lib/PublicInbox/Feed.pm       | 11 ++++++-----
 lib/PublicInbox/Inbox.pm      |  1 +
 lib/PublicInbox/Mbox.pm       | 25 ++++++++++++++-----------
 lib/PublicInbox/OverIdx.pm    | 13 +++++++++++--
 lib/PublicInbox/Search.pm     | 30 ------------------------------
 lib/PublicInbox/SearchMsg.pm  | 14 ++++++++++++++
 lib/PublicInbox/SearchView.pm | 13 +++++++------
 lib/PublicInbox/View.pm       | 53 ++++++++++++++++++++++++-----------------------------
 lib/PublicInbox/WWW.pm        | 32 +++++++++-----------------------
 t/search.t                    |  4 ++--
 t/v2writable.t                |  2 +-
 t/view.t                      |  1 +

diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/Feed.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/Feed.pm
index b373a1ebc83dd99b7467456ce28eba03fb47b26a..a04838a1a608948cbc096af61413337bd0f9444e 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/Feed.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/Feed.pm
@@ -27,10 +27,10 @@
 sub generate_thread_atom {
 	my ($ctx) = @_;
 	my $mid = $ctx->{mid};
-	my $msgs = $ctx->{srch}->get_thread($mid);
+	my $ibx = $ctx->{-inbox};
+	my $msgs = $ibx->over->get_thread($mid);
 	return _no_thread() unless @$msgs;
 
-	my $ibx = $ctx->{-inbox};
 	my $html_url = $ibx->base_url($ctx->{env});
 	$html_url .= PublicInbox::Hval->new_msgid($mid)->{href};
 	$ctx->{-html_url} = $html_url;
@@ -46,12 +46,13 @@ 	my ($ctx) = @_;
 	# if the 'r' query parameter is given, it is a legacy permalink
 	# which we must continue supporting:
 	my $qp = $ctx->{qp};
-	if ($qp && !$qp->{r} && $ctx->{srch}) {
+	my $ibx = $ctx->{-inbox};
+	if ($qp && !$qp->{r} && $ibx->over) {
 		return PublicInbox::View::index_topics($ctx);
 	}
 
 	my $env = $ctx->{env};
-	my $url = $ctx->{-inbox}->base_url($env) . 'new.html';
+	my $url = $ibx->base_url($env) . 'new.html';
 	my $qs = $env->{QUERY_STRING};
 	$url .= "?$qs" if $qs ne '';
 	[302, [ 'Location', $url, 'Content-Type', 'text/plain'],
@@ -94,7 +95,7 @@ 	my $v = $ibx->{version} || 1;
 	if ($v > 2) {
 		die "BUG: unsupported inbox version: $v\n";
 	}
-	if (my $srch = $ibx->search) {
+	if ($ibx->over) {
 		return PublicInbox::View::paginate_recent($ctx, $max);
 	}
 
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/Inbox.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/Inbox.pm
index e3bc1048c23582f2e4663a6aece6a644bc71499e..dc186b731da8a41bd231ba9edc9594b1642566e0 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/Inbox.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/Inbox.pm
@@ -172,6 +172,7 @@ sub search ($;$) {
 	my ($self, $over_only) = @_;
 	my $srch = $self->{search} ||= eval {
 		_cleanup_later($self);
+		require PublicInbox::Search;
 		PublicInbox::Search->new($self, $self->{altid});
 	};
 	# TODO: lazily load Xapian
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/Mbox.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/Mbox.pm
index 78dbe27e30a0366c7788a6edc004728556312e0e..15200d3ae1f4aba6ade7fcef61800726cc73cd55 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/Mbox.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/Mbox.pm
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ 		return msg_str($ctx, $cur);
 	}
 	$cur = $next or return;
 	my $ibx = $ctx->{-inbox};
-	$next = $ibx->search->next_by_mid($ctx->{mid}, \$id, \$prev);
+	$next = $ibx->over->next_by_mid($ctx->{mid}, \$id, \$prev);
 	@$more = ($ctx, $id, $prev, $next); # $next may be undef, here
 	my $mref = $ibx->msg_by_smsg($cur) or return;
 	msg_str($ctx, Email::Simple->new($mref));
@@ -59,12 +59,12 @@ 	my $mid = $ctx->{mid};
 	my $ibx = $ctx->{-inbox};
 	my $first;
 	my $more;
-	if (my $srch = $ibx->search) {
+	if (my $over = $ibx->over) {
 		my ($id, $prev);
-		my $smsg = $srch->next_by_mid($mid, \$id, \$prev) or return;
+		my $smsg = $over->next_by_mid($mid, \$id, \$prev) or return;
 		my $mref = $ibx->msg_by_smsg($smsg) or return;
 		$first = Email::Simple->new($mref);
-		my $next = $srch->next_by_mid($mid, \$id, \$prev);
+		my $next = $over->next_by_mid($mid, \$id, \$prev);
 		# $more is for ->getline
 		$more = [ $ctx, $id, $prev, $next, $first ] if $next;
 	} else {
@@ -130,11 +130,11 @@ 	$buf .= "\n";
 }
 
