"cf-connecting-ip": "203.0.113.7",
+                           "x-forwarded-for": "198.51.100.1"}))
+    assert key == "203.0.113.7"
+
+
+def test_two_callers_get_two_buckets():
+    # The whole point: one user exhausting their limit must not refuse another.
+    a = client_key(_Req({"cf-connecting-ip": "203.0.113.7"}))
+    b = client_key(_Req({"cf-connecting-ip": "203.0.113.8"}))
+    assert a != b
+
+
+def test_whitespace_is_stripped():
+    # "a, b" split on comma leaves a leading space on every entry but the
+    # first; an unstripped key silently creates a second bucket per client.
+    assert client_key(_Req({"x-forwarded-for": " 203.0.113.7 ,10.0.0.2"})) \
+        == "203.0.113.7"

backend/tests/test_suggest.py

@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+"""Tests for school autosuggest (spec 2026-08-26)."""
+
+from backend import data_loader
+
+
+class _FakeDocs:
+    def __init__(self, hits, explode=False):
+        self._hits = hits
+        self._explode = explode
+        self.last_params = None
+
+    def search(self, params):
+        self.last_params = params
+        if self._explode:
+            raise RuntimeError("typesense is down")
+        return {"hits": [{"document": d} for d in self._hits]}
+
+
+class _FakeClient:
+    def __init__(self, hits, explode=False):
+        self.docs = _FakeDocs(hits, explode)
+        self.collections = {"schools": type("C", (), {"documents": self.docs})()}
+
+
+_HIT = {
+    "urn": 100010, "school_name": "Brecknock Primary School",
+    "local_authority": "Camden", "postcode": "NW1 1AA",
+    "phase": "Primary", "school_type": "Community school",
+}
+
+
+def _use(monkeypatch, client):
+    monkeypatch.setattr(data_loader, "_get_typesense_client", lambda: client)
+
+
+def test_returns_the_fields_a_suggestion_needs(monkeypatch):
+    # Local authority is not decoration: there are many schools called
+    # "St Mary's", and a list without it cannot be chosen between.
+    _use(monkeypatch, _FakeClient([_HIT]))
+    out = data_loader.suggest_schools_typesense("breck")
+    assert out == [{
+        "urn": 100010, "school_name": "Brecknock Primary School",
+        "local_authority": "Camden", "postcode": "NW1 1AA",
+        "phase": "Primary", "school_type": "Community school",
+    }]
+
+
+def test_a_missing_optional_field_becomes_an_empty_string(monkeypatch):
+    # phase and school_type are optional in the Typesense schema. A missing
+    # key must not KeyError in the keystroke path.
+    _use(monkeypatch, _FakeClient([{"urn": 1, "school_name": "X",
+                                    "local_authority": "Y", "postcode": "Z"}]))
+    out = data_loader.suggest_schools_typesense("x")
+    assert out[0]["phase"] == "" and out[0]["school_type"] == ""
+
+
+def test_typesense_unavailable_gives_no_suggestions_rather_than_raising(monkeypatch):
+    _use(monkeypatch, None)
+    assert data_loader.suggest_schools_typesense("anything") == []
+
+
+def test_a_typesense_error_gives_no_suggestions_rather_than_raising(monkeypatch):
+    _use(monkeypatch, _FakeClient([], explode=True))
+    assert data_loader.suggest_schools_typesense("anything") == []
+
+
+def test_the_limit_is_passed_through_and_clamped(monkeypatch):
+    client = _FakeClient([])
+    _use(monkeypatch, client)
+    data_loader.suggest_schools_typesense("x", limit=500)
+    assert client.docs.last_params["per_page"] == 20
+
+
+def _client(monkeypatch, rows, *, blow_up_dataframe=False):
+    from fastapi.testclient import TestClient
+    from backend import app as app_module
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(app_module, "suggest_schools_typesense",
+                        lambda q, limit=8: rows)
+    if blow_up_dataframe:
+        def _boom():
+            raise AssertionError("the suggest path must not load the DataFrame")
+        monkeypatch.setattr(app_module, "load_school_data", _boom)
+        monkeypatch.setattr(app_module, "load_latest_school_data", _boom)
+    return TestClient(app_module.app, raise_server_exceptions=False)
+
+
+def test_the_endpoint_returns_suggestions(monkeypatch):
+    body = _client(monkeypatch, [_HIT]).get("/api/suggest?q=breck").json()
+    assert body["suggestions"][0]["school_name"] == "Brecknock Primary School"
+
+
+def test_the_endpoint_never_touches_the_dataframe(monkeypatch):
+    """The whole reason this is not a mode of /api/schools.
+
+    That endpoint filters and sorts 25,000 rows of pandas per query, holding
+    the GIL. Per keystroke, that is the cost this endpoint exists to avoid.
+    """
+    res = _client(monkeypatch, [_HIT], blow_up_dataframe=True).get("/api/suggest?q=breck")
+    assert res.status_code == 200
+    assert res.json()["suggestions"]
+
+
+def test_a_one_character_query_returns_nothing_and_does_not_error(monkeypatch):
+    # The keystroke path never errors on ordinary input.
+    res = _client(monkeypatch, [_HIT]).get("/api/suggest?q=b")
+    assert res.status_code == 200
+    assert res.json() == {"suggestions": []}
+
+
+def test_a_blank_query_returns_nothing_and_does_not_error(monkeypatch):
+    res = _client(monkeypatch, [_HIT]).get("/api/suggest?q=")
+    assert res.status_code == 200
+    assert res.json() == {"suggestions": []}
+
+
+def test_typesense_down_is_an_empty_list_not_a_500(monkeypatch):
+    res = _client(monkeypatch, []).get("/api/suggest?q=breck")
+    assert res.status_code == 200
+    assert res.json() == {"suggestions": []}
+
+
+def test_the_response_is_cacheable(monkeypatch):
+    # Prefix queries repeat enormously across users, and school names change
+    # once a year. Without this the endpoint pays full price every keystroke.
+    res = _client(monkeypatch, [_HIT]).get("/api/suggest?q=breck")
+    assert "s-maxage" in res.headers.get("cache-control", "")
+    assert res.headers.get("etag")

