> Full Neon documentation index: https://neon.com/docs/llms.txt

# Building a simple real-time search with Laravel, Livewire, and Neon

Build a real-time product search with Laravel, Livewire, and Postgres on Neon, using Eloquent and Laravel migrations.

Laravel is a PHP framework known for its expressive syntax and large ecosystem. Livewire, a full-stack framework for Laravel, lets you build dynamic interfaces with minimal JavaScript.

In this guide, we'll build a simple real-time search feature using Laravel, Livewire, and Neon. We'll set up a Laravel project, create a database schema, implement the search functionality with Livewire, and add an index to the Postgres table.

## Prerequisites

Before we begin, you will need to have the following:

- PHP 8.1 or higher installed on your system
- [Composer](https://getcomposer.org/) for managing PHP dependencies
- [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/) and [npm](https://www.npmjs.com/) installed on your local machine for managing front-end assets
- A [Neon](https://console.neon.tech/signup) account
- Basic knowledge of Laravel, Livewire, and Tailwind CSS

## Setting up the project

Before building the search functionality, let's set up a new Laravel project and configure the necessary components.

### Creating a new Laravel project

Open your terminal and run the following command to create a new Laravel project:

```bash
composer create-project laravel/laravel real-time-search
cd real-time-search
```

This command creates a new Laravel project in a directory named `real-time-search` and moves into it.

### Installing and configuring Livewire

Now that we have a Laravel project, let's install Livewire:

```bash
composer require livewire/livewire
```

Livewire will automatically register its service provider.

### Setting up Tailwind CSS

To use Tailwind CSS, we need to install and configure it as well.

```bash
npm install -D tailwindcss@latest postcss@latest autoprefixer@latest
npx tailwindcss init -p
```

Update your `tailwind.config.js` file to include Laravel and Livewire-specific paths:

```javascript
/** @type {import('tailwindcss').Config} */
export default {
  content: ['./resources/**/*.blade.php', './resources/**/*.js', './resources/**/*.vue'],
  theme: {
    extend: {},
  },
  plugins: [],
};
```

The above configuration tells Tailwind to scan the specified files in the `resources` directory for classes to include in the compiled CSS. Your Laravel views and Livewire components get Tailwind's utility classes, and unused classes stay out of the CSS bundle.

Next, add the `@tailwind` directives to your `resources/css/app.css` file:

```css
@tailwind base;
@tailwind components;
@tailwind utilities;
```

Finally, run the following command to compile your assets with Vite:

```bash
npm run dev
```

Leave the Vite development server running in the background to compile your assets and proceed with the next steps.

### Connecting to your Neon database

To connect your Laravel application to your Neon database, update your `.env` file with your database credentials. You can find them by clicking **Connect** on your project dashboard in the [Neon Console](https://console.neon.tech):

```env
DB_CONNECTION=pgsql
DB_HOST=your-neon-hostname.neon.tech
DB_PORT=5432
DB_DATABASE=your_database_name
DB_USERNAME=your_username
DB_PASSWORD=your_password
```

Make sure to replace the placeholders with your actual Neon database details.

## Building the search functionality

Now that our project is set up, let's build the search functionality. We'll create a simple product search feature that filters products based on their name and description.

### Creating the database schema

We'll create a simple `products` table for this example. Run the following command to create a migration:

```bash
php artisan make:model Product -m
```

Open the newly created migration file in `database/migrations` and update the `up` method to include the necessary columns:

```php
public function up()
{
    Schema::create('products', function (Blueprint $table) {
        $table->id();
        $table->string('name');
        $table->text('description');
        $table->decimal('price', 8, 2);
        $table->timestamps();
    });
}
```

For the sake of simplicity, we've included the `name`, `description`, and `price` columns in our `products` table.

Run the migration to create the `products` table in your database:

```bash
php artisan migrate
```

### Seeding sample data

Laravel includes seeders for populating your database with sample data. Create a new seeder:

```bash
php artisan make:seeder ProductSeeder
```