 sub thread_mbox {
-	my ($ctx, $srch, $sfx) = @_;
+	my ($ctx, $over, $sfx) = @_;
 	eval { require IO::Compress::Gzip };
 	return sub { need_gzip(@_) } if $@;
 	my $mid = $ctx->{mid};
-	my $msgs = $srch->get_thread($mid, {});
+	my $msgs = $over->get_thread($mid, {});
 	return [404, [qw(Content-Type text/plain)], []] if !@$msgs;
 	my $prev = $msgs->[-1];
 	my $i = 0;
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ 			if (my $smsg = $msgs->[$i++]) {
 				return $smsg;
 			}
 			# refill result set
-			$msgs = $srch->get_thread($mid, $prev);
+			$msgs = $over->get_thread($mid, $prev);
 			return unless @$msgs;
 			$prev = $msgs->[-1];
 			$i = 0;
@@ -168,17 +168,19 @@
 sub mbox_all_ids {
 	my ($ctx) = @_;
 	my $prev = 0;
-	my $ids = $ctx->{-inbox}->mm->ids_after(\$prev) or return
+	my $ibx = $ctx->{-inbox};
+	my $ids = $ibx->mm->ids_after(\$prev) or return
 		[404, [qw(Content-Type text/plain)], ["No results found\n"]];
 	my $i = 0;
-	my $over = $ctx->{srch}->{over_ro};
+	my $over = $ibx->over or
+		return PublicInbox::WWW::need($ctx, 'Overview');
 	my $cb = sub {
 		do {
 			while ((my $num = $ids->[$i++])) {
 				my $smsg = $over->get_art($num) or next;
 				return $smsg;
 			}
-			$ids = $ctx->{-inbox}->mm->ids_after(\$prev);
+			$ids = $ibx->mm->ids_after(\$prev);
 			$i = 0;
 		} while (@$ids);
 		undef;
@@ -193,7 +195,8 @@ 	eval { require IO::Compress::Gzip };
 	return sub { need_gzip(@_) } if $@;
 	return mbox_all_ids($ctx) if $query eq '';
 	my $opts = { mset => 2 };
-	my $srch = $ctx->{srch};
+	my $srch = $ctx->{-inbox}->search or
+		return PublicInbox::WWW::need($ctx, 'Search');;
 	my $mset = $srch->query($query, $opts);
 	$opts->{offset} = $mset->size or
 			return [404, [qw(Content-Type text/plain)],
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/OverIdx.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/OverIdx.pm
index bb3068ddcb4b190bcd30f4e24158d962bfa04751..9fc51e5f4fc12cfb4555da586e5a7a12f8f833f7 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/OverIdx.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/OverIdx.pm
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ use base qw(PublicInbox::Over);
 use IO::Handle;
 use DBI qw(:sql_types); # SQL_BLOB
 use PublicInbox::MID qw/id_compress mids references/;
-use PublicInbox::SearchMsg;
+use PublicInbox::SearchMsg qw(subject_normalized);
 use Compress::Zlib qw(compress);
 use PublicInbox::Search;
 
@@ -237,6 +237,15 @@ 	$smsg->{references} = '<'.join('> <', @keep).'>' if @keep;
 	\@keep;
 }
 
