[AI] Improve autocomplete sorting with tiered ranking

packages/desktop-client/src/components/autocomplete/CategoryAutocomplete.tsx

@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import type {
 } from 'loot-core/types/models';
 
 import { Autocomplete, defaultFilterSuggestion } from './Autocomplete';
+import { rankAutocompleteMatch } from './autocompleteRanking';
 import { ItemHeader } from './ItemHeader';
 
 import { useEnvelopeSheetValue } from '@desktop-client/components/budget/envelope/EnvelopeBudgetComponents';
@@ -190,18 +191,19 @@ function CategoryList({
 }
 
 function customSort(obj: CategoryAutocompleteItem, value: string): number {
-  const name = getNormalisedString(obj.name);
-  const groupName = obj.group ? getNormalisedString(obj.group.name) : '';
   if (obj.id === 'split') {
-    return -2;
+    return -6;
   }
-  if (name.includes(value)) {
-    return -1;
+  const nameRank = rankAutocompleteMatch(obj.name, value);
+  if (nameRank < 0) {
+    return nameRank;
   }
-  if (groupName.includes(value)) {
-    return 0;
+  // Group name matching: ranks above no-match but below all name tiers.
+  const groupName = obj.group ? getNormalisedString(obj.group.name) : '';
+  if (groupName.includes(getNormalisedString(value))) {
+    return -0.5;
   }
-  return 1;
+  return 0;
 }
 
 type CategoryAutocompleteProps = ComponentProps<

packages/desktop-client/src/components/autocomplete/PayeeAutocomplete.tsx

@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import {
   AutocompleteFooter,
   defaultFilterSuggestion,
 } from './Autocomplete';
+import { rankAutocompleteMatch } from './autocompleteRanking';
 import { ItemHeader } from './ItemHeader';
 
 import { useAccounts } from '@desktop-client/hooks/useAccounts';
@@ -295,14 +296,10 @@ function PayeeList({
 }
 
 function customSort(obj: PayeeAutocompleteItem, value: string): number {
-  const name = getNormalisedString(obj.name);
   if (obj.id === 'new') {
-    return -2;
+    return -5;
   }
-  if (name.includes(value)) {
-    return -1;
-  }
-  return 1;
+  return rankAutocompleteMatch(obj.name, value);
 }
 
