fix: search page removeChild crash — stop mutating React-owned no-results message

[4eh5xitv6787h645ebv]

Summary

Fixes the NotFoundError: Failed to execute 'removeChild' on 'Node' crash on the search page (the bug behind #792) with a minimal, root-cause-targeted change — no features removed.

Root cause

jellyfin-web's SearchResults renders both the no-results message and the results container as plain keyless divs, so React reuses the same DOM node when switching between those states. With react-query's cache, retyping a previously-searched query transitions directly between them (no <Loading/> commit in between). The plugin's positionSection() did:

noResultsMessage.textContent = desiredText;

on the React-owned message div. That replaces React's own text node — so on the next reconciliation of that (reused) div, React calls removeChild on a node that no longer exists and throws. This matches the reported repro exactly: search → delete part → type another string → delete → correct it, a few times, with a no-results state along the way.

Notably, merely inserting the Seerr section among React's children is tolerated by the reconciler — the text mutation was the sole trigger.

Fix

• Never mutate the React-owned message: hide it with a CSS class (attribute-only changes are safe) and show a plugin-owned replacement message with the same localized text beside it.
• New clearInjectedSearchResults() helper removes everything the plugin injected and restores the native message; all four cleanup paths (new query, query cleared, navigation away, Seerr inactive) go through it so no stale takeover survives.
• Seerr-only filter toggle now handles both messages.

3 files, +50/−14. Inline placement, infinite scroll, the Seerr-only filter, the search-field icon, and unbounded results all keep working.

Verification

• Deterministic repro (React 18 + jsdom harness mimicking the jellyfin-web search page): old code crashes with the exact reported error inside react-dom's text commit; fixed code survives the same input gauntlet (24 no-results takeovers) with zero errors and no leftover nodes.
• Real environment: built the plugin (JellyfinTarget=jf12, .NET 10) and ran it in fresh jellyfin/jellyfin:12.0-rc6 and jellyfin/jellyfin:unstable containers with a scanned movie library and a stubbed Seerr backend, driving the real web UI with headless Chromium through the reporter's repro sequence (type/delete/retype across result and no-result queries):
  • stock plugin: crashes on both images with the exact reported error (node_modules.react-dom.bundle.js, search page torn down by React Router)
  • this branch: 0 errors on both images, Seerr section + cards render inline, no-results takeover shows the localized message and restores the native one cleanly when results return
• node --check passes on all touched files; git diff --check clean.

Why not #792's approach

Tested that branch in the same environment: the crash disappears, but only because the integration stops running entirely — jellyfin-web rewrites ?query= on every keystroke, and that branch's onNavigate teardown cancels its own pending search each time, so no Seerr request is ever made and nothing renders (details in the comment on #792).

[github-actions]

Dependency Review

✅ No vulnerabilities or license issues or OpenSSF Scorecard issues found.

Scanned Files

None