+# normalize subjects so they are suitable as pathnames for URLs
+# XXX: consider for removal
+sub subject_path ($) {
+	my ($subj) = @_;
+	$subj = subject_normalized($subj);
+	$subj =~ s![^a-zA-Z0-9_\.~/\-]+!_!g;
+	lc($subj);
+}
+
 sub add_overview {
 	my ($self, $mime, $bytes, $num, $oid, $mid0) = @_;
 	my $lines = $mime->body_raw =~ tr!\n!\n!;
@@ -252,7 +261,7 @@ 	my $refs = parse_references($smsg, $mid0, $mids);
 	my $subj = $smsg->subject;
 	my $xpath;
 	if ($subj ne '') {
-		$xpath = PublicInbox::Search::subject_path($subj);
+		$xpath = subject_path($subj);
 		$xpath = id_compress($xpath);
 	}
 	my $dd = $smsg->to_doc_data($oid, $mid0);
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/Search.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/Search.pm
index 760c660b5f438401432b93b9a9eb5a482ca69392..e79ec0f80a0ead18b122108220bd6b1b80c13757 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/Search.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/Search.pm
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ use PublicInbox::Over;
 
 # This is English-only, everything else is non-standard and may be confused as
 # a prefix common in patch emails
-our $REPLY_RE = qr/^re:\s+/i;
 our $LANG = 'english';
 
 use constant {
@@ -182,11 +181,6 @@ 		_do_enquire($self, $query, $opts);
 	}
 }
 
-sub get_thread {
-	my ($self, $mid, $prev) = @_;
-	$self->{over_ro}->get_thread($mid, $prev);
-}
-
 sub retry_reopen {
 	my ($self, $cb) = @_;
 	for my $i (1..10) {
@@ -296,30 +290,6 @@
 sub lookup_article {
 	my ($self, $num) = @_;
 	$self->{over_ro}->get_art($num);
-}
-
-sub next_by_mid {
-	my ($self, $mid, $id, $prev) = @_;
-	$self->{over_ro}->next_by_mid($mid, $id, $prev);
-}
-
-# normalize subjects so they are suitable as pathnames for URLs
-# XXX: consider for removal
-sub subject_path {
-	my $subj = pop;
-	$subj = subject_normalized($subj);
-	$subj =~ s![^a-zA-Z0-9_\.~/\-]+!_!g;
-	lc($subj);
-}
-
-sub subject_normalized {
-	my $subj = pop;
-	$subj =~ s/\A\s+//s; # no leading space
-	$subj =~ s/\s+\z//s; # no trailing space
-	$subj =~ s/\s+/ /gs; # no redundant spaces
-	$subj =~ s/\.+\z//; # no trailing '.'
-	$subj =~ s/$REPLY_RE//igo; # remove reply prefix
-	$subj;
 }
 
 sub help {
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/SearchMsg.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/SearchMsg.pm
index ceb6edadded21431bf2ca3793b254ee0b1fcd7b7..5f3c8af8c1c8283d33fa56f95bd4bb6945b94f0d 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/SearchMsg.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/SearchMsg.pm
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ # for large threads in our WWW UI.
 package PublicInbox::SearchMsg;
 use strict;
 use warnings;
+use base qw(Exporter);
+our @EXPORT_OK = qw(subject_normalized);
 use PublicInbox::MID qw/mid_clean mid_mime/;
 use PublicInbox::Address;
 use PublicInbox::MsgTime qw(msg_timestamp msg_datestamp);
@@ -184,5 +186,17 @@ 	}
 }
 
 sub _extract_mid { mid_clean(mid_mime($_[0]->{mime})) }
+
+our $REPLY_RE = qr/^re:\s+/i;
+
+sub subject_normalized ($) {
+	my ($subj) = @_;
+	$subj =~ s/\A\s+//s; # no leading space
+	$subj =~ s/\s+\z//s; # no trailing space
+	$subj =~ s/\s+/ /gs; # no redundant spaces
+	$subj =~ s/\.+\z//; # no trailing '.'
+	$subj =~ s/$REPLY_RE//igo; # remove reply prefix
+	$subj;
+}
 
 1;
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/SearchView.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/SearchView.pm
index 3b3afdee3db7e99d01e4ac7ac6383b4b6ccf1fd5..6592b3b28e27363c769c381d510d3e318535ce90 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/SearchView.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/SearchView.pm
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ }
 
