diff --git a/app/intake_routes.py b/app/intake_routes.py
index 3e3c7e1..22c7b80 100644
--- a/app/intake_routes.py
+++ b/app/intake_routes.py
@@ -184,10 +184,13 @@ async def stage(body: StageIn, ident=Depends(require_token), db=Depends(get_db))
 async def search(q: str = Query(""), label: str = Query(""), year: int | None = None,
                  country: str = Query(""), fmt: str = Query(""),
                  ident=Depends(require_token), db=Depends(get_db)):
-    """Search the local Discogs mirror — the fast daily path (re-stocks resolve instantly)."""
-    where, params = ["TRUE"], {}
+    """Search the local Discogs mirror — fast + typo-tolerant via pg_trgm on search_text
+    (word_similarity: multi-word, any order, fuzzy; GIN-indexed; threshold 0.3 pinned on the DB)."""
+    where, params, order = ["TRUE"], {}, "dr.title"
     if q:
-        where.append("(dr.title ILIKE :q OR dr.artists_sort ILIKE :q)"); params["q"] = f"%{q}%"
+        where.append(":q <% dr.search_text")          # typo-tolerant word match, GIN-accelerated
+        order = ":q <<-> dr.search_text"               # rank by word distance (closest first)
+        params["q"] = q
     if year:
         where.append("dr.year = :y"); params["y"] = year
     if country:
@@ -207,7 +210,7 @@ async def search(q: str = Query(""), label: str = Query(""), year: int | None =
                EXISTS (SELECT 1 FROM inventory i WHERE i.release_id=dr.id AND i.in_stock AND i.store_id=1) AS in_stock
         FROM disc_release dr LEFT JOIN disc_cache dc ON dc.release_id=dr.id
         WHERE {' AND '.join(where)}
-        ORDER BY dr.title LIMIT 40"""), params)).mappings()]
+        ORDER BY {order} LIMIT 40"""), params)).mappings()]
     return {"items": rows, "source": "local"}
 
 
diff --git a/app/main.py b/app/main.py
index 312e334..2ebb96d 100644
--- a/app/main.py
+++ b/app/main.py
@@ -91,6 +91,13 @@ _STARTUP_DDL = [
     "CREATE SEQUENCE IF NOT EXISTS sale_items_id_seq",
     "ALTER TABLE sale_items ALTER COLUMN id SET DEFAULT nextval('sale_items_id_seq')",
     "SELECT setval('sale_items_id_seq', GREATEST(1, (SELECT coalesce(max(id),0) FROM sale_items)))",
+    # fast fuzzy staff search — pg_trgm GIN indexes (typo-tolerant, multi-word, index-accelerated;
+    # replaces the ILIKE '%..%' seq scans). word_similarity threshold pinned on the DB (0.3 = good recall).
+    "CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS pg_trgm",
+    "ALTER DATABASE recordgod SET pg_trgm.word_similarity_threshold = 0.45",  # recall vs speed sweet spot (~140ms)
+    "CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS disc_release_search_trgm ON disc_release USING gin (search_text gin_trgm_ops)",
+    "CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS inventory_title_trgm ON inventory USING gin (title gin_trgm_ops)",
+    "CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS disc_release_format_release_id_idx ON disc_release_format(release_id)",
 ]