django-realtime-search

Filters Django admin changelist pages as you type in the search box. You don't need to press Enter or wait for a page reload.

You don't change any of your existing admins. Every search fetches the normal changelist URL, so your search_fields, get_search_results(), list filters, ordering, pagination and permissions behave exactly as they do today. The script then swaps the new results into the page.

Supports Django 3.2 – 4.2 and Python 3.8+.

Installation

pip install django-realtime-search

Add it to INSTALLED_APPS before django.contrib.admin:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    "realtime_search",
    "django.contrib.admin",
    ...
]

That's it. Every admin changelist with search_fields now searches as you type.

Configuration

Optional, in settings.py (defaults shown):

REALTIME_SEARCH = {
    "ENABLED": True,     # False = only ModelAdmins that opt in get realtime search
    "DEBOUNCE_MS": 300,  # wait this long after the last keystroke before searching
    "MIN_CHARS": 1,      # minimum characters before searching (clearing always searches)
}

Per-ModelAdmin overrides:

class BookAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
    search_fields = ["title", "author__name"]
    realtime_search = False                      # opt out
    # realtime_search = True                     # opt in (when ENABLED is False)
    # realtime_search = {"DEBOUNCE_MS": 150}     # opt in and override settings

Typed filters (key:value in the search box)

Add SearchFiltersMixin to a ModelAdmin and list the filters people can type:

from realtime_search.admin import SearchFiltersMixin

@admin.register(Book)
class BookAdmin(SearchFiltersMixin, admin.ModelAdmin):
    search_fields = ["title"]
    search_filters = {
        "author": "author__name",      # key typed in the box -> field path
        "in_print": "in_print",
        "published": "published",
        "year": "published__year",     # explicit lookups/transforms are fine
        "format": "format",            # a field with choices
    }
    # or a list, using the field path as the key: search_filters = ["in_print", "format"]

Users can then type things like:

parable in_print:no
author:butler year:>=1990
author:"le guin" -format:paperback

Syntax	Meaning
key:value	Text fields: contains (case-insensitive). Other fields: equals.
key:"two words"	Quoted value
key:=value	Exact (case-insensitive for text)
key:^value	Starts with (text fields)
key:>v key:>=v key:<v key:<=v	Comparisons: numbers, dates, transforms like __year
-key:value	Exclude matches

• Booleans accept yes/no, true/false, 1/0, on/off.
• Choice fields match the stored value or the label, and a prefix of the label also matches (format:hard finds "Hardcover").
• Dates: a 4-digit value means the year, so published:1993 and published:>1990 work.
• Combining: filters AND together, with each other and with any remaining free-text words, which go through search_fields as usual.
• Not recognised: keys that aren't listed are treated as search text, so Re:Coded still searches normally.
• While typing: a filter with no value yet (author:) is ignored, and a value that can't match (year:abc) gives zero results rather than an error.

With realtime search on, the allowed keys appear as clickable hints under the search box. Clicking one adds key: to the search.

Only listed keys can be filtered on, and bad field paths are reported by manage.py check. The mixin also works without the realtime JavaScript: the filters apply when the search is submitted.

Behaviour

• Preserves filters and ordering. Any active list filters, date hierarchy and sort order stay applied. A new search starts back at page 1.
• Updates the URL with history.replaceState, so refreshing the page or sharing the link keeps the search.
• Enter searches right away. Escape clears the search.
• Stale responses are dropped. If you keep typing, in-flight requests are cancelled, so results never arrive out of order.
• Admin actions keep working. The select-all checkbox and the "N of M selected" counter are re-bound after each update.
• Protects unsaved list_editable edits. Once a list_editable field has been changed, live updates pause, and pressing Enter does a normal page submit.
• Fails safe. If a response isn't a changelist (an error, or a redirect to the login page because the session expired), the browser goes to the URL normally.
• Accessible. The result count is announced to screen readers through an aria-live region.

After each update, a realtime-search:updated event is dispatched on document (event.detail = {query, url}). Use it to re-initialise any custom JavaScript on the result rows.

How it hooks in

The app ships an admin/change_list.html that extends the next admin/change_list.html on the template path (Django supports recursive template extends). It only adds a script and stylesheet to {% block extrahead %}. That means it coexists with:

• your own project-level admin/change_list.html overrides
• custom ModelAdmin.change_list_templates that extend admin/change_list.html
• third-party apps that do the same (e.g. django-import-export)

If a template replaces {% block extrahead %} without calling {{ block.super }}, realtime search won't load on that page.

Limitations

• Each search is a full changelist request on the server. On very large tables with expensive search_fields (e.g. many __icontains joins), raise DEBOUNCE_MS or MIN_CHARS.
• Widgets that need JavaScript initialisation inside list_editable rows, such as calendar shortcuts on date fields, aren't re-initialised after an update.

Development

pip install -e ".[test]"
playwright install chromium     # optional: enables the browser tests
python runtests.py              # browser tests are skipped if Playwright is missing
tox                             # full Django/Python matrix

To try it by hand:

export REALTIME_SEARCH_DB=demo.sqlite3
django-admin migrate --run-syncdb --settings=tests.settings --pythonpath=.
django-admin seed_demo --count 2000 --settings=tests.settings --pythonpath=.
django-admin runserver --settings=tests.settings --pythonpath=.
# open http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin/testapp/book/  (admin / admin)