 sub sres_top_html {
 	my ($ctx) = @_;
+	my $srch = $ctx->{-inbox}->search or
+		return PublicInbox::WWW::need($ctx, 'Search');
 	my $q = PublicInbox::SearchQuery->new($ctx->{qp});
 	my $x = $q->{x};
 	my $query = $q->{'q'};
@@ -44,7 +46,7 @@ 	};
 	my ($mset, $total, $err, $cb);
 retry:
 	eval {
-		$mset = $ctx->{srch}->query($query, $opts);
+		$mset = $srch->query($query, $opts);
 		$total = $mset->get_matches_estimated;
 	};
 	$err = $@;
@@ -98,8 +100,8 @@ 	my $total = $mset->get_matches_estimated;
 	my $pad = length("$total");
 	my $pfx = ' ' x $pad;
 	my $res = \($ctx->{-html_tip});
-	my $srch = $ctx->{srch};
 	my $ibx = $ctx->{-inbox};
+	my $srch = $ibx->search;
 	my $obfs_ibx = $ibx->{obfuscate} ? $ibx : undef;
 	foreach my $m ($mset->items) {
 		my $rank = sprintf("%${pad}d", $m->get_rank + 1);
@@ -220,8 +222,8 @@
 sub mset_thread {
 	my ($ctx, $mset, $q) = @_;
 	my %pct;
-	my $srch = $ctx->{srch};
-	my $msgs = $srch->retry_reopen(sub { [ map {
+	my $ibx = $ctx->{-inbox};
+	my $msgs = $ibx->search->retry_reopen(sub { [ map {
 		my $i = $_;
 		my $smsg = PublicInbox::SearchMsg->load_doc($i->get_document);
 		$pct{$smsg->mid} = $i->get_percent;
@@ -232,7 +234,6 @@ 	my $rootset = PublicInbox::SearchThread::thread($msgs,
 		$r ? sort_relevance(\%pct) : *PublicInbox::View::sort_ds,
 		$ctx);
 	my $skel = search_nav_bot($mset, $q). "<pre>";
-	my $ibx = $ctx->{-inbox};
 	$ctx->{-upfx} = '';
 	$ctx->{anchor_idx} = 1;
 	$ctx->{cur_level} = 0;
@@ -286,7 +287,7 @@ 	my ($cb, $mset, $q, $ctx) = @_;
 	my $ibx = $ctx->{-inbox};
 	my @items = $mset->items;
 	$ctx->{search_query} = $q;
-	my $srch = $ctx->{srch};
+	my $srch = $ibx->search;
 	PublicInbox::WwwAtomStream->response($ctx, 200, sub {
 		while (my $x = shift @items) {
 			$x = load_doc_retry($srch, $x);
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/View.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/View.pm
index 47a2046e43da31d8533268a56ad6c4d290e50168..09afdaf1bd15aa728766eb3104ff32d43057567c 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/View.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/View.pm
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ use PublicInbox::Reply;
 use PublicInbox::ViewDiff qw(flush_diff);
 require POSIX;
 use Time::Local qw(timegm);
-
+use PublicInbox::SearchMsg qw(subject_normalized);
 use constant COLS => 72;
 use constant INDENT => '  ';
 use constant TCHILD => '` ';
@@ -63,12 +63,12 @@ 	my $mid = $ctx->{mid};
 	my $ibx = $ctx->{-inbox};
 	my ($first, $more);
 	my $smsg;
-	if (my $srch = $ibx->search) {
+	if (my $over = $ibx->over) {
 		my ($id, $prev);
-		$smsg = $srch->next_by_mid($mid, \$id, \$prev);
+		$smsg = $over->next_by_mid($mid, \$id, \$prev);
 		$first = $ibx->msg_by_smsg($smsg) if $smsg;
 		if ($first) {
-			my $next = $srch->next_by_mid($mid, \$id, \$prev);
+			my $next = $over->next_by_mid($mid, \$id, \$prev);
 			$more = [ $id, $prev, $next ] if $next;
 		}
 		return unless $first;
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ 		my ($id, $prev, $smsg) = @$more;
 		my $mid = $ctx->{mid};
 		my $ibx = $ctx->{-inbox};
 		$smsg = $ibx->smsg_mime($smsg);
-		my $next = $ctx->{srch}->next_by_mid($mid, \$id, \$prev);
+		my $next = $ibx->over->next_by_mid($mid, \$id, \$prev);
 		@$more = $next ? ($id, $prev, $next) : ();
 		if ($smsg) {
 			my $mime = $smsg->{mime};
@@ -203,7 +203,6 @@
 # this is already inside a <pre>
 sub index_entry {
 	my ($smsg, $ctx, $more) = @_;
-	my $srch = $ctx->{srch};
 	my $subj = $smsg->subject;
 	my $mid_raw = $smsg->mid;
 	my $id = id_compress($mid_raw, 1);
@@ -440,8 +439,8 @@
 sub thread_html {
 	my ($ctx) = @_;
 	my $mid = $ctx->{mid};
-	my $srch = $ctx->{srch};
-	my ($nr, $msgs) = $srch->get_thread($mid);
+	my $ibx = $ctx->{-inbox};
+	my ($nr, $msgs) = $ibx->over->get_thread($mid);
 	return missing_thread($ctx) if $nr == 0;
 	my $skel = '<hr><pre>';
 	$skel .= $nr == 1 ? 'only message in thread' : 'end of thread';
@@ -464,7 +463,6 @@
 	my $rootset = thread_results($ctx, $msgs);
 
