Searchable Associations

Let people find the right record by typing a few letters, instead of scrolling a dropdown with a thousand options in it. Searchable Associations turns the standard <select> on an Avo association field into a search-as-you-type picker: set searchable: true on a belongs_to, has_one, or has_many field and the picker queries records as the user types. It reuses the self.search block already defined on the target resource, so most pickers light up with no extra config.

# app/avo/resources/project.rb
class Avo::Resources::Project < Avo::BaseResource
  def fields
    # Boolean form: reuse the target resource's self.search
    field :user, as: :belongs_to, searchable: true

    # Hash form: full control over the query and each row
    field :members, as: :has_many, searchable: {
      query: -> { query.ransack(name_cont: q).result },
      item: -> { { title: record.name, description: record.email } },
      enabled: -> { current_user.admin? }
    }
  end
end

When you need more control, pass a hash instead of true: a query: proc runs as the user types so you decide exactly which records match, item: shapes each row's title and description, and enabled: can switch searchable mode on per user, falling back to a plain select for everyone else. Polymorphic belongs_to works too, with each type routing to its own resource's search. That is a search input wired to your data, not a feature you build, test, and keep working as your tables grow.