docs/superpowers/specs/2026-08-26-school-autosuggest-design.md

@@ -0,0 +1,253 @@
+# School Autosuggest — Design
+
+**Date:** 2026-08-26
+**Status:** approved for planning
+**Depends on:** the feature-flag layer (PR #125, merged)
+
+## Goal
+
+Suggest schools by name as someone types in the site's main search box, so a
+parent who knows the school they want reaches it in one step instead of
+searching, scanning a result list, and clicking.
+
+Scope is **schools only**. Places and postcodes were considered and excluded —
+see *Out of scope*.
+
+## The finding that shapes everything
+
+The site's rate limiter does not do what it looks like it does.
+
+`limiter = Limiter(key_func=get_remote_address)` with `60/minute` reads
+`request.client.host`. In staging and production the backend has no published
+ports and sits on the internal `backend` network, so its only caller is the
+Next proxy — and `request.client.host` is therefore **the Next container**, for
+every browser user on the site.
+
+Measured against staging: 70 concurrent requests to `/api/schools` returned
+**60 × 200 and 10 × 429**. One machine consumed the whole site's budget for
+that minute.
+
+Autosuggest is the worst possible feature to build on that. One person typing
+"st marys primary" produces six to eight debounced requests; **eight concurrent
+searchers would 429 the site.** The compare modal's search-as-you-type already
+shares this bucket, so the exposure exists today — autosuggest makes it
+certain.
+
+Fixing the keying is therefore part of this work, not a follow-up.
+
+## 1. Rate-limit keying
+
+Both environments sit behind Cloudflare (`server: cloudflare`, `cf-ray` present
+on staging and production). Cloudflare sets `CF-Connecting-IP` on every request
+to the origin and **overwrites any client-supplied value**, which makes it
+trustworthy in a way a parsed `X-Forwarded-For` chain is not.
+
+```python
+def client_key(request: Request) -> str:
+    """Rate-limit bucket: the real caller, not the proxy in front of them."""
+    cf = request.headers.get("cf-connecting-ip")
+    if cf:
+        return cf.strip()
+    xff = request.headers.get("x-forwarded-for")
+    if xff:
+        return xff.split(",")[0].strip()
+    return get_remote_address(request)
+```
+
+`nextjs-app/app/api/[...path]/route.ts` already forwards every inbound header
+except `host` and `connection`, so `CF-Connecting-IP` reaches the backend with
+no proxy change.
+
+Two things make this safe: Cloudflare replaces the header, so a browser cannot
+forge it; and the backend is unreachable from outside the Docker network, so
+nothing can reach it without passing through the proxy. The `X-Forwarded-For`
+fallback *is* forgeable, but only by a caller already inside that network.
+
+### The part that is not free
+
+The shared bucket has been acting as an accidental global throttle on a
+single-process uvicorn backend that filters a 25,000-row DataFrame in-process.
+Correct per-user keying removes that throttle: the origin becomes reachable at
+60/min *per user* rather than 60/min in total.
+
+Per-user fairness and origin protection are different jobs. Conflating them
+is what produced the current behaviour, and the fix must not quietly do it
+again in the other direction.
+
+**The global ceiling does not go in this app.** An earlier draft of this
+section specified one via slowapi's `default_limits`. Reading the library
+shows that would not have worked, twice over: `default_limits` and
+`application_limits` are both evaluated with the same `key_func`, so they are
+per-client across all routes rather than global; and `application_limits` are
+only applied `if in_middleware`, while this app installs no `SlowAPIMiddleware`
+at all. Expressing a genuine global cap would take a second `Limiter` with a
+constant key plus that middleware — two mechanisms to keep correct, for a
+protection this layer is the wrong place for.
+
+Cloudflare is already in the request path on both environments and does
+edge-level rate limiting properly, before traffic reaches a single-process
+origin at all. That is where a global ceiling belongs, and it is a dashboard
+change rather than code. Flagged as a follow-up, deliberately not built here.
+
+What ships instead is conservative per-user limits: the existing 60/minute
+default is unchanged, and `/api/suggest` gets 120/minute. Both are estimates
+rather than measurements, and they are a starting point to revisit once the
+keying is correct enough for real per-user traffic to be visible — which it
+is not today, because everyone shares one bucket.
+
+## 2. `GET /api/suggest`
+
+A dedicated endpoint, not a mode of `/api/schools`.
+
+The existing search path calls Typesense for URNs and then filters, ranks and
+sorts the full in-memory DataFrame — a pandas pass per keystroke, holding the
+GIL and blocking other requests in the same worker. Suggestions need none of
+it: `urn`, `school_name`, `phase`, `school_type`, `local_authority`,
+`postcode` and `ofsted_rating` are all already in the Typesense document
+(`pipeline/scripts/sync_typesense.py`).
+
+```
+GET /api/suggest?q=<query>&limit=8
+→ 200 {"suggestions": [
+      {"urn": 100010, "school_name": "Brecknock Primary School",
+       "local_authority": "Camden", "postcode": "NW1 1AA",
+       "phase": "Primary", "school_type": "Community school"}
+  ]}
+```
+
+- **Under two characters** returns `{"suggestions": []}` with 200. The
+  keystroke path never returns an error for ordinary input.
+- **Typesense unavailable** returns `{"suggestions": []}` with 200. There is
+  deliberately **no DataFrame fallback**: the substring scan `/api/schools`
+  falls back to is precisely the cost this endpoint exists to avoid, and a
+  silent 25,000-row scan per keystroke is worse than no suggestions.
+- **`limit` is clamped** to 20. It is a public endpoint.
+- **Rate limit `120/minute`** per client, not the default 60. A 200 ms
+  debounce tops out near 5 requests/second while someone is actively typing,
+  but averages far below that across a real search; 120 leaves headroom for
+  bursts while still bounding one client.
+- **Local authority is part of the payload, not decoration.** There are many
+  schools called "St Mary's"; a suggestion list without the authority is
