Minimum Search Length

The minSearchLength() API enforces a minimum number of characters before search is executed, preventing excessive queries from short search terms.

Basic Usage

use Yajra\DataTables\Facades\DataTables;
use App\Models\User;
 
Route::get('user-data', function() {
    return DataTables::eloquent(User::query())
        ->minSearchLength(3)
        ->toJson();
});

How It Works

When a user enters fewer characters than the minimum:

1. recordsTotal and recordsFiltered are set to 0
2. An exception is thrown with a localized error message
3. The response is handled by the Error Handler configuration

Custom Error Message

The error message uses Laravel's localization system. Publish the language files:

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=datatables-lang

Then customize the message in resources/lang/{locale}/datatables.php:

return [
    'min_search_length' => 'Please enter at least :length characters to search.',
];

Example

use Yajra\DataTables\Facades\DataTables;
use App\Models\Post;
 
Route::get('post-data', function() {
    return DataTables::eloquent(Post::query())
        ->minSearchLength(4)  // Require at least 4 characters
        ->toJson();
});

If a user searches for "php" (3 characters), the DataTable will show an empty result with the configured error message.

See Also

• Manual Search - Custom search logic
• Smart Search - Wildcard search configuration
• Error Handler - Error handling configuration