@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+---
+"@objectstack/spec": minor
+"@objectstack/objectql": minor
+"@objectstack/metadata-protocol": patch
+---
+
+A paged list under a search now reports the real number of matching records as `total`, and `hasMore` agrees with it on every page.
+
+Clause-②: yes (widening) — `EngineCountOptionsSchema` gains two OPTIONAL keys, `search` and `searchFields`, so the accept set of the count options grows. Nothing previously admitted is refused, no key is renamed or retired, and no producer is required to write them.
+
+Until now `GET /api/v1/data/:object?$top=25&$search=Line` over 75 matching records answered `total: 26` (offset + page + 1, a page-local estimate), and the last page claimed `hasMore: true`; `POST /api/v1/data/:object/query` with a `search` did the same. Nothing on the response marked the number as an estimate, so the Console rendered it as the record count and offered the wrong number of pages.
+
+- **`@objectstack/spec`** — `EngineCountOptionsSchema` declares `search` (the bare string, or the structured `FullTextSearchSchema` form) and `searchFields`, identically to `EngineQueryOptionsSchema`. FROM `count(object, { where })` only → TO `count(object, { where, search, searchFields })`. The structured `search` form carries flag defaults, so the parsed state is named `EngineCountOptionsParsed` (ADR-0122). `HookCountQuery` (`ctx.api.object(name).count()`) derives from it and gains the same two keys.
+- **`@objectstack/objectql`** — `engine.count()` (and `ctx.api.object(name).count()`) accepts the two keys it used to refuse as unknown options, and expands them through the same ADR-0061 expansion `find()` and `aggregate()` use: the same server-resolved searchable fields, the same `internal: true` exclusion, the same `searchFields` narrowing, AND-ed with `where` before the security middlewares run. There is one expander, not two, so a count under a search is the number of rows `find()` returns for the same bag.
+- **`@objectstack/metadata-protocol`** — `findData`'s paged branch passes `search` / `searchFields` to `engine.count()`, and the page-local estimate branch is gone. `$count=false` still skips the count and omits `total`.
+
+Nothing to migrate. A client that worked around the estimate, for example by labelling the count as page-local under a search, can read `total` as the match count again.
@@ -221,14 +221,16 @@ Options for DataEngine.count operations
 | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
 | **method** | `'count'` | ✅ |  |
 | **object** | `string` | ✅ |  |
-| **query** | `{ context?: object; where?: Record<string, any> \| any; filter?: Record<string, any> \| any }` | optional |  |
+| **query** | `{ context?: object; where?: Record<string, any> \| any; search?: string \| object; searchFields?: string[]; … }` | optional |  |
 
 ### Nested Shape: `DataEngineCountRequest.query`
 
 | Property | Type | Required | Description |
 | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
 | **context** | `{ userId?: string; actor?: string; attributedUserId?: string; email?: string; … }` | optional |  |
 | **where** | `Record<string, any> \| any` | optional |  |
+| **search** | `string \| { query: string; fields?: string[]; fuzzy?: boolean; operator?: Enum<'and' \| 'or'>; … }` | optional |  |
+| **searchFields** | `string[]` | optional |  |
 | **filter** | `Record<string, any> \| any` | optional | Data Engine query filter conditions |
 
 
@@ -684,14 +686,16 @@ This schema accepts one of the following structures:
 | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
 | **method** | `'count'` | ✅ |  |
 | **object** | `string` | ✅ |  |
-| **query** | `{ context?: object; where?: Record<string, any> \| any; filter?: Record<string, any> \| any }` | optional |  |
+| **query** | `{ context?: object; where?: Record<string, any> \| any; search?: string \| object; searchFields?: string[]; … }` | optional |  |
 
 ### Nested Shape: `DataEngineRequest[method='count'].query`
 
 | Property | Type | Required | Description |
 | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
 | **context** | `{ userId?: string; actor?: string; attributedUserId?: string; email?: string; … }` | optional |  |
 | **where** | `Record<string, any> \| any` | optional |  |
+| **search** | `string \| { query: string; fields?: string[]; fuzzy?: boolean; operator?: Enum<'and' \| 'or'>; … }` | optional |  |
+| **searchFields** | `string[]` | optional |  |
 | **filter** | `Record<string, any> \| any` | optional | Data Engine query filter conditions |
 
 ---
@@ -994,6 +998,8 @@ QueryAST-aligned options for DataEngine.count operations
 | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
 | **context** | `{ userId?: string; actor?: string; attributedUserId?: string; email?: string; … }` | optional |  |
 | **where** | `Record<string, any> \| any` | optional |  |
+| **search** | `string \| { query: string; fields?: string[]; fuzzy?: boolean; operator?: Enum<'and' \| 'or'>; … }` | optional |  |
+| **searchFields** | `string[]` | optional |  |
 
