Search

Configure how readers search your documentation — Pagefind for fast client-side search, or Sphinx’s built-in search as a fallback.

Pagefind (default)

Pagefind provides fast, keyboard-driven search with no external services. Press ⌘K or Ctrl+K to open the search modal.

Lumina runs Pagefind automatically at the end of each build — no manual setup required. You just need Node.js installed so that npx is available.

Build your docs and search is ready:

uv (recommended)

uv run sphinx-build docs docs/_build/html

pip

sphinx-build docs docs/_build/html

Tip

If npx is not found, the build completes normally but search won’t be indexed. Install Node.js to enable Pagefind, or switch to Sphinx’s built-in search below.

Built-in Sphinx Search

If you prefer not to use Pagefind, switch to Sphinx’s built-in search:

conf.py

html_theme_options = {
    "search_backend": "sphinx",
}

The built-in search works without any additional setup but is slower and less featured than Pagefind.

Note

Search during development: Pagefind indexes your content during full builds. During live preview with sphinx-autobuild, search may not be available. Use ⌘F / Ctrl+F for in-page search instead.