 export type PayeeAutocompleteProps = ComponentProps<

packages/desktop-client/src/components/autocomplete/autocompleteRanking.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+import { describe, expect, test } from 'vitest';
+
+import { rankAutocompleteMatch } from './autocompleteRanking';
+
+describe('rankAutocompleteMatch', () => {
+  test('exact match returns -4', () => {
+    expect(rankAutocompleteMatch('Me', 'me')).toBe(-4);
+    expect(rankAutocompleteMatch('me', 'Me')).toBe(-4);
+    expect(rankAutocompleteMatch('Groceries', 'groceries')).toBe(-4);
+  });
+
+  test('prefix match returns -3', () => {
+    expect(rankAutocompleteMatch('Memory Express', 'me')).toBe(-3);
+    expect(rankAutocompleteMatch('Merchant', 'me')).toBe(-3);
+  });
+
+  test('word-boundary match returns -2', () => {
+    expect(rankAutocompleteMatch('French Meadow', 'me')).toBe(-2);
+    expect(rankAutocompleteMatch('Self-medicate', 'me')).toBe(-2);
+  });
+
+  test('contains match returns -1', () => {
+    expect(rankAutocompleteMatch('Framework', 'me')).toBe(-1);
+    expect(rankAutocompleteMatch('Homestead', 'me')).toBe(-1);
+    expect(rankAutocompleteMatch('Gamestop', 'me')).toBe(-1);
+  });
+
+  test('no match returns 0', () => {
+    expect(rankAutocompleteMatch('Apple Store', 'me')).toBe(0);
+    expect(rankAutocompleteMatch('Target', 'me')).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  test('empty input returns 0', () => {
+    expect(rankAutocompleteMatch('Anything', '')).toBe(0);
+  });
+
+  test('diacritics are normalised', () => {
+    expect(rankAutocompleteMatch('Cafe', 'café')).toBe(-4);
+    expect(rankAutocompleteMatch('Café', 'cafe')).toBe(-4);
+    expect(rankAutocompleteMatch('Résumé', 're')).toBe(-3);
+  });
+
+  test('case insensitive', () => {
+    expect(rankAutocompleteMatch('METRO', 'me')).toBe(-3);
+    expect(rankAutocompleteMatch('metro', 'ME')).toBe(-3);
+  });
+
+  test('realistic payee scenario for "me"', () => {
+    const payees = [
+      'Me',
+      'Memory Express',
+      'Merchant',
+      'French Meadow',
+      'Self-medicate',
+      'Framework',
+      'Homestead',
+      'Gamestop',
+      'Apple Store',
+      'Target',
+    ];
+
+    const ranked = payees
+      .map(name => ({ name, rank: rankAutocompleteMatch(name, 'me') }))
+      .sort((a, b) => a.rank - b.rank);
+
+    // Exact match first
+    expect(ranked[0]).toEqual({ name: 'Me', rank: -4 });
+
+    // Prefix matches next
+    const prefixMatches = ranked.filter(r => r.rank === -3);
+    expect(prefixMatches.map(r => r.name)).toEqual(
+      expect.arrayContaining(['Memory Express', 'Merchant']),
+    );
+
+    // Word-boundary matches
+    const wordBoundaryMatches = ranked.filter(r => r.rank === -2);
+    expect(wordBoundaryMatches.map(r => r.name)).toEqual(
+      expect.arrayContaining(['French Meadow', 'Self-medicate']),
+    );
+
+    // Contains matches
+    const containsMatches = ranked.filter(r => r.rank === -1);
+    expect(containsMatches.map(r => r.name)).toEqual(
+      expect.arrayContaining(['Framework', 'Homestead', 'Gamestop']),
+    );
+
+    // No matches
+    const noMatches = ranked.filter(r => r.rank === 0);
+    expect(noMatches.map(r => r.name)).toEqual(
+      expect.arrayContaining(['Apple Store', 'Target']),
+    );
+  });
+
+  test('single character input', () => {
+    expect(rankAutocompleteMatch('A', 'a')).toBe(-4);
+    expect(rankAutocompleteMatch('Apple', 'a')).toBe(-3);
+    expect(rankAutocompleteMatch('Big Apple', 'a')).toBe(-2);
+    expect(rankAutocompleteMatch('Banana', 'a')).toBe(-1);
+  });
+
+  test('hyphenated word boundaries', () => {
+    expect(rankAutocompleteMatch('Co-op', 'op')).toBe(-2);
+    expect(rankAutocompleteMatch('Self-checkout', 'check')).toBe(-2);
+  });
+});

packages/desktop-client/src/components/autocomplete/autocompleteRanking.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+import { getNormalisedString } from 'loot-core/shared/normalisation';
+
+/**
+ * Returns a numeric rank for how well `name` matches `input`.
+ * Lower values = better match (convention used by `.sort()`).
+ *
+ * -4  Exact match (normalised)
+ * -3  Prefix match (name starts with input)
+ * -2  Word-boundary match (a non-first word starts with input)
+ * -1  Contains match (input found anywhere)
+ *  0  No match
+ */
+export function rankAutocompleteMatch(name: string, input: string): number {
+  if (!input) {
+    return 0;
+  }
+
+  const normName = getNormalisedString(name);
+  const normInput = getNormalisedString(input);
+
+  if (normName === normInput) {
+    return -4;
+  }
+
+  if (normName.startsWith(normInput)) {
+    return -3;
+  }
+
+  // Check if any non-first word starts with the input.
+  // Words are split on whitespace and hyphens.
+  const words = normName.split(/[\s-]/);
+  for (let i = 1; i < words.length; i++) {
+    if (words[i].startsWith(normInput)) {
+      return -2;
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (normName.includes(normInput)) {
+    return -1;
+  }
+
+  return 0;
+}

upcoming-release-notes/6972.md

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+category: Enhancements
+authors: [J-LCRX]
+---
+
+Improve autocomplete sorting with tiered ranking for payee and category dropdowns