 ### Nested Shape: `EngineCountOptions.context`
 
@@ -1033,6 +1039,19 @@ QueryAST-aligned options for DataEngine.count operations
 | **transaction** | `any` | optional |  |
 | **traceId** | `string` | optional |  |
 
+### Nested Shape: `EngineCountOptions.search`
+
+| Property | Type | Required | Description |
+| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
+| **query** | `string` | ✅ | Search query text |
+| **fields** | `string[]` | optional | Fields to search in (if not specified, searches all text fields) |
+| **fuzzy** | `boolean` | optional (default: `false`) | [EXPERIMENTAL — not enforced] Fuzzy matching (tolerate typos). The ADR-0061 expansion reads only `query` + `fields`; no executor receives this flag. |
+| **operator** | `Enum<'and' \| 'or'>` | optional (default: `"or"`) | [EXPERIMENTAL — not enforced] Logical operator between terms. The ADR-0061 expansion applies its own term semantics; no executor receives this flag. |
+| **boost** | `Record<string, number>` | optional | [EXPERIMENTAL — not enforced] Field-specific relevance boosting (field name -> boost factor). No executor scores results. |
+| **minScore** | `number` | optional | [EXPERIMENTAL — not enforced] Minimum relevance score threshold. No executor scores results. |
+| **language** | `string` | optional | [EXPERIMENTAL — not enforced] Language for text analysis (e.g., "en", "zh", "es"). No executor selects an analyzer. |
+| **highlight** | `boolean` | optional (default: `false`) | [EXPERIMENTAL — not enforced] Search result highlighting. No executor emits highlights. |
+
 
 ---
 
 
@@ -13292,10 +13292,11 @@ export class ObjectStackProtocolImplementation implements
         // whether more pages remain (true server-side pagination). Without a limit
         // the full result set is returned, so its length already IS the total.
         //
-        // engine.count() only honors `where`; a `search`/`distinct` query can't be
-        // reproduced by it, so for those we skip the count and fall back to a
-        // page-local estimate (a full page implies there may be more) rather than
-        // reporting a wrong total.
+        // [#22790] The count takes the query's `search` / `searchFields` too: the
+        // engine expands them through the one ADR-0061 expander `find` uses, so
+        // `total` counts exactly the rows this query pages. A search used to skip
+        // the count and report a page-local estimate (`offset + page + 1`) that
+        // the Console rendered as the record count.
         //
         // [#22588] `limit: 0` IS a limit. It asks for no rows (objectstack#6485,
         // the drivers' pagination conformance), so `records.length` is 0 and was
@@ -13306,9 +13307,8 @@ export class ObjectStackProtocolImplementation implements
         // the full set is the total" arm, which is true of every limit except
         // this one. So `>= 0`: a zero-row request is a paged request like any
         // other, and the three arms below keep their meaning for it — the count
-        // runs (`total` is the filtered count, whatever the page size), `$count=false`
-        // still omits `total` instead of reporting the page's 0, and `search`
-        // still reports its page-local estimate rather than a count.
+        // runs (`total` is the filtered count, whatever the page size), and
+        // `$count=false` still omits `total` instead of reporting the page's 0.
         const pageLimit = typeof options.limit === 'number' && options.limit >= 0 ? options.limit : undefined;
         const pageOffset = typeof options.offset === 'number' && options.offset > 0 ? options.offset : 0;
         let total: number | undefined = records.length;
@@ -13318,7 +13318,6 @@ export class ObjectStackProtocolImplementation implements
             // the flag's ONLY observable effect platform-wide, on a capability
             // that never deduplicated a row. Removed with `query.distinct`
             // (tombstoned in spec 17); `total`/`hasMore` are truthful again.
-            const countable = options.search == null;
             if (countOptOut) {
                 // [#10757] The caller said it does not need `total`, so the
                 // COUNT query is not issued at all — that is the whole point of
@@ -13330,19 +13329,16 @@ export class ObjectStackProtocolImplementation implements
                 // filter (IF REQUESTED)",
                 // `packages/spec/src/api/protocol.zod.ts`), so absent is the
                 // declared shape for "not requested" — and it is the only
-                // honest one: the `search` branch below reports an estimate
-                // because it has no better number to give, while here a real
-                // number was available and the caller declined it. Handing back
-                // a plausible-looking guess under those circumstances is how a
+                // honest one: a real number was available and the caller
+                // declined it. Handing back a plausible-looking guess is how a
                 // page-local estimate ends up rendered as a record count.
                 //
                 // `hasMore` is still answered, from the page alone: a FULL page
-                // means there may be more. Same page-local rule the search
-                // branch uses, and it never over-reports the data — it can only
-                // say "maybe more" on an exactly-full last page.
+                // means there may be more. It never over-reports the data — it
+                // can only say "maybe more" on an exactly-full last page.
                 hasMore = records.length === pageLimit;
                 total = undefined;
-            } else if (countable) {
+            } else {
                 // [#10757] `counted` is a separate, always-assigned local so
                 // `hasMore` below compares against a `number`: `total` became
                 // optional when `$count=false` gained the right to omit it, and
@@ -13351,6 +13347,8 @@ export class ObjectStackProtocolImplementation implements
                 try {
                     counted = await this.engine.count(request.object, {
                         where: options.where,
+                        search: options.search,
+                        searchFields: options.searchFields,
                         context: options.context,
                     } as any);
                 } catch {
@@ -13360,9 +13358,6 @@ export class ObjectStackProtocolImplementation implements
                 }
                 total = counted;
                 hasMore = pageOffset + records.length < counted;
-            } else {
-                hasMore = records.length === pageLimit;
-                total = pageOffset + records.length + (hasMore ? 1 : 0);
             }
         }
         return {
 
