lol

app.js

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ const loginRoutes = require('./src/routes/v1/authRoutes');
 const carsRoutes = require('./src/routes/v1/carsRoutes');
 const collectionRoutes = require('./src/routes/v1/collectionRoutes');
 const postRoutes = require('./src/routes/v1/postsRoutes');
+const searchRoutes = require('./src/routes/v1/searchRoutes');
 const path = require('path');
 
 const app = express();
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@ app.use('/api/v1/login', loginRoutes);
 app.use('/api/v1/cars', carsRoutes);
 app.use('/api/v1/collections', collectionRoutes);
 app.use('/api/v1/posts', postRoutes);
+app.use('/api/v1/search', searchRoutes);
 
 app.use((req, res, next) => {
   res.status(404).json({ message: 'Route not found' });

src/controllers/searchController.js

@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+const User     = require('../models/user');
+const Car      = require('../models/cars');
+const Post     = require('../models/post');
+
+exports.searchAll = async (req, res) => {
+  try {
+    const q = (req.query.q || '').trim();
+    if (!q) return res.status(400).json({ message: 'Query is required' });
+
+    // kick off all three searches in parallel
+    const [ users, cars, posts ] = await Promise.all([
+      User.find({ username: { $regex: q, $options: 'i' } })
+        .select('username profile_pic')
+        .limit(5)
+        .lean(),
+
+      Car.find({
+        $or: [
+          { make:  { $regex: q, $options: 'i' } },
+          { model: { $regex: q, $options: 'i' } }
+        ]
+      })
+      .select('make model year image')
+      .limit(5)
+      .lean(),
+
+      Post.find({ content: { $regex: q, $options: 'i' } })
+        .populate('user_id', 'username profile_pic')
+        .sort({ timestamp: -1 })
+        .limit(5)
+        .lean()
+    ]);
+
+    const host     = req.get('host');
+    const protocol = req.protocol;
+
+    // map into a unified result shape
+    const userResults = users.map(u => ({
+      type:     'user',
+      id:       u._id,
+      username: u.username,
+      avatar:   `${protocol}://${host}${u.profile_pic}`,
+    }));
+
+    const carResults = cars.map(c => ({
+      type:  'car',
+      id:    c._id,
+      title: `${c.make} ${c.model} (${c.year})`,
+      image: `${protocol}://${host}${c.image}`,
+    }));
+
+    const postResults = posts.map(p => ({
+      type:    'post',
+      id:      p._id,
+      snippet: p.content.slice(0, 50) + (p.content.length > 50 ? '…' : ''),
+      image:   p.image
+                ? `${protocol}://${host}${p.image}`
+                : null,
+      author:  p.user_id.username,
+    }));
+
+    // return a single combined array
+    return res.json([
+      ...userResults,
+      ...carResults,
+      ...postResults
+    ]);
+
+  } catch (err) {
+    console.error('searchAll error:', err);
+    return res.status(500).json({ message: err.message });
+  }
+};

src/routes/v1/searchRoutes.js

@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+const express = require('express');
+const router  = express.Router();
+const { searchAll } = require('../../controllers/searchController');
+const auth     = require('../../middleware/authMiddleware');
+
+router.get('/', auth, searchAll);
+
+module.exports = router;