In this intro episode, we lay out exactly what we're going to build together: an as-you-type dropdown search for Laravel projects. If you've ever wanted to implement a global search bar (like you see in tons of modern apps) that scans multiple models—say, users and courses—as you type, you're in the right place!
We demo the finished result live: as soon as you begin typing, you get categorized and highlighted results from different sources, all super snappy thanks to Meilisearch. It's completely customizable too—add more sources later, style it to match your app, and make results clickable so users can jump right to them. Keyboard navigation works, and all the boring plumbing (like routing to result pages) is ready for you to hook into your existing flow.
We also chat through the stack: Vue on the frontend, Laravel—and yes, using Inertia, but don't worry, the lessons will work even if you're not using Inertia. Meilisearch is our search engine—free, open-source, and runs locally. Once you know how it fits, you could always switch to a paid solution if you ever need to scale up.
By the end of the course, you'll be able to quickly index your own data, wire up a real-time search UI, and expand it however you like. Next, we'll get hands-on setting up the basics and preparing to index some data. Let's dive in!