@@ -30,9 +30,9 @@
  *     count for a zero-row page would pass (1) and fail here.
  *  3. The two neighbouring arms keep their meaning for a zero-row page:
  *     `$count=false` still issues no COUNT and omits `total` (it no longer
- *     reports the page's `0` as if it were a count), and `search` still issues
- *     no COUNT — `engine.count()` cannot reproduce a search, which is why that
- *     arm reports a page-local estimate at every page size.
+ *     reports the page's `0` as if it were a count), and a `search` is counted
+ *     like any other filter (#22790: the COUNT carries the search the rows
+ *     were read with).
  *  4. Absent a limit nothing moves: no COUNT, `total` is the set's length.
  */
 
@@ -149,10 +149,12 @@ describe('[#22588] the neighbouring arms keep their meaning for a zero-row page'
         expect('total' in result).toBe(false);
     });
 
-    it('search still issues no COUNT — engine.count() cannot reproduce a search', async () => {
-        const { result, count } = await list({ $top: '0', $search: 't' });
+    it('a search is counted, with the search the rows were read with (#22790)', async () => {
+        const { result, count, find } = await list({ $top: '0', $search: 't' });
 
-        expect(count).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+        expect(count).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+        expect((count.mock.calls[0] as unknown[])[1]).toMatchObject({ search: 't' });
+        expect((find.mock.calls[0] as unknown[])[1]).toMatchObject({ search: 't' });
         expect(result.records).toEqual([]);
     });
 
 
@@ -623,12 +623,13 @@ const ENGINE_DELETE_OPTION_KEYS: ReadonlySet<string> = new Set([
   'context', 'where', 'multi',
   ...ENGINE_DRIVER_PASSTHROUGH_KEYS,
 ]);
-const ENGINE_COUNT_OPTION_KEYS: ReadonlySet<string> = new Set(['context', 'where']);
-// `search` / `searchFields` are READ by `aggregate` through the same ADR-0061
-// expander `find` uses ({@link ObjectQL.expandSearchOnAggregateOptions}), so a
-// grouped answer under a search is the grouping of the searched rows. Before
-// `EngineAggregateOptionsSchema` declared them they were refused here, and the
-// one wire path to this verb left them out — the unsearched groups answered.
+// `search` / `searchFields` are READ by `count` and `aggregate` through the
+// same ADR-0061 expander `find` uses ({@link ObjectQL.expandSearchOnOptions}),
+// so a count or a grouped answer under a search is over the searched rows.
+// Before their schemas declared them they were refused here, and the wire paths
+// left them out: the unsearched groups answered, and a paged list's `total`
+// under a search was a page-local estimate (#22790).
+const ENGINE_COUNT_OPTION_KEYS: ReadonlySet<string> = new Set(['context', 'where', 'search', 'searchFields']);
 const ENGINE_AGGREGATE_OPTION_KEYS: ReadonlySet<string> = new Set([
   'context', 'where', 'groupBy', 'aggregations', 'having', 'timezone',
   'search', 'searchFields',
@@ -12729,13 +12730,15 @@ export class ObjectQL implements IObjectQLEngine {
   }
 
