feat(search): /search?q= across videos, channels and playlists

Add a dedicated SearchController that matches the query against video
title / description / tags / primary language AND any secondary audio
track language (so "arabic" surfaces videos that carry an Arabic track
even if the primary language is English), plus channel name / username
/ bio, plus playlist name / description. Public visibility only.

Results reuse the videos/index view so every card gets the same
component the browse feeds use. A new Channels section renders above
the Videos grid when channel hits exist.

/videos/search is kept as a 301 redirect to /search so bookmarks and
external links stay valid; both the desktop header and mobile overlay
search forms now point at the canonical route, both carry a visually
hidden <label>, both get role="search" and both preserve the current
query in their input.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <[email protected]>

app/Http/Controllers/SearchController.php

@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace App\Http\Controllers;
+
+use App\Models\Playlist;
+use App\Models\User;
+use App\Models\Video;
+use App\Models\VideoAudioTrack;
+use Illuminate\Http\Request;
+
+/**
+ * Site-wide search across videos, channels and playlists.
+ *
+ * Lives on /search?q=… so the URL reads like what you'd expect from a modern
+ * site. The old /videos/search endpoint still works but redirects here, so
+ * nothing bookmarked earlier breaks.
+ *
+ * Match surface:
+ *   - Video title, description, tag list, primary language and the language
+ *     of any secondary audio track attached to it.
+ *   - User name, username (handle), and short bio.
+ *   - Playlist name and description.
+ *
+ * We render the existing `videos.index` view so every search result lands in
+ * the same card component the browse feeds use — one place to style, one place
+ * to fix bugs.
+ */
+class SearchController extends Controller
+{
+    public function index(Request $request)
+    {
+        $query = trim((string) $request->get('q', ''));
+
+        if ($query === '') {
+            // No query → send the user back to the browse feed instead of an
+            // empty "no results" page.
+            return redirect()->route('videos.index');
+        }
+
+        $like    = '%' . $query . '%';
+        $qLower  = mb_strtolower($query);
+
+        // ── Videos ────────────────────────────────────────────────
+        // Match on text columns AND on any audio-track language that aligns
+        // with the query (e.g. searching "arabic" surfaces videos that carry
+        // an Arabic track even if the primary language is English).
+        $trackVideoIds = VideoAudioTrack::whereRaw('LOWER(language) = ?', [$qLower])
+            ->pluck('video_id');
+
+        $videoHits = Video::public()
+            ->where(function ($q) use ($like, $qLower, $trackVideoIds) {
+                $q->where('title',       'like', $like)
+                  ->orWhere('description','like', $like)
+                  ->orWhere('tags',       'like', $like)
+                  ->orWhereRaw('LOWER(language) = ?', [$qLower])
+                  ->orWhereIn('id', $trackVideoIds);
+            })
+            ->latest()
+            ->limit(60)
+            ->get();
+
+        $videos = $videoHits->where('is_shorts', false)->values();
+        $shorts = $videoHits->where('is_shorts', true)->values();
+
+        // ── Channels ──────────────────────────────────────────────
+        $channels = User::where(function ($q) use ($like) {
+                $q->where('name',     'like', $like)
+                  ->orWhere('username','like', $like)
+                  ->orWhere('bio',    'like', $like);
+            })
+            ->orderByDesc('id')
+            ->limit(12)
+            ->get();
+
+        // ── Playlists ─────────────────────────────────────────────
+        $playlists = Playlist::where('visibility', 'public')
+            ->where(function ($q) use ($like) {
+                $q->where('name',       'like', $like)
+                  ->orWhere('description','like', $like);
+            })
+            ->withCount('videos')
+            ->with(['user', 'videos' => fn ($q) => $q->orderBy('playlist_videos.position')->limit(1)])
+            ->latest()
+            ->limit(12)
+            ->get();
+
+        return view('videos.index', [
+            'videos'    => $videos,
+            'shorts'    => $shorts,
+            'playlists' => $playlists,
+            'channels'  => $channels,
+            'query'     => $query,
+            'langChips' => [],
+        ]);
+    }
+}

resources/views/layouts/app.blade.php

@@ -1237,10 +1237,11 @@
 
     <!-- Mobile Search Overlay -->
     <div class="mobile-search-overlay" id="mobileSearchOverlay">
-        <form action="{{ route('videos.search') }}" method="GET" class="mobile-search-form">
+        <form action="{{ route('search') }}" method="GET" class="mobile-search-form" role="search">
-            <input type="text" name="q" class="mobile-search-input" placeholder="Search" value="{{ request('q') }}">
+            <label for="mobile-search-input" class="visually-hidden">Search</label>
-            <button type="submit" class="mobile-search-submit">
+            <input type="search" id="mobile-search-input" name="q" class="mobile-search-input" placeholder="Search" value="{{ request('q') }}" aria-label="Search videos, channels and playlists">
-                <i class="bi bi-search"></i>
+            <button type="submit" class="mobile-search-submit" aria-label="Submit search">
+                <i class="bi bi-search" aria-hidden="true"></i>
             </button>
         </form>
     </div>

resources/views/layouts/partials/header.blade.php

@@ -15,9 +15,10 @@
 
     <div class="yt-header-center d-none d-md-flex">
         <div class="yt-search">
-            <form action="{{ route('videos.search') }}" method="GET" class="yt-search-form">
+            <form action="{{ route('search') }}" method="GET" class="yt-search-form" role="search">
-                <input type="text" name="q" class="yt-search-input" placeholder="Search" value="{{ request('q') }}">
+                <label for="header-search-input" class="visually-hidden">Search</label>
-                <button type="submit" class="yt-search-btn"><i class="bi bi-search"></i></button>
+                <input type="search" id="header-search-input" name="q" class="yt-search-input" placeholder="Search" value="{{ request('q') }}" aria-label="Search videos, channels and playlists">
+                <button type="submit" class="yt-search-btn" aria-label="Submit search"><i class="bi bi-search" aria-hidden="true"></i></button>
             </form>
         </div>
     </div>

resources/views/videos/index.blade.php

@@ -42,6 +42,34 @@
     }
     .results-section-title::after { content: ''; flex: 1; height: 1px; background: var(--border-color); }
 
