Base Autocomplete Implementation

The project uses django-htmx-autocomplete with a custom base implementation to ensure consistent behavior across all autocomplete widgets.

BaseAutocomplete Class

Located in core/forms.py, the BaseAutocomplete class provides project-wide defaults and standardization:

from core.forms import BaseAutocomplete

class MyModelAutocomplete(BaseAutocomplete):
    model = MyModel
    search_attrs = ['name', 'description']

Features

Authentication Enforcement: Requires user authentication by default
- Controlled via AUTOCOMPLETE_BLOCK_UNAUTHENTICATED setting
- Override auth_check() for custom auth logic
Search Configuration
- minimum_search_length = 2 - More responsive than default 3
- max_results = 10 - Optimized for performance
Internationalization
- All text strings use Django's translation system
- Customizable messages through class attributes

Usage Guidelines

Always extend BaseAutocomplete instead of using autocomplete.Autocomplete directly
Configure search_attrs based on your model's indexed fields
Use the AutocompleteWidget with proper options:

class MyForm(forms.ModelForm):
    class Meta:
        model = MyModel
        fields = ['related_field']
        widgets = {
            'related_field': AutocompleteWidget(
                ac_class=MyModelAutocomplete,
                options={
                    "multiselect": True,  # For M2M fields
                    "placeholder": "Custom placeholder..."  # Optional
                }
            )
        }

Performance Considerations

Keep search_attrs minimal and indexed
Use select_related/prefetch_related in custom querysets
Consider caching for frequently used results

Security Notes

Authentication required by default
Implements proper CSRF protection via HTMX
Rate limiting should be implemented at the web server level

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