+  unusable for exactly the queries autosuggest is meant to serve.
+
+### Caching
+
+`CACHE_RULES` gains `("/api/suggest", (60, 3600, 86400))`. Prefix queries
+repeat enormously across users and school names change once a year.
+
+The client fetch must **not** use `cache: "no-store"`. The compare modal does,
+and copying that pattern would throw away both the browser cache and the ETag
+304s the existing `CacheAndETagMiddleware` already provides.
+
+Both environments currently report `cf-cache-status: DYNAMIC` — Cloudflare
+ignores the `Cache-Control` the API already sends, because it does not cache
+dynamic paths by default. **A Cloudflare Cache Rule for `/api/suggest*` would
+let the edge absorb most of this traffic and never reach the origin.** That is
+a dashboard change, it is optional, and nothing here depends on it.
+
+## 3. The combobox
+
+This is an ARIA combobox, not a text input with a list underneath.
+
+**Files.** `FilterBar.tsx` is already long. The work splits three ways:
+`hooks/useSchoolSuggest.ts` owns fetching, debouncing and cancellation;
+`components/SuggestList.tsx` owns rendering and ARIA; `FilterBar.tsx` wires
+them to the existing input and form.
+
+**Fetching.** 200 ms debounce; minimum two characters; an `AbortController`
+cancels the superseded request on every keystroke. Cancellation is not an
+optimisation — without it, a slow response for `"st"` can land after the fast
+one for `"st marys"` and replace a correct list with a stale one.
+
+**Suppressed during postcode entry.** The box takes a school name *or* a
+postcode, and `isValidPostcode` already distinguishes them. Suggestions do not
+appear once the value parses as a postcode.
+
+**Keyboard.** `ArrowDown`/`ArrowUp` move the active option, `Escape` closes and
+keeps the typed text, `Tab` closes. `Enter` **with an option active** navigates
+to that school's page. `Enter` **with none active** submits the free-text
+search exactly as it does today — the existing behaviour is preserved, not
+replaced.
+
+**ARIA.** `role="combobox"` with `aria-expanded` and `aria-controls` on the
+input, `aria-activedescendant` pointing at the active option, `role="listbox"`
+on the list and `role="option"` on each row.
+
+**Both instances get it.** `HomeView` renders `FilterBar` twice — hero and
+sticky — from one component, so there is one implementation.
+
+## 4. Behind a flag
+
+Flag `school_autosuggest`, declared in `backend/flags.py`, default off.
+
+This is the most-used control on the site and the first change to it in a
+while. `app/page.tsx` is an async server component, so it reads the flag and
+threads it to `FilterBar` through `HomeView` — two prop hops, explicit, no
+client-side flag read.
+
+Off means the input behaves exactly as it does today: no listener, no fetch, no
+markup. Not a rendered-then-hidden dropdown.
+
+The rate-limit keying is **not** flagged. It is a correctness fix that should
+apply whether or not autosuggest is on, and flagging it would mean shipping a
+known-wrong limiter into production deliberately.
+
+## 5. Analytics
+
+`search_submitted` already carries `via: 'input'`. Selecting a suggestion fires
+it with `via: 'suggestion'` plus the chosen `urn`, so the obvious question —
+does this actually help, or do people ignore it — has an answer in the data
+rather than an opinion.
+
+## 6. Testing
+
+**Backend.** `client_key` prefers `CF-Connecting-IP`, falls back through
+`X-Forwarded-For` to the remote address, and two different values get two
+different buckets. `/api/suggest` returns matches, returns empty below two
+characters, returns empty and 200 when Typesense is unavailable, and clamps
+`limit`. That it never touches the DataFrame is asserted by making
+`load_school_data` raise and requiring the endpoint to answer anyway.
+
+**Frontend.** The hook debounces, aborts superseded requests, and drops a
+late-arriving response for a stale query. The list renders the ARIA
+attributes. Keyboard navigation moves the active option; `Enter` on an option
+navigates; `Enter` on none submits the search.
+
+**E2E.** With the flag on, typing a known school name shows it and selecting it
+lands on that school's page. With the flag off, no combobox markup exists.
+Gated on the flag the same way the distance journeys are — read the observable
+effect, since `/api/flags` is denied to the public.
+
+## 7. Risks
+
+**Removing the accidental throttle.** Covered in §1. Correct per-user keying
+means the origin is reachable at 60/minute *per user* where it was 60/minute
+in total, and no in-app global cap replaces it — that job goes to Cloudflare,
+which is not done as part of this change. Until it is, a determined caller
+with many source addresses can put more load on a single-process origin than
+they can today. Against this site's traffic that is a theoretical risk rather
+than a live one, but it is a real one and it is the price of the fix.
+
+**Cloudflare bypass.** If the origin is reachable without passing through
+Cloudflare, `CF-Connecting-IP` is absent and the `X-Forwarded-For` fallback is
+forgeable, so limits could be evaded per-request. Closing that properly means
+Authenticated Origin Pulls or an origin firewall, which is infrastructure work
+outside this change. Worth doing separately.
+
+**Typesense becomes user-visible.** Today a Typesense outage degrades search to
+a slow substring match. With autosuggest it also means the dropdown silently
+stops appearing. That is the correct failure — quiet, not broken — but it makes
+Typesense health worth monitoring in a way it was not before.
+
+## Out of scope
+
+- **Place suggestions.** The 2,646 town, authority and outcode pages are a
+  strong candidate and would route people onto the pages W2 built, but they
+  live in the place registry rather than Typesense, so it is a second index and
+  a ranking rule for comparing two kinds of result. Worth its own change.
+- **Postcode completion.** Would put postcodes.io in the keystroke path, with
+  its own latency and rate limits.
+- **The compare modal.** It already has search-as-you-type. Converting it to
+  this component is a reasonable follow-up, not part of this.
+- **Recent or popular searches.** No storage for either, and no evidence yet
+  that they are wanted.

