# Prompt-to-PR: Add Pagefind Search to an Astro Site

> The full SOP for adding static, zero-backend search to an Astro site with Pagefind — from first prompt to PR description.

**Type:** Playbook  
**Tools:** Cursor, Claude Code  
**Stack:** Astro, TypeScript  
**Difficulty:** easy  
**Updated:** 2026-06-08

---

A complete playbook: requirement, first prompt, expected changes, review, tests,
likely failures, fix prompt, and the PR description.

## 1. Requirement

Add full-text search to a static Astro site with no server and no database.

## 2. First Prompt

```txt title="First Prompt"
Add Pagefind search to this Astro static site.

- Add `pagefind` as a devDependency.
- Update the build script to run `astro build && pagefind --site dist`.
- Create a `/search` page that mounts Pagefind UI from `/pagefind/pagefind-ui.js`.
- Mark the main article body with `data-pagefind-body` and add
  `data-pagefind-ignore` to nav/footer.
- Do not introduce a server adapter; this stays fully static.
```

## 3. Expected File Changes

```txt
package.json                 (build script)
src/pages/search.astro       (new)
src/layouts/BaseLayout.astro (data-pagefind-ignore on chrome)
```

## 4. Review Checklist

- Build script runs Pagefind *after* `astro build`.
- Search page degrades gracefully in `astro dev` (index only exists post-build).
- Nav/footer are excluded from the index.

## 5. Test Commands

```bash
bun run build
bun run preview
# open /search and query a known term
```

## 6. Common Failures

- Mounting Pagefind UI before the script loads → `PagefindUI is not defined`.
- Running Pagefind before the build, so it indexes nothing.

## 7. Fix Prompt

```txt title="Fix Prompt"
Pagefind indexed an empty site. Ensure the build runs `astro build` first,
then `pagefind --site dist`, and that the UI script loads before init.
```

## 8. PR Description

```md title="PR description"
Add static full-text search via Pagefind. Indexes `dist` at build time;
no backend. New `/search` page; nav/footer excluded from the index.
```