diff --git a/frontend/app.js b/frontend/app.js
index 2c6e76d..4fbbe12 100644
--- a/frontend/app.js
+++ b/frontend/app.js
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 // Configuration constants
 const CONFIG = {
     AUTOSAVE_DELAY: 1000,              // ms - Delay before triggering autosave
+    SEARCH_DEBOUNCE_DELAY: 1000,        // ms - Delay before running note search while typing
     SAVE_INDICATOR_DURATION: 2000,     // ms - How long to show "saved" indicator
     SCROLL_SYNC_DELAY: 50,             // ms - Delay to prevent scroll sync interference
     SCROLL_SYNC_MAX_RETRIES: 10,       // Maximum attempts to find editor/preview elements
@@ -223,6 +224,10 @@ function noteApp() {
         selectedTags: [],
         tagsExpanded: false,
         tagReloadTimeout: null, // For debouncing tag reloads
+
+        // Search state
+        searchDebounceTimeout: null,
+        isSearching: false,
         
         // Outline (TOC) state
         outline: [], // [{level: 1, text: 'Heading', slug: 'heading'}, ...]
@@ -1418,6 +1423,7 @@ function noteApp() {
             
             // Case 1: No filters at all → show full folder tree
             if (!hasTextSearch && !hasTagFilter) {
+                this.isSearching = false;
                 this.searchResults = [];
                 this.currentSearchHighlight = '';
                 this.clearSearchHighlights();
@@ -1427,6 +1433,7 @@ function noteApp() {
             
             // Case 2: Only tag filter → convert to flat list of matching notes
             if (hasTagFilter && !hasTextSearch) {
+                this.isSearching = false;
                 this.searchResults = this.notes.filter(note => 
                     note.type === 'note' && this.noteMatchesTags(note)
                 );
@@ -1437,6 +1444,7 @@ function noteApp() {
             
             // Case 3: Text search (with or without tag filter)
             if (hasTextSearch) {
+                this.isSearching = true;
                 try {
                     const response = await fetch(`/api/search?q=${encodeURIComponent(this.searchQuery)}`);
                     const data = await response.json();
@@ -1461,6 +1469,9 @@ function noteApp() {
                     }
                 } catch (error) {
                     console.error('Search failed:', error);
+                    this.searchResults = [];
+                } finally {
+                    this.isSearching = false;
                 }
             }
         },
@@ -3831,6 +3842,26 @@ function noteApp() {
         },
         
         // Search notes
+        debouncedSearchNotes() {
+            if (this.searchDebounceTimeout) {
+                clearTimeout(this.searchDebounceTimeout);
+            }
+
+            const hasTextSearch = this.searchQuery.trim().length > 0;
+            if (!hasTextSearch) {
+                this.isSearching = false;
+                this.searchNotes();
+                return;
+            }
+
+            this.isSearching = true;
+            this.searchResults = [];
+
+            this.searchDebounceTimeout = setTimeout(() => {
+                this.searchNotes();
+            }, CONFIG.SEARCH_DEBOUNCE_DELAY);
+        },
+
         // Search notes by text (calls unified filter logic)
         async searchNotes() {
             await this.applyFilters();
diff --git a/frontend/index.html b/frontend/index.html
index b9c4330..cc980e9 100644
--- a/frontend/index.html
+++ b/frontend/index.html
@@ -1617,7 +1617,7 @@
                             <input 
                                 type="text" 
                                 x-model="searchQuery"
-                                @input="searchNotes()"
+                                @input="debouncedSearchNotes()"
                                 :placeholder="t('sidebar.search_placeholder')"
                                 class="w-full px-2 py-1.5 pl-7 pr-7 text-xs rounded focus:outline-none focus:ring-1"
                                 style="background-color: var(--bg-primary); color: var(--text-primary); border: 1px solid var(--border-primary);"
@@ -1676,7 +1676,12 @@
                 </template>
             </div>
                         </template>
-                        <template x-if="searchQuery.trim() && searchResults.length === 0">
+                        <template x-if="searchQuery.trim() && isSearching">
+                            <div class="p-6 text-center">
+                                <p class="text-sm" style="color: var(--text-tertiary);" x-text="t('search.searching', {query: searchQuery})"></p>
+                            </div>
+                        </template>
+                        <template x-if="searchQuery.trim() && !isSearching && searchResults.length === 0">
                             <div class="p-6 text-center">
                                 <svg class="w-12 h-12 mx-auto mb-3 opacity-40" style="color: var(--text-tertiary);" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" viewBox="0 0 24 24">
                                     <path stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" d="M9.172 16.172a4 4 0 015.656 0M9 10h.01M15 10h.01M21 12a9 9 0 11-18 0 9 9 0 0118 0z"></path>
diff --git a/locales/en-US.json b/locales/en-US.json
index d47842b..ee88777 100644
--- a/locales/en-US.json
+++ b/locales/en-US.json
@@ -217,7 +217,8 @@
     "match_of": "Match {{current}} of {{total}}",
     "result_singular": "result",
     "result_plural": "results",
-    "no_results": "No notes contain \"{{query}}\""
+    "no_results": "No notes contain \"{{query}}\"",
+    "searching": "Searching for \"{{query}}\"..."
   },
 
   "theme": {