e2e/tests/journeys.spec.ts

@@ -2111,3 +2111,66 @@ test('the rankings page still orders by score, not name', async ({ page }) => {
     .filter((v: number | null) => v != null);
   expect(scores).toEqual([...scores].sort((a: number, b: number) => b - a));
 });
+
+/*
+ * School autosuggest (spec 2026-08-26).
+ */
+async function autosuggestIsOn(page: Page): Promise<boolean> {
+  await page.goto('/');
+  return (await page.getByRole('combobox').count()) > 0;
+}
+
+test('the suggest endpoint answers from Typesense', async ({ page }) => {
+  // Not flagged — the endpoint is live even while the UI is dark, so it can
+  // be smoke-tested before the feature is switched on.
+  const res = await page.request.get('/api/suggest?q=brecknock');
+  expect(res.ok()).toBeTruthy();
+  const { suggestions } = await res.json();
+  expect(Array.isArray(suggestions)).toBeTruthy();
+  if (suggestions.length) {
+    // Local authority is what tells two "St Mary's" apart.
+    expect(suggestions[0]).toHaveProperty('school_name');
+    expect(suggestions[0]).toHaveProperty('local_authority');
+  }
+});
+
+test('a one-character query is answered, not rejected', async ({ page }) => {
+  // The keystroke path never errors on ordinary input.
+  const res = await page.request.get('/api/suggest?q=b');
+  expect(res.status()).toBe(200);
+  expect((await res.json()).suggestions).toEqual([]);
+});
+
+test('the suggest response is cacheable', async ({ page }) => {
+  const res = await page.request.get('/api/suggest?q=brecknock');
+  expect(res.headers()['cache-control'] ?? '').toContain('s-maxage');
+});
+
+test('typing a school name suggests it, and choosing it opens that school', async ({ page }) => {
+  test.skip(!(await autosuggestIsOn(page)),
+    'the school_autosuggest flag is off in this environment');
+
+  // A school certain to exist in any environment with data.
+  const { schools } = await (await page.request.get('/api/schools?page_size=1')).json();
+  test.skip(!schools?.length, 'no schools in this environment');
+  const name = schools[0].school_name as string;
+
+  await page.goto('/');
+  await page.getByRole('combobox').first().fill(name.slice(0, 12));
+  const option = page.getByRole('option').first();
+  await expect(option).toBeVisible();
+  await option.click();
+  await expect(page).toHaveURL(/\/school\/\d+/);
+});
+
+test('with autosuggest off, the search box is a plain input', async ({ page }) => {
+  test.skip(await autosuggestIsOn(page),
+    'the school_autosuggest flag is on in this environment');
+
+  await page.goto('/');
+  await expect(page.getByRole('combobox')).toHaveCount(0);
+  // And the box still works: the existing search must be untouched.
+  await page.getByPlaceholder(/School name or postcode/i).first().fill('abbey');
+  await page.getByRole('button', { name: /Search/i }).first().click();
+  await expect(page).toHaveURL(/search=abbey/);
+});

