StatusNeo · Anas-Sneo · Nov 16, 2025
diff --git a/web-backend/src/main/java/com/statusneo/vms/cache/EmployeeNameCache.java b/web-backend/src/main/java/com/statusneo/vms/cache/EmployeeNameCache.java
@@ -1,21 +1,20 @@
 package com.statusneo.vms.cache;
 
-import java.util.ArrayList;
-import java.util.Collection;
-import java.util.Collections;
-import java.util.LinkedHashSet;
-import java.util.List;
-import java.util.Map;
-import java.util.Set;
-
-import org.springframework.stereotype.Component;
-
 import com.statusneo.vms.model.Employee;
 import com.statusneo.vms.repository.EmployeeRepository;
 import com.statusneo.vms.util.TrieNode;
-
 import jakarta.annotation.PostConstruct;
+import org.springframework.stereotype.Component;
+
+import java.util.*;
+import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
+import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
+/**
+ * Lightweight in-memory cache of employees (name/email) used by UI host-search.
+ * Added search(...) helper so UI queries use the cache rather than hitting DB
+ * or external APIs.
+ */
 @Component
 public class EmployeeNameCache {
 
@@ -40,7 +39,8 @@ public void initializeCache() {
     }
 
     public void insert(String name) {
-        if (name == null || name.isBlank()) return;
+        if (name == null || name.isBlank())
+            return;
         TrieNode node = root;
         for (char c : name.toLowerCase().toCharArray()) {
             node = node.getChildren().computeIfAbsent(c, k -> new TrieNode());
@@ -50,11 +50,13 @@ public void insert(String name) {
     }
 
     public List<String> getEmployeeNamesByPrefix(String prefix) {
-        if (prefix == null) prefix = "";
+        if (prefix == null)
+            prefix = "";
         TrieNode node = root;
         for (char c : prefix.toLowerCase().toCharArray()) {
             node = node.getChildren().get(c);
-            if (node == null) return Collections.emptyList();
+            if (node == null)
+                return Collections.emptyList();
         }
 
         // Use LinkedHashSet to preserve insertion order and avoid duplicates
@@ -70,17 +72,20 @@ public List<String> getEmployeeNamesByPrefix(String prefix) {
     }
 
     private void collectNames(TrieNode node, Set<String> results) {
-        if (results.size() >= MAX_SUGGESTIONS) return;
+        if (results.size() >= MAX_SUGGESTIONS)
+            return;
         if (node.isEndOfWord()) {
             // add originals for this terminal node
             for (String orig : node.getOriginals()) {
-                if (results.size() >= MAX_SUGGESTIONS) break;
+                if (results.size() >= MAX_SUGGESTIONS)
+                    break;
                 results.add(orig);
             }
         }
 
         for (Map.Entry<Character, TrieNode> entry : node.getChildren().entrySet()) {
-            if (results.size() >= MAX_SUGGESTIONS) break;
+            if (results.size() >= MAX_SUGGESTIONS)
+                break;
             collectNames(entry.getValue(), results);
         }
     }
@@ -96,4 +101,40 @@ public void bulkInsert(Collection<String> names) {
             }
         }
     }
+
+    // New code starts here
+    private final Map<Long, Employee> byId = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
+
+    /**
+     * Search cached employees by name/email/identifier. Case-insensitive substring
+     * match.
+     * If query is null/empty returns a small default list (first 25).
+     */
+    public List<Employee> search(String query) {
+        Collection<Employee> all = byId.values();
+        if (query == null || query.isBlank()) {
+            return all.stream()
+                    .sorted(Comparator.comparing(Employee::getName, Comparator.nullsLast(String::compareToIgnoreCase)))
+                    .limit(25)
+                    .collect(Collectors.toList());
+        }
+        String q = query.toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT).trim();
+        return all.stream()
+                .filter(e -> {
+                    if (e == null)
+                        return false;
+                    String name = e.getName() == null ? "" : e.getName().toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT);
+                    String email = e.getEmail() == null ? "" : e.getEmail().toLowerCase(Locale.ROOT);
+                    return name.contains(q) || email.contains(q);
+                })
+                .sorted(Comparator.comparing(Employee::getName, Comparator.nullsLast(String::compareToIgnoreCase)))
+                .limit(25)
+                .collect(Collectors.toList());
+    }
+
+    // Optional convenience
+    public Optional<Employee> getById(Long id) {
+        return Optional.ofNullable(byId.get(id));
+    }
+    // New code ends here
 }
diff --git a/web-backend/src/main/java/com/statusneo/vms/controller/HomeController.java b/web-backend/src/main/java/com/statusneo/vms/controller/HomeController.java
@@ -18,37 +18,61 @@
  */
 package com.statusneo.vms.controller;
 
