From c670ac7019421d636fcfbcd003ce236a8bb662ab Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Dylan Jeffers <dylan@audius.co>
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 2026 11:15:06 -0800
Subject: [PATCH] fix(search): stop zeroing the score of users and content with
 no followers or reposts

The popularity factor multiplied the text score by the raw count, so an
artist with 0 followers scored 0 and sorted below every fuzzy match, even
on an exact handle match. Scale by count+1 instead.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5.2 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 api/searchv1/dsl_helpers.go | 15 ++++++++++-----
 api/searchv1/user_search.go |  7 ++-----
 api/v1_search_test.go       | 22 ++++++++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 34 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)

diff --git a/api/searchv1/dsl_helpers.go b/api/searchv1/dsl_helpers.go
index e7a7bae4..b2386892 100644
--- a/api/searchv1/dsl_helpers.go
+++ b/api/searchv1/dsl_helpers.go
@@ -38,6 +38,14 @@ func sortWithField(innerQuery map[string]any, sortField, direction string) strin
 	return dsl
 }
 
+// countScoreFunction scales a score by count+1. A plain field_value_factor
+// multiplies by the raw count, which zeroes out anything with a count of 0
+// and buries it below every other match, exact or not.
+func countScoreFunction(field string) string {
+	source := fmt.Sprintf("(doc['%s'].size() == 0 ? 0 : doc['%s'].value) + 1", field, field)
+	return fmt.Sprintf(`"script_score": {"script": {"source": %q}}`, source)
+}
+
 func BuildFunctionScoreDSL(scoreField string, weight float64, innerQuery map[string]any) string {
 	innerJson, err := json.Marshal(innerQuery)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -51,10 +59,7 @@ func BuildFunctionScoreDSL(scoreField string, weight float64, innerQuery map[str
 				"query": %s,
 				"functions": [
 					{
-						"field_value_factor": {
-							"field": %q,
-							"missing": 0
-						},
+						%s,
 						"weight": %g
 					}
 				],
@@ -62,7 +67,7 @@ func BuildFunctionScoreDSL(scoreField string, weight float64, innerQuery map[str
 				"score_mode": "multiply"
 			}
 		}
-	}`, innerJson, scoreField, weight)
+	}`, innerJson, countScoreFunction(scoreField), weight)
 
 	return dsl
 }
diff --git a/api/searchv1/user_search.go b/api/searchv1/user_search.go
index 30b00f7c..2ff9e097 100644
--- a/api/searchv1/user_search.go
+++ b/api/searchv1/user_search.go
@@ -108,10 +108,7 @@ func buildUserFunctionScoreDSL(followerWeight float64, queryString string, inner
 				"query": %s,
 				"functions": [
 					{
-						"field_value_factor": {
-							"field": "follower_count",
-							"missing": 0
-						},
+						%s,
 						"weight": %g
 					},
 					{
@@ -147,7 +144,7 @@ func buildUserFunctionScoreDSL(followerWeight float64, queryString string, inner
 				"score_mode": "multiply"
 			}
 		}
-	}`, innerJson, followerWeight, queryNoSpaces, queryNoSpaces)
+	}`, innerJson, countScoreFunction("follower_count"), followerWeight, queryNoSpaces, queryNoSpaces)
 
 	return dsl
 }
diff --git a/api/v1_search_test.go b/api/v1_search_test.go
index 82edcca3..0bedcb7d 100644
--- a/api/v1_search_test.go
+++ b/api/v1_search_test.go
@@ -36,6 +36,16 @@ func TestSearch(t *testing.T) {
 				"handle":  "find_infix_works",
 				"name":    "asdf",
 			},
+			{
+				"user_id": 1005,
+				"handle":  "zerofans",
+				"name":    "zerofans",
+			},
+			{
+				"user_id": 1006,
+				"handle":  "zerofansclub",
+				"name":    "zerofansclub",
+			},
 		},
 		"tracks": {
 			{
@@ -151,6 +161,7 @@ func TestSearch(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		"follows": {
 			{"follower_user_id": 1001, "followee_user_id": 1002},
+			{"follower_user_id": 1001, "followee_user_id": 1006},
 		},
 		"reposts": {
 			{
@@ -211,6 +222,17 @@ func TestSearch(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 
+	// users: an exact handle match with no followers still ranks first
+	{
+		status, body := testGet(t, app, "/v1/users/search?query=zerofans")
+		require.Equal(t, 200, status)
+		jsonAssert(t, body, map[string]any{
+			"data.#":        2,
+			"data.0.handle": "zerofans",
+			"data.1.handle": "zerofansclub",
+		})
+	}
+
 	{
 		status, body := testGet(t, app, "/v1/users/search?query=monoist")
 		require.Equal(t, 200, status)