nextjs-app/__tests__/components/FilterBarSuggest.test.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+import { render, screen, fireEvent, waitFor } from '@testing-library/react';
+import userEvent from '@testing-library/user-event';
+import { FilterBar } from '@/components/FilterBar';
+
+const push = jest.fn();
+jest.mock('next/navigation', () => ({
+  useRouter: () => ({ push, replace: jest.fn(), prefetch: jest.fn() }),
+  usePathname: () => '/',
+  useSearchParams: () => new URLSearchParams(),
+}));
+
+const FILTERS = {
+  local_authorities: [], school_types: [], years: [], phases: [],
+  genders: [], admissions_policies: [],
+};
+
+const realFetch = global.fetch;
+beforeEach(() => {
+  global.fetch = jest.fn(async () => ({
+    ok: true,
+    json: async () => ({ suggestions: [{
+      urn: 100010, school_name: 'Brecknock Primary School',
+      local_authority: 'Camden', postcode: 'NW1 1AA',
+      phase: 'Primary', school_type: 'Community school' }] }),
+  })) as unknown as typeof fetch;
+  push.mockClear();
+});
+afterEach(() => { global.fetch = realFetch; });
+
+describe('FilterBar autosuggest', () => {
+  it('is a combobox only when the flag is on', () => {
+    const { rerender } = render(<FilterBar filters={FILTERS} autosuggest={false} />);
+    expect(screen.queryByRole('combobox')).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+    rerender(<FilterBar filters={FILTERS} autosuggest />);
+    expect(screen.getByRole('combobox')).toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+
+  it('makes no request while the flag is off', async () => {
+    // Off means off: no listener, no fetch, no markup.
+    render(<FilterBar filters={FILTERS} autosuggest={false} />);
+    await userEvent.type(screen.getByPlaceholderText(/School name or postcode/i),
+      'brecknock');
+    expect(global.fetch).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it('shows suggestions and navigates when one is chosen', async () => {
+    render(<FilterBar filters={FILTERS} autosuggest />);
+    await userEvent.type(screen.getByRole('combobox'), 'brecknock');
+    const option = await screen.findByRole('option', { name: /Brecknock/ });
+    await userEvent.click(option);
+    expect(push).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.stringContaining('/school/100010'));
+  });
+
+  it('suppresses suggestions once the value is a postcode', async () => {
+    // The box takes a name OR a postcode; suggestions must get out of the way.
+    //
+    // fireEvent.change, not userEvent.type: typing sets "N", "NW", "NW1"... and
+    // "NW1" is not a postcode, so a request for it is correct behaviour. Only
+    // the settled value is the assertion, so set it in one go.
+    render(<FilterBar filters={FILTERS} autosuggest />);
+    fireEvent.change(screen.getByRole('combobox'), { target: { value: 'NW1 1AA' } });
+    await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 300));   // past the 200ms debounce
+    expect(global.fetch).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it('Enter with no active option still submits the free-text search', async () => {
+    // The existing behaviour is preserved, not replaced.
+    render(<FilterBar filters={FILTERS} autosuggest />);
+    const input = screen.getByRole('combobox');
+    await userEvent.type(input, 'brecknock{Enter}');
+    // updateURL pushes inside startTransition, so the call is not synchronous.
+    await waitFor(() => expect(push).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.stringContaining('search=brecknock')));
+  });
+});

nextjs-app/__tests__/components/SuggestList.test.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+import { render, screen } from '@testing-library/react';
+import { SuggestList, suggestOptionId } from '@/components/SuggestList';
+
+const ROWS = [
+  { urn: 1, school_name: "St Mary's Primary", local_authority: 'Camden',
+    postcode: 'NW1 1AA', phase: 'Primary', school_type: 'Voluntary aided school' },
+  { urn: 2, school_name: "St Mary's Primary", local_authority: 'Barnet',
+    postcode: 'EN5 2AA', phase: 'Primary', school_type: 'Community school' },
+];
+
+describe('SuggestList', () => {
+  it('is a listbox of options', () => {
+    render(<SuggestList id="s" suggestions={ROWS} activeIndex={-1}
+      onPick={() => {}} onHover={() => {}} />);
+    expect(screen.getByRole('listbox')).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getAllByRole('option')).toHaveLength(2);
+  });
+
+  it('shows the local authority, which is what tells two schools apart', () => {
+    // Both rows are "St Mary's Primary". Without the authority the list is
+    // unusable for exactly the query autosuggest exists to serve.
+    render(<SuggestList id="s" suggestions={ROWS} activeIndex={-1}
+      onPick={() => {}} onHover={() => {}} />);
+    expect(screen.getByText('Camden')).toBeInTheDocument();
+    expect(screen.getByText('Barnet')).toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+
+  it('marks only the active option selected', () => {
+    render(<SuggestList id="s" suggestions={ROWS} activeIndex={1}
+      onPick={() => {}} onHover={() => {}} />);
+    const options = screen.getAllByRole('option');
+    expect(options[0]).toHaveAttribute('aria-selected', 'false');
+    expect(options[1]).toHaveAttribute('aria-selected', 'true');
+  });
+
+  it('gives each option the id the input will point at', () => {
+    // aria-activedescendant on the input has to name a real element id, or
+    // a screen reader announces nothing as the user arrows through.
+    render(<SuggestList id="s" suggestions={ROWS} activeIndex={0}
+      onPick={() => {}} onHover={() => {}} />);
+    expect(screen.getAllByRole('option')[0]).toHaveAttribute(
+      'id', suggestOptionId('s', 0));
+  });
+
+  it('renders nothing when there is nothing to suggest', () => {
+    const { container } = render(<SuggestList id="s" suggestions={[]}
+      activeIndex={-1} onPick={() => {}} onHover={() => {}} />);
+    expect(container).toBeEmptyDOMElement();
+  });
+});

