Semantic-Org/Semantic-UI · error

Cannot search. No source used, and Semantic API module was n

Error message

Cannot search. No source used, and Semantic API module was not included

What it means

Search has two ways to get data: a local source (settings.source as object/array) or a remote call through the Semantic UI api module ($.fn.api). In query() (search.js:528-538) it picks local only when source is a plain object/array, otherwise falls to module.search.remote only if $.fn.api exists; if neither holds it logs error.source. It is also logged in search.object() (search.js:619-621) when the source argument is undefined/false.

Source

Thrown at src/definitions/modules/search.js:1299

  onSearchQuery  : function(query){},
  onResults      : function(response){},

  onResultsOpen  : function(){},
  onResultsClose : function(){},

  className: {
    animating : 'animating',
    active    : 'active',
    empty     : 'empty',
    focus     : 'focus',
    hidden    : 'hidden',
    loading   : 'loading',
    results   : 'results',
    pressed   : 'down'
  },

  error : {
    source          : 'Cannot search. No source used, and Semantic API module was not included',
    noResults       : 'Your search returned no results',
    logging         : 'Error in debug logging, exiting.',
    noEndpoint      : 'No search endpoint was specified',
    noTemplate      : 'A valid template name was not specified.',
    oldSearchSyntax : 'searchFullText setting has been renamed fullTextSearch for consistency, please adjust your settings.',
    serverError     : 'There was an issue querying the server.',
    maxResults      : 'Results must be an array to use maxResults setting',
    method          : 'The method you called is not defined.'
  },

  metadata: {
    cache   : 'cache',
    results : 'results',
    result  : 'result'
  },

  regExp: {
    escape     : /[\-\[\]\/\{\}\(\)\*\+\?\.\\\^\$\|]/g,

View on GitHub (pinned to 597843ab84)

Solutions

1. Provide a local dataset: settings.source = [{ title: '...' }, ...] so search uses the local path.
2. Include the api module before search: load semantic-ui-api.js (or the api sub-module) and set apiSettings.url so remote search is available.
3. Confirm $.fn.api is defined at runtime (typeof $.fn.api !== 'undefined') before relying on remote search.

Example fix

// before
$('.ui.search').search(); // no source, no api module -> [81]

// after (local)
$('.ui.search').search({ source: [{title:'A'}, {title:'B'}] });
// after (remote, requires semantic-ui-api)
$('.ui.search').search({ type: 'category', apiSettings: { url: '/api/search?q={query}' } });

// Ensure at least one data path is available
var hasLocal = $.isPlainObject(cfg.source) || $.isArray(cfg.source);
var hasApi = typeof $.fn.api !== 'undefined';
if (!hasLocal && !hasApi) {
  throw new Error('Search needs a local source or the semantic-ui-api module loaded.');
}
$('.ui.search').search(cfg);

function isLocalSource(s){ return $.isPlainObject(s) || $.isArray(s); }

When it happens

Trigger: Initializing $('.ui.search').search() with no source setting while the api module (semantic-api) is not loaded; OR calling .search('search local', term) / object search with settings.source unset; OR settings.source is a string (e.g. a URL) instead of an object/array and $.fn.api is undefined.

Common situations: Forgetting to include semantic-ui-api.js after semantic-ui-search.js; expecting the api module to ship with search by default; setting source to a URL string thinking search will fetch it directly (search.js only treats plain objects/arrays as local data); tree-shaking/bundling that drops the api module.

Related errors

• No search endpoint was specified
• A valid template name was not specified.
• searchFullText setting has been renamed fullTextSearch for c
• There was an issue querying the server.
• Results must be an array to use maxResults setting

AI-assisted analysis of Semantic-Org/Semantic-UI@597843ab84 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/16aed1c6c0a95e04. Report an issue: GitHub.