-import com.statusneo.vms.model.Employee;
-import com.statusneo.vms.service.EmployeeService;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
 import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
 import org.springframework.ui.Model;
 import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;
 import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestParam;
 
-import java.util.List;
+import com.statusneo.vms.cache.EmployeeNameCache;
+import com.statusneo.vms.model.Employee;
 
+/**
+ * Expose host search endpoint backed by EmployeeNameCache so UI queries use
+ * cache.
+ */
 @Controller
 public class HomeController {
-    private final EmployeeService employeeService;
 
-    public HomeController(EmployeeService employeeService) {
-        this.employeeService = employeeService;
+    private final EmployeeNameCache employeeNameCache;
+
+    @Autowired
+    public HomeController(EmployeeNameCache employeeNameCache /* , other deps if present */) {
+        this.employeeNameCache = employeeNameCache;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * HTMX endpoint used by the host-search box.
+     * Returns a small fragment containing search results. The fragment has
+     * id="host-results"
+     * so client-side JS/HTMX can reveal it after swap.
+     *
+     * Example request: GET /api/hosts/search?hostSearch=anas
+     */
+    @GetMapping("/api/hosts/search")
+    public String searchHosts(@RequestParam(name = "hostSearch", required = false) String hostSearch, Model model) {
+        List<Employee> results = employeeNameCache.search(hostSearch);
+        model.addAttribute("hosts", results);
+        // return Thymeleaf fragment - ensure fragment name "results" exists in template
+        return "host-search-results :: results";
     }
 
     @GetMapping("/search-employees")
     public String employees(@RequestParam(value = "hostSearch", required = false) String hostSearch,
-                            @RequestParam(value = "employee", required = false) String employee,
-                            @RequestParam(value = "query", required = false) String query,
-                            Model model) {
+            @RequestParam(value = "employee", required = false) String employee,
+            @RequestParam(value = "query", required = false) String query,
+            Model model) {
         // Prefer hostSearch (used by index.jte), then employee, then query
-        String q = (hostSearch != null && !hostSearch.isBlank()) ? hostSearch :
-                ((employee != null && !employee.isBlank()) ? employee : (query == null ? "" : query));
+        String q = (hostSearch != null && !hostSearch.isBlank()) ? hostSearch
+                : ((employee != null && !employee.isBlank()) ? employee : (query == null ? "" : query));
 
         if (q.isBlank()) {
             return "employees";
         }
 
-        List<Employee> employees = employeeService.searchEmployeesByName(q);
+        List<Employee> employees = employeeNameCache.search(q);
         model.addAttribute("employees", employees);
         return "employees";
     }

diff --git a/web-backend/src/main/resources/templates/host-search-results.html b/web-backend/src/main/resources/templates/host-search-results.html
@@ -1,14 +1,15 @@
 <div th:fragment="hostResults" xmlns:th="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
-    <div th:if="${hosts != null and !hosts.isEmpty()}">
-        <div th:each="host : ${hosts}"
-             th:attr="onclick='selectHost(' + ${host.id} + ', \'' + ${host.name} + '\', \'' + ${host.email} + '\')'"
-             class="px-4 py-3 hover:bg-gray-50 cursor-pointer border-b border-gray-100 last:border-b-0">
-            <div class="font-medium text-gray-900" th:text="${host.name}">John Smith</div>
-            <div class="text-sm text-gray-500" th:text="${host.email}">john.smith@company.com</div>
+    <!-- fragment returned for HTMX host-search; must contain element with id="host-results" -->
+    <div th:fragment="results">
+        <div id="host-results" class="bg-white border rounded-md mt-1 shadow-lg max-h-72 overflow-auto">
+            <ul class="divide-y">
+                <li th:each="emp : ${hosts}" class="px-4 py-2 hover:bg-gray-100 cursor-pointer"
+                    th:onclick="'selectHost(' + ${emp.id} + ', \'' + ${emp.name} + '\', \'' + ${emp.email} + '\')'">
+                    <div class="text-sm font-medium" th:text="${emp.name}">Employee Name</div>
+                    <div class="text-xs text-gray-500" th:text="${emp.email}">email@example.com</div>
+                </li>
+                <li th:if="${#lists.isEmpty(hosts)}" class="px-4 py-2 text-sm text-gray-500">No results</li>
+            </ul>
         </div>
     </div>
-    <div th:if="${hosts == null or hosts.isEmpty()}"
-         class="px-4 py-3 text-gray-500 text-center">
-        No employee found
-    </div>
 </div>