nextjs-app/__tests__/hooks/useSchoolSuggest.test.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+import { renderHook, act, waitFor } from '@testing-library/react';
+import { useSchoolSuggest } from '@/hooks/useSchoolSuggest';
+
+const realFetch = global.fetch;
+
+function mockFetch(rows: unknown[], delayMs = 0) {
+  global.fetch = jest.fn(async (_url: unknown, init?: { signal?: AbortSignal }) => {
+    if (delayMs) {
+      await new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+        const t = setTimeout(resolve, delayMs);
+        init?.signal?.addEventListener('abort', () => {
+          clearTimeout(t);
+          reject(Object.assign(new Error('aborted'), { name: 'AbortError' }));
+        });
+      });
+    }
+    return { ok: true, json: async () => ({ suggestions: rows }) };
+  }) as unknown as typeof fetch;
+}
+
+const ROW = {
+  urn: 1, school_name: 'Brecknock Primary School', local_authority: 'Camden',
+  postcode: 'NW1 1AA', phase: 'Primary', school_type: 'Community school',
+};
+
+describe('useSchoolSuggest', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => { jest.useFakeTimers(); });
+  afterEach(() => { jest.useRealTimers(); global.fetch = realFetch; });
+
+  it('does not fetch below the minimum query length', () => {
+    mockFetch([ROW]);
+    renderHook(() => useSchoolSuggest('b', true));
+    act(() => { jest.advanceTimersByTime(500); });
+    expect(global.fetch).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it('does not fetch at all when disabled', () => {
+    // The flag being off must mean no request, not a hidden dropdown.
+    mockFetch([ROW]);
+    renderHook(() => useSchoolSuggest('brecknock', false));
+    act(() => { jest.advanceTimersByTime(500); });
+    expect(global.fetch).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it('debounces rather than firing per keystroke', () => {
+    mockFetch([ROW]);
+    const { rerender } = renderHook(
+      ({ q }) => useSchoolSuggest(q, true), { initialProps: { q: 'br' } });
+    rerender({ q: 'bre' });
+    rerender({ q: 'brec' });
+    act(() => { jest.advanceTimersByTime(199); });
+    expect(global.fetch).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    act(() => { jest.advanceTimersByTime(2); });
+    expect(global.fetch).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+
+  it('opens with results once they arrive', async () => {
+    mockFetch([ROW]);
+    const { result } = renderHook(() => useSchoolSuggest('brecknock', true));
+    act(() => { jest.advanceTimersByTime(200); });
+    await waitFor(() => expect(result.current.suggestions).toHaveLength(1));
+    expect(result.current.open).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it('close() hides the list without clearing the query', async () => {
+    mockFetch([ROW]);
+    const { result } = renderHook(() => useSchoolSuggest('brecknock', true));
+    act(() => { jest.advanceTimersByTime(200); });
+    await waitFor(() => expect(result.current.open).toBe(true));
+    act(() => { result.current.close(); });
+    expect(result.current.open).toBe(false);
+  });
+});

nextjs-app/app/page.tsx

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import type { Metadata } from 'next';
 import { fetchSchools, fetchFilters, fetchDataInfo } from '@/lib/api';
 import { formatAcademicYear } from '@/lib/utils';
 import { HomeView } from '@/components/HomeView';
+import { getFlags } from '@/lib/flags';
 import { HowItWorksSection } from '@/components/HowItWorksSection';
 import { EditorialSection } from '@/components/EditorialSection';
 
@@ -63,6 +64,11 @@ export default async function HomePage({ searchParams }: HomePageProps) {
   // Await search params (Next.js 15 requirement)
   const params = await searchParams;
 
+  // Server-read: no flag value reaches the browser bundle. Threaded down to
+  // both FilterBar instances via HomeView.
+  const flags = await getFlags();
+  const autosuggest = flags.school_autosuggest === true;
+
   // Parse search params
   const page = parseInt(params.page || '1');
   const radius = params.radius ? parseFloat(params.radius) : undefined;
@@ -111,6 +117,7 @@ export default async function HomePage({ searchParams }: HomePageProps) {
     const years = dataInfo?.years_available ?? [];
     return (
       <HomeView
+        autosuggest={autosuggest}
         initialSchools={schoolsData}
         filters={resolvedFilters}
         totalSchools={total}
@@ -131,6 +138,7 @@ export default async function HomePage({ searchParams }: HomePageProps) {
     const emptyFilters = { local_authorities: [], school_types: [], years: [], phases: [], genders: [], admissions_policies: [] };
     return (
       <HomeView
+        autosuggest={autosuggest}
         initialSchools={{ schools: [], page: 1, page_size: 50, total: 0, total_pages: 0 }}
         filters={emptyFilters}
         totalSchools={null}

nextjs-app/components/FilterBar.module.css

@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@
   display: flex;
   align-items: center;
   gap: 0.5rem;
+  /* The suggestion dropdown is absolutely positioned against this box. */
+  position: relative;
 }
 
 /* The hero pill: hairline, soft corner, everything else sits inside it. */

nextjs-app/components/FilterBar.tsx

@@ -3,8 +3,11 @@
 import { useState, useCallback, useTransition, useRef, useEffect } from "react";
 import type { ReactNode } from "react";
 import { useRouter, useSearchParams, usePathname } from "next/navigation";
-import { isValidPostcode } from "@/lib/utils";
+import { isValidPostcode, schoolUrl } from "@/lib/utils";
 import { track } from "@/lib/analytics";
+import { useSchoolSuggest } from "@/hooks/useSchoolSuggest";
+import { SuggestList, suggestOptionId } from "./SuggestList";
+import type { Suggestion } from "@/lib/suggest";
 import type { Filters, ResultFilters } from "@/lib/types";
 import styles from "./FilterBar.module.css";
 
@@ -17,6 +20,8 @@ interface FilterBarProps {
   onNearMe?: () => void;
   geoState?: "idle" | "requesting" | "error";
   geoError?: string | null;
+  /** Server-read feature flag. Off means no listener, no fetch, no markup. */
+  autosuggest?: boolean;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -48,6 +53,7 @@ export function FilterBar({
   onNearMe,
   geoState = "idle",
   geoError,
+  autosuggest = false,
 }: FilterBarProps) {
   const router = useRouter();
   const pathname = usePathname();
@@ -62,6 +68,45 @@ export function FilterBar({
 
   const [omniValue, setOmniValue] = useState(initialOmniValue);
 