+    /* Channel results — card list sized to sit comfortably above the video
+       grid. Avatar is a fixed 56px circle; name + handle sit to the right. */
+    .search-channels-grid {
+        display: grid;
+        grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fill, minmax(260px, 1fr));
+        gap: 12px;
+        margin-bottom: 8px;
+    }
+    .search-channel-card {
+        display: flex; align-items: center; gap: 12px;
+        padding: 10px 12px;
+        background: var(--bg-secondary);
+        border-radius: 12px;
+        text-decoration: none;
+        color: var(--text-primary);
+        transition: background .15s ease;
+    }
+    .search-channel-card:hover { background: rgba(255,255,255,.08); }
+    .search-channel-card img,
+    .search-channel-ph {
+        width: 56px; height: 56px; border-radius: 50%; object-fit: cover; flex: 0 0 auto;
+        background: #333; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center;
+        font-size: 22px; color: var(--text-secondary);
+    }
+    .search-channel-text { min-width: 0; }
+    .search-channel-name { font-weight: 600; font-size: 15px; white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; }
+    .search-channel-handle { font-size: 13px; color: var(--text-secondary); }
+
     .yt-empty { text-align: center; padding: 80px 20px; }
 
     /* Language chips */
@@ -112,21 +140,44 @@
 @isset($query)
 
 @php
-    $searchShorts    = $shorts ?? collect();
+    $searchShorts    = $shorts    ?? collect();
     $searchPlaylists = $playlists ?? collect();
-    $totalResults    = $videos->count() + $searchShorts->count() + $searchPlaylists->count();
+    $searchChannels  = $channels  ?? collect();
+    $totalResults    = $videos->count() + $searchShorts->count() + $searchPlaylists->count() + $searchChannels->count();
 @endphp
 
 <div class="search-info">
     <h2>Search results for "{{ $query }}"</h2>
     <p>
         @if($videos->count()) {{ $videos->count() }} video{{ $videos->count() !== 1 ? 's' : '' }} @endif
-        @if($searchShorts->count()) &nbsp;·&nbsp; {{ $searchShorts->count() }} short{{ $searchShorts->count() !== 1 ? 's' : '' }} @endif
+        @if($searchShorts->count())    &nbsp;·&nbsp; {{ $searchShorts->count() }} short{{ $searchShorts->count() !== 1 ? 's' : '' }} @endif
+        @if($searchChannels->count())  &nbsp;·&nbsp; {{ $searchChannels->count() }} channel{{ $searchChannels->count() !== 1 ? 's' : '' }} @endif
         @if($searchPlaylists->count()) &nbsp;·&nbsp; {{ $searchPlaylists->count() }} playlist{{ $searchPlaylists->count() !== 1 ? 's' : '' }} @endif
         @if($totalResults === 0) No results found @endif
     </p>
 </div>
 
+@if($searchChannels->count())
+    <div class="results-section-title"><i class="bi bi-person-circle"></i> Channels</div>
+    <div class="search-channels-grid">
+        @foreach($searchChannels as $channel)
+            <a href="{{ route('channel', $channel->channel) }}" class="search-channel-card">
+                @if($channel->avatar_url)
+                    <img src="{{ $channel->avatar_url }}" alt="{{ $channel->name }}" width="56" height="56" loading="lazy">
+                @else
+                    <div class="search-channel-ph"><i class="bi bi-person"></i></div>
+                @endif
+                <div class="search-channel-text">
+                    <div class="search-channel-name">{{ $channel->name }}</div>
+                    @if($channel->username)
+                        <div class="search-channel-handle">@{{ $channel->username }}</div>
+                    @endif
+                </div>
+            </a>
+        @endforeach
+    </div>
+@endif
+
 @if($videos->count())
     <div class="results-section-title"><i class="bi bi-play-circle"></i> Videos</div>
     <div class="yt-video-grid">

routes/web.php

@@ -25,7 +25,13 @@ Route::get('/', [VideoController::class, 'index'])->name('home');
 // Video routes - public
 Route::get('/videos', [VideoController::class, 'index'])->name('videos.index');
 Route::get('/videos/feed/more', [VideoController::class, 'feedMore'])->name('videos.feed.more');
-Route::get('/videos/search', [VideoController::class, 'search'])->name('videos.search');
+
+// Site-wide search. /videos/search is the historical URL; keep it as a
+// signed-forward redirect so bookmarks and external links don't break.
+Route::get('/search', [\App\Http\Controllers\SearchController::class, 'index'])->name('search');
+Route::get('/videos/search', function (\Illuminate\Http\Request $request) {
+    return redirect()->route('search', $request->only('q'), 301);
+})->name('videos.search');
 Route::get('/trending', [VideoController::class, 'trending'])->name('videos.trending');
 Route::get('/shorts', [VideoController::class, 'shorts'])->name('videos.shorts');
 Route::get('/videos/create', [VideoController::class, 'create'])->name('videos.create');