feat(desktop): clarify key browser search states

Co-Authored-By: Paperclip <noreply@paperclip.ing>

plans/2026-03-31-hac-29-browse-search-baseline.md

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+# HAC-29 Browse And Search Baseline Stabilization
+
+Date: 2026-03-31 UTC
+Owner: Senior Frontend Engineer
+Issue: HAC-29
+Scope: `desktop-v1` browse/search hardening only
+
+## Context
+
+- `apps/desktop` already supports live browse pagination and DB-scoped search, but the visible search surface still leaves a few operator-facing gaps:
+  - no explicit feedback about whether input is treated as substring matching or raw Redis pattern matching
+  - no bounded clear action from the browser header
+  - one generic empty-state sentence was doing too much work across loading, empty DB, and filtered no-match cases
+- Current phase must stay inside browse/search hardening and must not expand into Add Key, delete execution, non-string editing, or visual refresh work.
+
+## Decision
+
+- Keep the existing workspace layout and backend contracts unchanged.
+- Extract search-state interpretation into a shared frontend helper so visible UI copy and backend browse requests use the same source of truth.
+- Improve only the key-browser and inspector feedback layer:
+  - explicit search mode label (`all keys`, `contains`, `pattern`)
+  - concise result-status message under the search input
+  - clear action for returning to normal browse state
+  - distinct empty-state copy for loading, empty DB, and no-match search results
+
+## Implemented Slice
+
+1. Added `apps/desktop/src/lib/key-browser-search.ts` plus focused tests for:
+   - blank input vs contains search vs raw wildcard-pattern classification
+   - backend request-pattern generation
+   - browser status and empty-state copy
+   - inspector empty-state copy aligned to the same search state
+2. Updated `apps/desktop/src/App.tsx` to:
+   - consume the shared search helper for live browse requests
+   - render a visible search-mode badge and status line under the browser search field
+   - expose a bounded clear action when search input is active
+   - keep browser and inspector empty-state feedback aligned
+3. Updated `docs/frontend-workspace-baseline.md` so the shared acceptance language now includes the search-mode feedback, clear action, and differentiated empty states.
+
+## Verification
+
+- `pnpm --filter @redis-gui/desktop test` -> pass (9 files / 33 tests)
+- `pnpm run desktop:build` -> pass
+
+## Remaining Risk
+
+- This environment still cannot launch a visible Tauri window, so final GUI-level browse/search smoke evidence remains a QA follow-up even though the frontend code and build path are green.