+  const suggestId = `school-suggest-${isHero ? "hero" : "bar"}`;
+  // Suppressed once the value parses as a postcode: the box takes a school
+  // name OR a postcode, and suggesting schools during postcode entry fights
+  // the user rather than helping them.
+  const suggestEnabled = autosuggest && !isValidPostcode(omniValue);
+  const { suggestions, open, activeIndex, setActiveIndex, close } =
+    useSchoolSuggest(omniValue, suggestEnabled);
+
+  const pickSuggestion = (s: Suggestion) => {
+    close();
+    track('search_submitted', {
+      query: s.school_name.toLowerCase(),
+      via: 'suggestion',
+      urn: s.urn,
+      has_postcode: false,
+      filters_active: '',
+      filters_count: 0,
+    });
+    router.push(schoolUrl(s.urn, s.school_name));
+  };
+
+  const handleOmniKeyDown = (e: React.KeyboardEvent<HTMLInputElement>) => {
+    if (!open) return;
+    if (e.key === "ArrowDown") {
+      e.preventDefault();
+      setActiveIndex(activeIndex + 1 >= suggestions.length ? 0 : activeIndex + 1);
+    } else if (e.key === "ArrowUp") {
+      e.preventDefault();
+      setActiveIndex(activeIndex <= 0 ? suggestions.length - 1 : activeIndex - 1);
+    } else if (e.key === "Escape") {
+      close();
+    } else if (e.key === "Enter" && activeIndex >= 0) {
+      // Only when an option is active. With none, the event falls through to
+      // the form's submit handler and searches the typed text, as it does now.
+      e.preventDefault();
+      pickSuggestion(suggestions[activeIndex]);
+    }
+  };
+
   const currentLA = searchParams.get("local_authority") || "";
   const currentType = searchParams.get("school_type") || "";
   const currentPhase = searchParams.get("phase") || "";
@@ -227,8 +272,19 @@ export function FilterBar({
             type="search"
             value={omniValue}
             onChange={(e) => setOmniValue(e.target.value)}
+            onKeyDown={handleOmniKeyDown}
+            onBlur={close}
             placeholder="School name or postcode"
             className={styles.omniInput}
+            {...(autosuggest ? {
+              role: "combobox",
+              "aria-expanded": open,
+              "aria-controls": suggestId,
+              "aria-autocomplete": "list" as const,
+              "aria-activedescendant":
+                activeIndex >= 0 ? suggestOptionId(suggestId, activeIndex) : undefined,
+              autoComplete: "off",
+            } : {})}
           />
           <button
             type="submit"
@@ -237,6 +293,15 @@ export function FilterBar({
           >
             {isPending ? <div className={styles.spinner}></div> : isHero ? "Search schools" : "Search"}
           </button>
+          {autosuggest && open && (
+            <SuggestList
+              id={suggestId}
+              suggestions={suggestions}
+              activeIndex={activeIndex}
+              onPick={pickSuggestion}
+              onHover={setActiveIndex}
+            />
+          )}
         </div>
         {isHero && (
           <>

nextjs-app/components/HomeView.tsx

@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ interface HomeViewProps {
   // show (e.g. an active search).
   howItWorks?: React.ReactNode;
   editorial?: React.ReactNode;
+  /** Server-read feature flag, threaded to both FilterBar instances. */
+  autosuggest?: boolean;
 }
 
 function daysUntil(month: number, day: number): number {
@@ -193,7 +195,7 @@ const VALUE_PROPS: ValueProp[] = [
   },
 ];
 
-export function HomeView({ initialSchools, filters, totalSchools, howItWorks, editorial }: HomeViewProps) {
+export function HomeView({ initialSchools, filters, totalSchools, howItWorks, editorial, autosuggest = false }: HomeViewProps) {
   const searchParams = useSearchParams();
   const router = useRouter();
   const pathname = usePathname();
@@ -462,6 +464,7 @@ export function HomeView({ initialSchools, filters, totalSchools, howItWorks, ed
               onNearMe={handleNearMe}
               geoState={geoState}
               geoError={geoError}
+              autosuggest={autosuggest}
             />
           </div>
 
@@ -500,6 +503,7 @@ export function HomeView({ initialSchools, filters, totalSchools, howItWorks, ed
           onNearMe={handleNearMe}
           geoState={geoState}
           geoError={geoError}
+          autosuggest={autosuggest}
         />
       )}
 

nextjs-app/components/SuggestList.module.css

@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+/*
+ * Anchored to .omniBoxContainer, which is position: relative for this reason.
+ *
+ * Every colour is a token, so the dropdown follows the theme. The dark theme
+ * redefines --bg-card, --border, --text-muted and --shadow-soft, and this
+ * inherits all four without a second rule.
+ */
+.list {
+  position: absolute;
+  top: calc(100% + 4px);
+  left: 0;
+  right: 0;
+  /* Above the sticky filter bar (10) and the hero layers (0–2), below the
+     skip-link (10000) and the modal overlay (1000). */
+  z-index: 40;
+  margin: 0;
+  padding: 4px;
+  list-style: none;
+  max-height: 320px;
+  overflow-y: auto;
+  background: var(--bg-card);
+  border: 1px solid var(--border);
+  border-radius: var(--radius-md);
+  box-shadow: var(--shadow-soft);
+}
+
+.option {
+  display: flex;
+  align-items: baseline;
+  justify-content: space-between;
+  gap: 12px;
+  padding: 10px 12px;
+  border-radius: var(--radius-sm);
+  cursor: pointer;
+  color: var(--text-primary);
+}
+
+/* Hover and keyboard share one style: the active option is the active option
+   however it became active. Two rules would drift. */
+.option:hover,
+.active {
+  background: var(--bg-secondary);
+}
+
+.name {
+  font-weight: 500;
+}
+
+.meta {
+  font-size: 0.85em;
+  color: var(--text-muted);
+  white-space: nowrap;
+}

