thrillwiki_django_no_react/shared/docs/memory-bank/decisions/autocomplete-fix-2025-06-25.md

Django HTMX Autocomplete Fix - 2025-06-25

Problem Summary

The RideAutocomplete implementation was failing with AttributeError: type object 'RideAutocomplete' has no attribute 'as_view' when trying to start the Django development server.

Root Cause Analysis

1. Missing Package: The django-htmx-autocomplete package was not installed
2. Incorrect URL Pattern: The autocomplete URLs were not properly configured according to the library's requirements
3. Wrong Base Class: RideAutocomplete was inheriting from a custom BaseAutocomplete instead of the library's ModelAutocomplete
4. Missing Registration: The autocomplete class was not registered with the @autocomplete.register decorator

Solutions Implemented

1. Package Installation

uv add django-htmx-autocomplete

2. URL Configuration Fix

File: thrillwiki/urls.py

• Added autocomplete URLs at project level: path("ac/", autocomplete_urls)
• Imported: from autocomplete import urls as autocomplete_urls

3. RideAutocomplete Class Fix

File: search/mixins.py

• Changed inheritance from BaseAutocomplete to autocomplete.ModelAutocomplete
• Added @autocomplete.register decorator
• Updated get_search_results() method signature to include context parameter
• Added max_results = 10 class attribute
• Removed manual slicing from queryset (handled by max_results)

4. Search URLs Fix

File: search/urls.py

• Removed the problematic autocomplete URL (now handled by main autocomplete package)
• Fixed import for RideSearchView: from rides.views import RideSearchView

Key Technical Details

Django HTMX Autocomplete Pattern

The library requires:

1. Installation and addition to INSTALLED_APPS (already done)
2. URL inclusion at project level: path("ac/", autocomplete_urls)
3. Autocomplete classes must inherit from autocomplete.ModelAutocomplete
4. Classes must be decorated with @autocomplete.register
5. Method signature: get_search_results(self, search, context)

Working Implementation

@autocomplete.register
class RideAutocomplete(autocomplete.ModelAutocomplete):
    model = Ride
    search_attrs = ['name']
    max_results = 10
    
    def get_search_results(self, search, context):
        return (Ride.objects
                .filter(name__icontains=search)
                .select_related('park')
                .order_by('name'))
    
    def format_result(self, ride):
        return {
            'key': str(ride.pk),
            'label': ride.name,
            'extra': f"at {ride.park.name}"
        }

Status

✅ RESOLVED: The RideAutocomplete.as_view() error has been fixed ✅ READY: Server should now start without autocomplete-related errors ⏳ NEXT: Manual HTMX integration testing can proceed

Dependencies Added

• django-htmx-autocomplete - Provides HTMX-powered autocomplete functionality

Files Modified

1. thrillwiki/urls.py - Added autocomplete URL configuration
2. search/mixins.py - Fixed RideAutocomplete class implementation
3. search/urls.py - Removed conflicting URL and fixed imports
4. memory-bank/activeContext.md - Updated task status

Testing Notes

The unit tests (7/7 passing) validate the core functionality. Manual browser testing is now unblocked and should be performed to verify HTMX integration works correctly.