{"id":30780,"date":"2025-06-03T08:36:30","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T12:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/?p=30780"},"modified":"2025-06-03T08:36:32","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T12:36:32","slug":"fixing-material-ui-autocomplete-search","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/fixing-material-ui-autocomplete-search\/","title":{"rendered":"Debugging lesson: fixing Material UI autocomplete search"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header has-dark-background-color entry-header--has-illustration entry-header--has-illustration--generic\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__row row align-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-lg-7 col-xlg-6 entry-header__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"component component-single-header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__misc text--subtitle text--uppercase text--small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/category\/money-matters\/\" class=\"entry-header__link\">Money Matters<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-title-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"entry-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDebugging lesson: fixing Material UI autocomplete search\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"entry-header__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"single-post-details container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"posted-on \"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2025-06-03T08:36:30-04:00\">June 3, 2025<\/time><\/span><span class=\"reading-time\"> min read<\/span>\n\t\t<button\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"social-share-button button button--icon button--secondary js-social-share-button\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-title=\"Debugging lesson: fixing Material UI autocomplete search\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-url=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/fixing-material-ui-autocomplete-search\/\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-text=\"Please read this interesting article\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__share-label\">Share<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-label\" hidden>Copy Link<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-tooltip\" aria-hidden=\"true\" hidden>Copied<\/span>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/header>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-author has-dark-background-color alignfull\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-authors\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-author-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"entry-author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/author\/elizabethryan\/\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/lizryan-350x350.png\" class=\"entry-author__image\" alt=\"Elizabeth Ryan\" \/>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"entry-author__name\">Elizabeth Ryan<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Did you know that developers spend more than 75% of their time debugging issues? That\u2019s more than 1500 hours per year. While many problems can lead developers down frustrating rabbit holes, fixing something that should only take a few minutes shouldn\u2019t be one of them, especially when the solution is right in front of us. Often, it just takes a bit more observation. And that\u2019s exactly the kind of lesson fixing issues teaches us\u2014Identifying the smallest details in your code can make the biggest differences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to user experience, autocomplete is one of those small but essential features that users rely on every day. It saves time, reduces friction, and feels seamless when it works. But as developers know, implementing it correctly isn\u2019t always straightforward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this blog post, we\u2019ll explore a subtle but critical fix for a common autocomplete issue in Material UI. It\u2019s a minor detail\u2014easy to miss\u2014but overlooking it can cost hours of your time. Let\u2019s start by looking at how autocomplete works in Material UI and where things can go wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><div class=\"wp-block-yoast-seo-table-of-contents yoast-table-of-contents\"><ul><li><a href=\"#h-how-does-auto-complete-work-in-material-ui\" data-level=\"2\">How does auto-complete work in Material UI?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-inaccurate-search-results\" data-level=\"2\">Inaccurate search results<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-the-autocomplete-coding-solution\" data-level=\"2\">The autocomplete coding solution<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-does-auto-complete-work-in-material-ui\">How does auto-complete work in Material UI?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Material UI (MUI) is, essentially, a library that allows users to import and utilise different components to create a user interface (UI) in React applications. It is an open-source project that features React components that implement Google\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/material.io\/\">Material Design<\/a>. This saves a significant amount of time since you do not need to write everything from scratch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Autocomplete is a normal text input enhanced by a panel of suggested options. The autocomplete widget is useful for setting the value of a single-line textbox in one of two types of scenarios:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The value for the textbox must be chosen from a predefined set of allowed values such as a location field must contain a valid location name, like <a href=\"https:\/\/mui.com\/material-ui\/react-autocomplete\/#combo-box\">combo box<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The textbox may contain any arbitrary value, but it is advantageous to suggest possible values to the user, such as a search field that suggests similar or previous searches to save the user\u2019s time, like <a href=\"https:\/\/mui.com\/material-ui\/react-autocomplete\/#free-solo\">free solo<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>This is meant to be an improved version of the \u201creact-select\u201d and \u201cdownshift\u201d packages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-inaccurate-search-results\">Inaccurate search results<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While using the MUI Autocomplete component \u2013 when you type in a string, the search results of the options that is returned are, at times, different than what was actually input into the search textbox. This is a common issue that developers face with autocomplete searches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s the MUI autocomplete setup that we generally use:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"653\" height=\"435\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/AD_4nXcz9_KtYIWybDVKzPDzBcasbxm2OVp3nm1AY3QhZb2bgZlWk6eTr02QkG_enIT5K_JYJ0v_fFtKcvOcm5EHB6kMTNrpELqsDQymgZ-QtMSIfW1LjI1V2fFPk6Z1htmm8Ad1cmctwg.