The answer
Check if the filtered items array is empty. If so, show a 'No results found' message instead of a blank list. This gives the user feedback that the search was performed but found nothing.
Autocomplete Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them
How do you handle no results in an autocomplete search bar?
More FAQs in Autocomplete Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them
No debounce (excessive API calls), no keyboard navigation (mouse only), no no-results state (blank list), no click-outside-to-close (suggestions stay open), race conditions (old responses overwrite new), no highlighting, and no loading state.
Use AbortController to cancel previous requests. Before each fetch, abort the previous controller and create a new one. Pass the signal to fetch. Only the latest query's response is processed.
Without debounce, every keystroke triggers an API call. Typing 'hello' makes 5 calls. This is slow, wastes server resources, and can cause race conditions. Debounce (300ms) reduces this to 1 call after the user stops typing.
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