nextjs-app/components/SuggestList.tsx

@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+'use client';
+
+/**
+ * The autosuggest dropdown. Presentational only — it fetches nothing and owns
+ * no state, so the fetching rules and the ARIA rules can be read separately.
+ */
+
+import type { Suggestion } from '@/lib/suggest';
+import styles from './SuggestList.module.css';
+
+/** The id the input's aria-activedescendant points at. */
+export function suggestOptionId(id: string, index: number): string {
+  return `${id}-option-${index}`;
+}
+
+interface Props {
+  /** Shared with the input's aria-controls. */
+  id: string;
+  suggestions: Suggestion[];
+  activeIndex: number;
+  onPick: (s: Suggestion) => void;
+  onHover: (index: number) => void;
+}
+
+export function SuggestList({ id, suggestions, activeIndex, onPick, onHover }: Props) {
+  if (suggestions.length === 0) return null;
+
+  return (
+    <ul className={styles.list} id={id} role="listbox">
+      {suggestions.map((s, i) => (
+        <li
+          key={s.urn}
+          id={suggestOptionId(id, i)}
+          role="option"
+          aria-selected={i === activeIndex}
+          className={`${styles.option} ${i === activeIndex ? styles.active : ''}`}
+          /*
+           * onMouseDown, not onClick: the input's blur handler closes the list,
+           * and blur fires before click — so a click handler never runs. This
+           * is the classic autosuggest bug where the dropdown is unclickable
+           * with a mouse while working perfectly with a keyboard.
+           */
+          onMouseDown={(e) => { e.preventDefault(); onPick(s); }}
+          onMouseEnter={() => onHover(i)}
+        >
+          <span className={styles.name}>{s.school_name}</span>
+          {/* Not decoration: there are many "St Mary's". */}
+          <span className={styles.meta}>{s.local_authority}</span>
+        </li>
+      ))}
+    </ul>
+  );
+}

nextjs-app/hooks/useSchoolSuggest.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+'use client';
+
+import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react';
+import { fetchSuggestions, SUGGEST_MIN_QUERY, type Suggestion } from '@/lib/suggest';
+
+/*
+ * Long enough that a fast typist does not fire a request per character, short
+ * enough that the list feels attached to the keyboard.
+ */
+const DEBOUNCE_MS = 200;
+
+export function useSchoolSuggest(query: string, enabled: boolean) {
+  const [suggestions, setSuggestions] = useState<Suggestion[]>([]);
+  const [open, setOpen] = useState(false);
+  const [activeIndex, setActiveIndex] = useState(-1);
+  // Set when the user dismisses the list, so a re-render does not reopen it.
+  const dismissed = useRef('');
+
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const q = query.trim();
+    if (!enabled || q.length < SUGGEST_MIN_QUERY || dismissed.current === q) {
+      setSuggestions([]);
+      setOpen(false);
+      return;
+    }
+
+    /*
+     * Abort the superseded request on every keystroke. This is correctness,
+     * not economy: without it a slow response for "st" can land after the fast
+     * one for "st marys" and replace a correct list with a stale one.
+     */
+    const controller = new AbortController();
+    const timer = setTimeout(async () => {
+      const rows = await fetchSuggestions(q, controller.signal);
+      if (controller.signal.aborted) return;
+      setSuggestions(rows);
+      setActiveIndex(-1);
+      setOpen(rows.length > 0);
+    }, DEBOUNCE_MS);
+
+    return () => {
+      clearTimeout(timer);
+      controller.abort();
+    };
+  }, [query, enabled]);
+
+  return {
+    suggestions,
+    open,
+    activeIndex,
+    setActiveIndex,
+    close: () => {
+      dismissed.current = query.trim();
+      setOpen(false);
+      setActiveIndex(-1);
+    },
+  };
+}

nextjs-app/lib/suggest.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+/**
+ * Client for /api/suggest.
+ *
+ * No `cache: "no-store"`. The compare modal's search uses it, and copying that
+ * here would discard both the browser cache and the ETag 304s the backend's
+ * CacheAndETagMiddleware already provides — on the one endpoint where prefix
+ * queries repeat most.
+ */
+
+export interface Suggestion {
+  urn: number;
+  school_name: string;
+  local_authority: string;
+  postcode: string;
+  phase: string;
+  school_type: string;
+}
+
+/** Below this the response is thousands of schools and worth no round trip. */
+export const SUGGEST_MIN_QUERY = 2;
+
+const API = process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL || '/api';
+
+/** Suggestions for `q`. Never throws: no suggestions is a fine outcome. */
+export async function fetchSuggestions(
+  q: string, signal?: AbortSignal,
+): Promise<Suggestion[]> {
+  if (q.trim().length < SUGGEST_MIN_QUERY) return [];
+  try {
+    const res = await fetch(`${API}/suggest?q=${encodeURIComponent(q.trim())}`,
+      { signal });
+    if (!res.ok) return [];
+    const body = await res.json();
+    return body.suggestions ?? [];
+  } catch {
+    // Includes AbortError, which is the normal path on every keystroke.
+    return [];
+  }
+}