diff --git a/apps/web/app/api/search/route.ts b/apps/web/app/api/search/route.ts
index a9e12ed..3d0034d 100644
--- a/apps/web/app/api/search/route.ts
+++ b/apps/web/app/api/search/route.ts
@@ -3,48 +3,59 @@ import { withAuth } from '@/lib/auth';
 import { createPocketBaseClient } from '@/lib/pocketbase';
 
 // GET /api/search — Cross-entity full-text search
+//
+// Implementation note: the underlying data layer (`lib/database.ts`) uses a
+// JavaScript filter parser that only supports `=, !=, <=, >=, <, >` — it does
+// NOT understand PocketBase's `~` (contains) or `||` (or) operators. To make
+// search actually return results we fetch each collection's full list and
+// filter in-process with a case-insensitive substring match on the searchable
+// fields. This is fine at the current data scale and avoids the silent
+// zero-result bug.
 export const GET = withAuth(async (request: NextRequest, _user) => {
   const { searchParams } = new URL(request.url);
-  const query = searchParams.get('q') || '';
-  const types = searchParams.get('types')?.split(',') || ['tasks', 'habits', 'projects', 'notes', 'reports'];
-  const limit = parseInt(searchParams.get('limit') || '10');
+  const query = (searchParams.get('q') || '').trim();
+  const types = (
+    searchParams.get('types')?.split(',') || ['tasks', 'habits', 'projects', 'notes', 'reports']
+  ).filter((t) =>
+    ['tasks', 'habits', 'projects', 'notes', 'reports'].includes(t)
+  );
+  const limit = Math.max(1, Math.min(50, parseInt(searchParams.get('limit') || '10')));
 
-  if (!query.trim()) {
+  if (!query) {
     return NextResponse.json({ results: [] });
   }
 
-  // Escape double quotes in query to prevent filter injection
-  const safeQuery = query.replace(/"/g, '\\"');
-
+  const needle = query.toLowerCase();
   const pb = createPocketBaseClient();
   const results: Array<{ type: string; items: unknown[] }> = [];
 
+  type Searchable = Record<string, unknown> & { id: string };
+  const matches = (record: Searchable, fields: string[]): boolean => {
+    for (const f of fields) {
+      const value = record[f];
+      if (typeof value === 'string' && value.toLowerCase().includes(needle)) {
+        return true;
+      }
+    }
+    return false;
+  };
+
+  const searchableFields: Record<string, string[]> = {
+    tasks: ['title', 'description'],
+    habits: ['name', 'description'],
+    projects: ['name', 'description'],
+    notes: ['title', 'content'],
+    reports: ['title', 'content'],
+  };
+
   for (const type of types) {
     try {
-      let filter = '';
-
-      switch (type) {
-        case 'tasks':
-          filter = `title ~ "${safeQuery}" || description ~ "${safeQuery}"`;
-          break;
-        case 'habits':
-          filter = `name ~ "${safeQuery}" || description ~ "${safeQuery}"`;
-          break;
-        case 'projects':
-          filter = `name ~ "${safeQuery}" || description ~ "${safeQuery}"`;
-          break;
-        case 'notes':
-          filter = `title ~ "${safeQuery}" || content ~ "${safeQuery}"`;
-          break;
-        case 'reports':
-          filter = `title ~ "${safeQuery}" || content ~ "${safeQuery}"`;
-          break;
-        default:
-          continue;
-      }
-
-      const items = await pb.collection(type).getList(1, limit, { filter });
-      results.push({ type, items: items.items });
+      const items = (await pb.collection(type).getFullList()) as Searchable[];
+      const filtered = items
+        .filter((record) => matches(record, searchableFields[type] || []))
+        .slice(0, limit)
+        .map((record) => ({ id: record.id, title: getTitle(record, type) }));
+      results.push({ type, items: filtered });
     } catch {
       // Skip collections that fail (e.g. missing or inaccessible)
     }
@@ -52,3 +63,9 @@ export const GET = withAuth(async (request: NextRequest, _user) => {
 
   return NextResponse.json({ results });
 });
+
+function getTitle(record: Record<string, unknown>, type: string): string {
+  const title = record.title ?? record.name;
+  if (typeof title === 'string' && title.length > 0) return title;
+  return `Untitled ${type.slice(0, -1)}`;
+}