   /**
-   * The aggregate verb's door into {@link expandSearchOnAst} — ⛔ not a second
-   * expander. `QuerySchema.search` (ADR-0061 D1) is declared beside `groupBy` /
-   * `aggregations` with no carve-out, so a grouped read under a search groups
-   * the SEARCHED rows: the same cross-field `$or`, resolved from the same
-   * server-side searchable set and the same `searchFields` narrowing, ANDed
-   * with `where` exactly as on `find` — before the security middlewares run,
-   * so an injected RLS predicate composes with it the same way on both verbs.
+   * The aggregate and count verbs' door into {@link expandSearchOnAst} — ⛔ not
+   * a second expander. `QuerySchema.search` (ADR-0061 D1) is declared beside
+   * `groupBy` / `aggregations` with no carve-out, so a grouped read under a
+   * search groups the SEARCHED rows, and a count under one counts them (#22790:
+   * `findData`'s paged `total`): the same cross-field `$or`, resolved from the
+   * same server-side searchable set, `internal: true` exclusion and
+   * `searchFields` narrowing, ANDed with `where` exactly as on `find` — before
+   * the security middlewares run, so an injected RLS predicate composes with it
+   * the same way on every verb.
    *
    * The expansion runs on a carrier AST holding only the three keys it reads,
    * and the result is a COPY of `query` with `where` replaced and the two
@@ -12744,16 +12747,13 @@ export class ObjectQL implements IObjectQLEngine {
    * `opCtx.options` unexpanded. The common path — no search key — returns the
    * same reference and allocates nothing.
    */
-  private expandSearchOnAggregateOptions(
-    object: string,
-    query: EngineAggregateOptions,
-  ): EngineAggregateOptions {
+  private expandSearchOnOptions<T extends EngineAggregateOptions | EngineCountOptions>(object: string, query: T): T {
     if (query.search === undefined && query.searchFields === undefined) return query;
     const { search, searchFields, ...rest } = query;
     const carrier = { object, where: rest.where, search, searchFields } as QueryAST;
     this.expandSearchOnAst(carrier, this._registry.getObject(object));
-    if (carrier.where === undefined) return rest;
-    return { ...rest, where: carrier.where };
+    if (carrier.where === undefined) return rest as T;
+    return { ...rest, where: carrier.where } as T;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -18757,6 +18757,10 @@ export class ObjectQL implements IObjectQLEngine {
      query = foldEngineOptionAliases(object, 'count', query, ENGINE_WHERE_SLOTS);
      rejectUnknownEngineOptions(object, 'count', query, ENGINE_COUNT_OPTION_KEYS);
      query = lowerWhereFilterArray(object, 'count', query, this._registry.getObject(object), this.relatedSchemaOf);
+     // [#22790] ADR-0061 `search` → the rows are searched before they are
+     // counted, by the one expander `find` runs, at the same point in the
+     // sequence — so the count is the number of rows `find` returns for the bag.
+     if (query) query = this.expandSearchOnOptions(object, query);
      const driver = this.getDriver(object);
 
      // The AST must ride on the opCtx so the security/sharing middlewares can
@@ -18892,7 +18896,7 @@ export class ObjectQL implements IObjectQLEngine {
       // ADR-0061 `search` → the rows are searched BEFORE they are grouped, by
       // the one expander `find` runs, at the same point in the sequence (after
       // the `where` doors above, before the AST is built and tokens resolve).
-      query = this.expandSearchOnAggregateOptions(object, query);
+      query = this.expandSearchOnOptions(object, query);
       this.rejectCredentialAggregation(object, query);
       // [#20783] …and a `groupBy` entry naming a structured-JSON field (`json`,
       // `composite`, `address`, …) is refused `INVALID_FIELD` / 400 here, before
 
@@ -287,14 +287,16 @@ describe('ObjectStackProtocolImplementation - Data Operations', () => {
             expect(result.hasMore).toBe(false);
         });
 
-        it('skips count for search queries and estimates hasMore from a full page', async () => {
-            // engine.count() can't reproduce a $search, so we must not call it; a
-            // full page (length === limit) implies there may be more.
+        it('counts a search query under the same search, and reports that total (#22790)', async () => {
+            // The engine expands `search` through the one expander `find` uses,
+            // so the total is a count, never a page-local estimate.
             mockEngine.find.mockResolvedValue(Array.from({ length: 10 }, (_, i) => ({ id: `r${i}` })));
+            mockEngine.count.mockResolvedValue(75);
 
             const result = await protocol.findData({ object: 'task', query: { $top: 10, $search: 'foo' } });
 
-            expect(mockEngine.count).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+            expect(mockEngine.count).toHaveBeenCalledWith('task', expect.objectContaining({ search: 'foo' }));
+            expect(result.total).toBe(75);
             expect(result.hasMore).toBe(true);
         });
     });