Open `database/seeders/ProductSeeder.php` and add the following:

```php
<?php

namespace Database\Seeders;

use Illuminate\Database\Console\Seeds\WithoutModelEvents;
use Illuminate\Database\Seeder;

class ProductSeeder extends Seeder
{
    /**
     * Run the database seeds.
     */
    public function run(): void
    {
        $products = [
            ['name' => 'Laptop', 'description' => 'High-performance laptop', 'price' => 999.99],
            ['name' => 'Smartphone', 'description' => 'Latest model smartphone', 'price' => 699.99],
            ['name' => 'Headphones', 'description' => 'Noise-cancelling headphones', 'price' => 199.99],
            ['name' => 'Smartwatch', 'description' => 'Fitness tracking smartwatch', 'price' => 249.99],
            ['name' => 'Tablet', 'description' => '10-inch tablet', 'price' => 399.99],
            ['name' => 'Desktop', 'description' => 'High-performance desktop', 'price' => 1499.99],
            ['name' => 'Monitor', 'description' => '27-inch 4K monitor', 'price' => 499.99],
            ['name' => 'Keyboard', 'description' => 'Mechanical gaming keyboard', 'price' => 149.99],
            ['name' => 'Mouse', 'description' => 'Wireless mouse', 'price' => 49.99],
            ['name' => 'Printer', 'description' => 'Wireless all-in-one printer', 'price' => 199.99],
            ['name' => 'Scanner', 'description' => 'High-speed document scanner', 'price' => 299.99],
            ['name' => 'Projector', 'description' => '1080p home theater projector', 'price' => 799.99],
            ['name' => 'Camera', 'description' => 'Mirrorless camera', 'price' => 999.99],
            ['name' => 'Drone', 'description' => '4K camera drone', 'price' => 1199.99],
            ['name' => 'Gaming Console', 'description' => 'Next-gen gaming console', 'price' => 499.99],
            ['name' => 'VR Headset', 'description' => 'Wireless VR headset', 'price' => 299.99],
            ['name' => 'External Hard Drive', 'description' => '2TB external hard drive', 'price' => 99.99],
            ['name' => 'USB Flash Drive', 'description' => '128GB USB flash drive', 'price' => 29.99],
            ['name' => 'Wireless Router', 'description' => 'Dual-band wireless router', 'price' => 99.99],
            ['name' => 'Smart Speaker', 'description' => 'Voice-controlled smart speaker', 'price' => 79.99],
        ];

        foreach ($products as $product) {
            \App\Models\Product::create($product);
        }
    }
}

```

Update `database/seeders/DatabaseSeeder.php` to include the `ProductSeeder` class by adding it to the `run` method:

```php
public function run()
{
    $this->call([
        ProductSeeder::class,
    ]);
}
```

Run the seeder to populate the `products` table with sample data:

```bash
php artisan db:seed
```

This command will insert the sample products into the `products` table so we can test our search functionality. Note that the `db:seed` command will run all seeders by default, and if you run it multiple times, it will insert duplicate records.

### Implementing the Livewire component

Next, let's create a Livewire component for our search functionality. Run the following command to generate a new Livewire component:

```bash
php artisan make:livewire ProductSearch
```

This command creates two files:

- `app/Livewire/ProductSearch.php`: The Livewire component class, which contains the search logic.
- `resources/views/livewire/product-search.blade.php`: The view file for the Livewire component.

Open `app/Livewire/ProductSearch.php` and update it with the following code which fetches products based on the search query:

```php
<?php

namespace App\Livewire;

use Livewire\Component;
use App\Models\Product;

class ProductSearch extends Component
{
    public $search = '';

    public function render()
    {
        $products = Product::where('name', 'like', '%' . $this->search . '%')
                           ->orWhere('description', 'like', '%' . $this->search . '%')
                           ->get();

        return view('livewire.product-search', [
            'products' => $products
        ]);
    }
}
```

Rundown of the code above:

- We start by defining a `$search` property that will be bound to the search input, and a `render` method that fetches products based on the search query.
- The `render` method queries the `products` table for records that match the search query in the `name` or `description` columns.
- We're using a `LIKE` query, which is case-sensitive in Postgres. For a case-insensitive search, use `ilike` instead. You can customize the search logic based on your requirements.
- Next we get all matching products using the `get` method and pass them to the view. For larger result sets, you can paginate with Laravel's `paginate` method instead.
- The `render` method returns the view `livewire.product-search` along with the `$products` variable.

Once you've updated the component class, let's create the view for this component. Open `resources/views/livewire/product-search.blade.php` and add the following content:

```html
<div>
  <div class="mb-4">
    <input
      wire:model.live.debounce.300ms="search"
      type="text"
      placeholder="Search products..."
      class="focus:ring-blue-500 w-full rounded-lg border px-4 py-2 focus:outline-none focus:ring-2"
    />
  </div>

  <div class="grid grid-cols-1 gap-4 lg:grid-cols-3 md:grid-cols-2">
    @forelse($products as $product)
    <div
      class="transform rounded-lg bg-white p-4 shadow transition duration-300 ease-in-out hover:scale-105"
    >
      <h3 class="text-lg font-semibold">{{ $product->name }}</h3>
      <p class="text-gray-600">{{ $product->description }}</p>
      <p class="text-blue-600 mt-2 font-bold">${{ number_format($product->price, 2) }}</p>
    </div>
    @empty
    <div class="rounded-lg bg-white p-4 text-center shadow">No products found.</div>
    @endforelse
  </div>
</div>
```

This view includes an input field for the search query and a grid to display the search results.

