Saved Searches

Saved Searches

Saved searches let a user save a search (search query, filters, etc.) and get notified when a new providing listing matches it. The check runs server-side and is triggered upon listing creation.

Collections

Both live under the “User Data” group in the admin dashboard.

Saved Searches (saved-searches)

frontend/payload/src/collections/SavedSearches.ts

Field	Type	Notes
user	relationship to users	The user is the owner of the saved search, and their contact info can be pulled through the relation.
mode	select seeking / providing	The user’s “mode” when searching (seeking vs providing)
type	select house / room / bed	Only applies to seekers
search	text	Raw query typed by the user, like in the search bar.
min_price / max_price	number	Self explanatory.
amenities	relationship to amenities hasMany	Self explanatory.

Access: users can only read their own saved searches currently, anyone logged in can create and remove their own listings.

Notifications (notifications)

frontend/payload/src/collections/Notifications.ts

Created automatically when a match is found. Used as a log for administrators, and can serve as an alternative source of notifications (i.e. for display in the app or frontend).

Field	Type	Notes
user	relationship to users	Recipient of notification.
listing_id	text	ID of the triggering listing.
listing_type	select house / room / bed	Self explanatory.
title	text	Self explanatory.
url	text	Link built from FRONTEND_URL and listing.slug. Links to the listing in question
read	checkbox	Self explanatory.

Matching & Alerts

The frontend/payload/src/hooks/notifySavedSearchMatches.ts script fires upon listing creation, and checks for saved searches that match the new listing. If a match is found, a notification is created and an email is sent to the saved search owner.

When matched:

• notifications entry is created
• Email is sent via the native SMTP configuration.

FRONTEND_URL from .env (fallback https://p27astro.benb.au) is used for the permalink: /en/listing/<slug>?type=<type>.

Testing

Script: frontend/payload/src/scripts/test-saved-search-alert.ts

Creates a saved search for a target user, then creates a matching listing. This should trigger the hook, send an email, and log it in the notifications collection.

# .env needs TARGET_API_URL, SEED_ADMIN_EMAIL, SEED_ADMIN_PASSWORD
pnpm test:alert <user-email>
# or: [email protected] pnpm test:alert

See the email page for more info.