fix: surfacing 429s as not found to users

app/composables/npm/useNpmSearch.ts

@@ -65,6 +65,10 @@ export function useNpmSearch(
 
   const isLoadingMore = shallowRef(false)
 
+  // Track rate limit errors separately for better UX
+  // Using ref instead of shallowRef to ensure reactivity triggers properly
+  const isRateLimited = ref(false)
+
   // Standard (non-incremental) search implementation
   let lastSearch: NpmSearchResponse | undefined = undefined
 
@@ -74,34 +78,64 @@ export function useNpmSearch(
       const q = toValue(query)
 
       if (!q.trim()) {
+        isRateLimited.value = false
         return emptySearchResponse
       }
 
       const opts = toValue(options)
 
       // This only runs for initial load or query changes
-      // Reset cache for new query
+      // Reset cache for new query (but don't reset rate limit yet - only on success)
       cache.value = null
 
       const params = new URLSearchParams()
       params.set('text', q)
       // Use requested size for initial fetch
       params.set('size', String(opts.size ?? 25))
 
-      if (q.length === 1) {
-        const encodedName = encodePackageName(q)
-        const [{ data: pkg, isStale }, { data: downloads }] = await Promise.all([
-          $npmRegistry<Packument>(`/${encodedName}`, { signal }),
-          $npmApi<NpmDownloadCount>(`/downloads/point/last-week/${encodedName}`, {
-            signal,
-          }),
-        ])
-
-        if (!pkg) {
-          return emptySearchResponse
+      try {
+        if (q.length === 1) {
+          const encodedName = encodePackageName(q)
+          const [{ data: pkg, isStale }, { data: downloads }] = await Promise.all([
+            $npmRegistry<Packument>(`/${encodedName}`, { signal }),
+            $npmApi<NpmDownloadCount>(`/downloads/point/last-week/${encodedName}`, {
+              signal,
+            }),
+          ])
+
+          if (!pkg) {
+            return emptySearchResponse
+          }
+
+          const result = packumentToSearchResult(pkg, downloads?.downloads)
+
+          // If query changed/outdated, return empty search response
+          if (q !== toValue(query)) {
+            return emptySearchResponse
+          }
+
+          cache.value = {
+            query: q,
+            objects: [result],
+            total: 1,
+          }
+
+          // Success - clear rate limit flag
+          isRateLimited.value = false
+
+          return {
+            objects: [result],
+            total: 1,
+            isStale,
+            time: new Date().toISOString(),
+          }
         }
 
-        const result = packumentToSearchResult(pkg, downloads?.downloads)
+        const { data: response, isStale } = await $npmRegistry<NpmSearchResponse>(
+          `/-/v1/search?${params.toString()}`,
+          { signal },
+          60,
+        )
 
         // If query changed/outdated, return empty search response
         if (q !== toValue(query)) {
@@ -110,36 +144,27 @@ export function useNpmSearch(
 
         cache.value = {
           query: q,
-          objects: [result],
-          total: 1,
-        }
-
-        return {
-          objects: [result],
-          total: 1,
-          isStale,
-          time: new Date().toISOString(),
+          objects: response.objects,
+          total: response.total,
         }
-      }
 
-      const { data: response, isStale } = await $npmRegistry<NpmSearchResponse>(
-        `/-/v1/search?${params.toString()}`,
-        { signal },
-        60,
-      )
+        // Success - clear rate limit flag
+        isRateLimited.value = false
 
-      // If query changed/outdated, return empty search response
-      if (q !== toValue(query)) {
-        return emptySearchResponse
-      }
+        return { ...response, isStale }
+      } catch (error: unknown) {
+        // Detect rate limit errors. npm's 429 response doesn't include CORS headers,
+        // so the browser reports "Failed to fetch" instead of the actual status code.
+        const errorMessage = (error as { message?: string })?.message || String(error)
+        const isRateLimitError =
+          errorMessage.includes('Failed to fetch') || errorMessage.includes('429')
 
-      cache.value = {
-        query: q,
-        objects: response.objects,
-        total: response.total,
+        if (isRateLimitError) {
+          isRateLimited.value = true
+          return emptySearchResponse
+        }
+        throw error
       }
-
-      return { ...response, isStale }
     },
     { default: () => lastSearch || emptySearchResponse },
   )
@@ -260,5 +285,7 @@ export function useNpmSearch(
     hasMore,
     /** Manually fetch more results up to target size (incremental mode only) */
     fetchMore,
+    /** Whether the search was rate limited by npm (429 error) */
+    isRateLimited: readonly(isRateLimited),
   }
 }

app/pages/search.vue

@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ const {
   isLoadingMore,
   hasMore,
   fetchMore,
+  isRateLimited,
 } = useNpmSearch(query, () => ({
   size: requestedSize.value,
   incremental: true,
@@ -706,8 +707,15 @@ defineOgImageComponent('Default', {
             </button>
           </div>
 
+          <!-- Rate limited by npm - check FIRST before showing any results -->
+          <div v-if="isRateLimited" role="status" class="py-12">
+            <p class="text-fg-muted font-mono mb-6 text-center">
+              {{ $t('search.rate_limited') }}
+            </p>
+          </div>
+
           <!-- Enhanced toolbar -->
-          <div v-if="visibleResults.total > 0" class="mb-6">
+          <div v-else-if="visibleResults.total > 0" class="mb-6">
             <PackageListToolbar
               :filters="filters"
               v-model:sort-option="sortOption"
@@ -805,7 +813,7 @@ defineOgImageComponent('Default', {
           </div>
 
           <PackageList
-            v-if="displayResults.length > 0"
+            v-if="displayResults.length > 0 && !isRateLimited"
             :results="displayResults"
             :search-query="query"
             :filters="filters"
@@ -828,7 +836,7 @@ defineOgImageComponent('Default', {
 
           <!-- Pagination controls -->
           <PaginationControls
-            v-if="displayResults.length > 0"
+            v-if="displayResults.length > 0 && !isRateLimited"
             v-model:mode="paginationMode"
             v-model:page-size="preferredPageSize"
             v-model:current-page="currentPage"

i18n/locales/en.json

@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
     "found_packages": "No packages found | Found 1 package | Found {count} packages",
     "updating": "(updating...)",
     "no_results": "No packages found for \"{query}\"",
+    "rate_limited": "Hit npm rate limit, try again in a moment",
     "title": "search",
     "title_search": "search: {search}",
     "title_packages": "search packages",

lunaria/files/en-GB.json

@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
     "found_packages": "No packages found | Found 1 package | Found {count} packages",
     "updating": "(updating...)",
     "no_results": "No packages found for \"{query}\"",
+    "rate_limited": "Hit npm rate limit, try again in a moment",
     "title": "search",
     "title_search": "search: {search}",
     "title_packages": "search packages",

lunaria/files/en-US.json

@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
     "found_packages": "No packages found | Found 1 package | Found {count} packages",
     "updating": "(updating...)",
     "no_results": "No packages found for \"{query}\"",
+    "rate_limited": "Hit npm rate limit, try again in a moment",
     "title": "search",
     "title_search": "search: {search}",
     "title_packages": "search packages",