The `wire:model.live.debounce.300ms` attribute on the input field binds it to the `$search` property in our Livewire component, with a 300ms debounce to reduce the number of database queries triggered by user input changes.

Using the `@forelse` directive, we loop through the `$products` collection and display each product's name, description, and price. If no products match the search query, we display a message indicating that no products were found.

### Updating the layout

To use our new component, let's update the main layout. Open `resources/views/welcome.blade.php` and replace its content with:

```html
<!doctype html>
<html lang="{{ str_replace('_', '-', app()->getLocale()) }}">
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />
    <title>Real-Time Search</title>
    @vite('resources/css/app.css') @livewireStyles
  </head>
  <body class="bg-gray-100">
    <div class="container mx-auto px-4 py-8">
      <h1 class="mb-8 text-center text-3xl font-bold">Real-Time Product Search</h1>
      @livewire('product-search')
    </div>

    @livewireScripts @vite('resources/js/app.js')
  </body>
</html>
```

This layout includes the necessary Livewire scripts and styles, as well as our `ProductSearch` component.

After updating the layout, make sure that your Vite development server is still running to compile the assets.

```bash
npm run dev
```

## Adding an index

Postgres indexes let the database locate matching records without scanning the whole table. Let's create an index on the `name` and `description` columns of our `products` table.

Create a new migration:

```bash
php artisan make:migration add_index_to_products_table
```

Open the new migration file and update the `up` and `down` methods to add and remove the index from the `products` table respectively:

```php
public function up()
{
    Schema::table('products', function (Blueprint $table) {
        $table->index(['name', 'description']);
    });
}

public function down()
{
    Schema::table('products', function (Blueprint $table) {
        $table->dropIndex(['name', 'description']);
    });
}
```

Run the migration:

```bash
php artisan migrate
```

This is a standard B-tree index. It helps equality and prefix searches (`LIKE 'term%'`), but not the `%term%` pattern the component uses, because of the leading wildcard. For substring search on larger tables, consider a trigram index with the [pg_trgm](https://neon.com/docs/extensions/pg_trgm) extension.

## Testing the search functionality

To check that the search works as expected, let's write a simple test. Run the following command to create a test file:

```bash
php artisan make:test ProductSearchTest
```

Open the newly created test file in `tests/Feature/ProductSearchTest.php` and add the following test:

```php
<?php

namespace Tests\Feature;

use App\Livewire\ProductSearch;
use App\Models\Product;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\RefreshDatabase;
use Livewire\Livewire;
use Tests\TestCase;

class ProductSearchTest extends TestCase
{
    // use RefreshDatabase;

    /** @test */
    public function it_can_search_products()
    {
        // If using RefreshDatabase trait, make sure to seed the database

        Livewire::test(ProductSearch::class)
            ->set('search', 'Laptop')
            ->assertSee('Laptop')
            ->assertDontSee('Phone');
    }
}
```

This test sets the search term to `Laptop` and checks that the component shows matching products and filters out the rest. It relies on the seeded data.

> The `RefreshDatabase` trait resets the database between tests, so never enable it against your production database. Point your tests at a separate database or a Neon branch instead.

Run the test with:

```bash
php artisan test
```

To learn more about testing Laravel with Neon branching, see [Testing Laravel applications with Neon's database branching](https://neon.com/guides/laravel-test-on-branch).

## Conclusion

You built a real-time product search with a Livewire component that queries a Postgres database on Neon as the user types. Some ways to extend it:

- Implement pagination for large result sets
- Add filters for more refined searches
- Use Postgres full-text search for more accurate results
- Add caching to reduce database queries
- Use [Laravel Scout](https://laravel.com/docs/11.x/scout) for full-text search

## Additional resources

- [Laravel documentation](https://laravel.com/docs)
- [Livewire documentation](https://livewire.laravel.com/docs)
- [Tailwind CSS documentation](https://tailwindcss.com/docs)
- [Neon documentation](https://neon.com/docs)

---

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