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-31077\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Note that the implementation for the renderOptions function that we had was:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"708\" height=\"65\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/AD_4nXdSoKy0jyI8yGJLNAoiQSnc0gKylRovV_Y7miK1DY7VU5iPKJWcOUvxOx2SlHROmOK2R2qnLZfV3AOdAZJD0SWMGRkCrMxoGIKK_v_UJ5GWac6baY4lPSOEbaulwBnKQuu81PIk.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-31076\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The actual string that was needed to be searched, and the results weren\u2019t matching. Take a look at a couple of examples below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"310\" height=\"424\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/AD_4nXc0xTQVKDcL2ZvxKNAT-gV6O0tVGfo2TvgKVO8HW-rnTeY5hfGlGyN6auiBMyf7lNSLD2gAueZRIE_3Y6MhMJNdLMxlQjrfyV3eQxT_SsMDktn9Tk58Dc2YBovkkU-gfCyQcq0c.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-31074\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"313\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/AD_4nXeGcM03tXdEs3r3wy1SDnDrFHbYaeQbmLZqq_e8x8B3YnKFJw1zEiKsaZw-jYY1noHHj7akHZ-yZCPsKrUYo7-TpplraWBWEq11to3Ga-_GAP7nvgR7k0c7JoWCVxt5x2d0E0bj.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-31072\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta gated-content\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Ready to learn more?<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><!-- wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p>Discover how Sage\u2019s cloud-native solutions can help you navigate financial uncertainty with confidence.<\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-d2882692-1386-4a68-bba1-ee2c79529e65\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Download now<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/BrandShootSF_Oct2021_ProfSvcs_C7476-1440x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/09\/BrandShootSF_Oct2021_ProfSvcs_C7476-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-autocomplete-coding-solution\">The autocomplete coding solution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It took trial and error to provide a proper resolution to the issue beginning with multiple trials, attempting all of the possible permutations and combinations of different methods\/functions\/attributes including \u201cinputValue,\u201d \u201cisOptionEqualToValue,\u201d and \u201cfilterOptions\u201d inside the autocomplete module.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ultimately, by keenly observing this exception thrown on the console, our skilled developers discovered the solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"463\" height=\"181\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/AD_4nXcnhFM2WtmxmW8lUuY5pr-hkq_u4NWCabP4nB6MtLdnRndLFiP_KaUbk6arDBozWwFvUhhqn6yT_rinjPAeHB6o_T6D0j08ls17kcSRDrN97eESG8kQkwciB9FC6STqmtX1nUwz.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-31073\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Upon further reading and analysing it was discovered that the renderOptions function by default takes the object first key as the keys to the options (aka search). To correct this, we now provide the renderOptions function with unique identifiers as keys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is how the updated function looks like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"707\" height=\"148\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/AD_4nXf2gmqUo7l5IKZfA6s7q6RJsN4I_byq5AQQuJZ6BK-LIyAfyNoa_Wsr0L9GCXEmAxTZS1iZYqLrUzAkKxFPzc9eOyD6P8GeWGn8365yllgB3FjiXf_FO4OB1i1Tlf_zQMy7iJqm1Q.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-31075\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>And upon searching the same strings, you will get the expected outputs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"314\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/AD_4nXcRzt28hZ0pmsGTtFlApEB1Xu9cgGkYmNn_iV8VfJFoHHSflALGnBcZStWe5IuunpH8ynT86Ar2_ntQeE-GODkHu7Bn4LNvic1gOZsVLmQ-zNp2DIL1vbTVwhjMSFVgL3FY_YhXA.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-31079\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"311\" height=\"380\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/AD_4nXfE_KvjI_INeJ8XwDqj9lImjZgr_hvTbfTrn26H8rRJnDRV60KU4cydcKaA34QP0eowM01VfurxDugrGYbSimBbJDLWIf82RHqwGznXamzVpGqfW7klCbTf5S5zamQxaPQYL070.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-31078\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As the saying goes, \u201ca stitch in time saves nine,\u201d and that couldn&#8217;t be more true for subtle bugs like this one. Careful attention to detail often leads to quicker, more efficient solutions. Here are some key takeaways from this experience:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Autocomplete will take the first object key: value as the default key for the options.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The solution is often just around the corner\u2014it only takes a moment to step back and re-examine the variables at play.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>While it might feel like a lot of time was wasted in hindsight, these moments are valuable learning experiences. They deepen your understanding and leave you better equipped for future challenge.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Subscribe to our Sage Advice Newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Get our latest business advice delivered directly to your inbox.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-ab515c6e-7e90-4c2f-a67e-113872516e8b\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Subscribe<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1440x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"Working from home with tea in hand\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Struggling with inaccurate search results in Material UI\u2019s Autocomplete component? This post breaks down a subtle but impactful bug developers often overlook\u2014and shows how a small change in the renderOptions function can make a big difference. Learn how attention to detail can save you hours of debugging.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1806,"featured_media":20280,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sage_video":false,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"business_type":[],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[204],"persona":[98,96],"imagine_tag":[],"coauthors":[584],"class_list":["post-30780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-money-matters","industry-technology"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-us","author_name":"Elizabeth Ryan","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/09\/GettyImages-1451456915.jpg","imagine_tags":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice US","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/1806"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/20280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30780"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=30780"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=30780"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=30780"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=30780"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=30780"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=30780"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=30780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}