 	# reduce hash lookups in pre_thread->skel_dump
-	my $ibx = $ctx->{-inbox};
 	$ctx->{-obfs_ibx} = $ibx->{obfuscate} ? $ibx : undef;
 	walk_thread($rootset, $ctx, *pre_thread);
 
@@ -627,8 +625,8 @@ }
 
 sub _msg_html_prepare {
 	my ($hdr, $ctx, $more, $nr) = @_;
-	my $srch = $ctx->{srch} if $ctx;
 	my $atom = '';
+	my $over = $ctx->{-inbox}->over;
 	my $obfs_ibx = $ctx->{-obfs_ibx};
 	my $rv = '';
 	my $mids = mids($hdr);
@@ -642,7 +640,7 @@ 		$rv .= "<pre\nid=b>"; # anchor for body start
 	} else {
 		$rv .= '<pre>';
 	}
-	if ($srch) {
+	if ($over) {
 		$ctx->{-upfx} = '../';
 	}
 	my @title;
@@ -668,14 +666,14 @@ 	}
 	if (defined($v = $hdr->header('Subject')) && ($v ne '')) {
 		$v = ascii_html($v);
 		obfuscate_addrs($obfs_ibx, $v) if $obfs_ibx;
-		if ($srch) {
+		if ($over) {
 			$rv .= qq(Subject: <a\nhref="#r"\nid=t>$v</a>\n);
 		} else {
 			$rv .= "Subject: $v\n";
 		}
 		$title[0] = $v;
 	} else { # dummy anchor for thread skeleton at bottom of page
-		$rv .= qq(<a\nhref="#r"\nid=t></a>) if $srch;
+		$rv .= qq(<a\nhref="#r"\nid=t></a>) if $over;
 		$title[0] = '(no subject)';
 	}
 	if (defined($v = $hdr->header('Date'))) {
@@ -698,15 +696,15 @@ 			$rv .= "Message-ID: &lt;$mhtml&gt; ";
 			$rv .= "(<a\nhref=\"raw\">raw</a>)\n";
 		}
 	}
-	$rv .= _parent_headers($hdr, $srch);
+	$rv .= _parent_headers($hdr, $over);
 	$rv .= "\n";
 }
 
 sub thread_skel {
 	my ($dst, $ctx, $hdr, $tpfx) = @_;
-	my $srch = $ctx->{srch};
 	my $mid = mids($hdr)->[0];
-	my ($nr, $msgs) = $srch->get_thread($mid);
+	my $ibx = $ctx->{-inbox};
+	my ($nr, $msgs) = $ibx->over->get_thread($mid);
 	my $expand = qq(expand[<a\nhref="${tpfx}T/#u">flat</a>) .
 	                qq(|<a\nhref="${tpfx}t/#u">nested</a>]  ) .
 			qq(<a\nhref="${tpfx}t.mbox.gz">mbox.gz</a>  ) .
@@ -732,14 +730,13 @@
 	my $subj = $hdr->header('Subject');
 	defined $subj or $subj = '';
 	$subj = '(no subject)' if $subj eq '';
-	$ctx->{prev_subj} = [ split(/ /, $srch->subject_normalized($subj)) ];
+	$ctx->{prev_subj} = [ split(/ /, subject_normalized($subj)) ];
 	$ctx->{cur} = $mid;
 	$ctx->{prev_attr} = '';
 	$ctx->{prev_level} = 0;
 	$ctx->{dst} = $dst;
 
 	# reduce hash lookups in skel_dump
-	my $ibx = $ctx->{-inbox};
 	$ctx->{-obfs_ibx} = $ibx->{obfuscate} ? $ibx : undef;
 	walk_thread(thread_results($ctx, $msgs), $ctx, *skel_dump);
 
@@ -747,7 +744,7 @@ 	$ctx->{parent_msg} = $parent;
 }
 
 sub _parent_headers {
-	my ($hdr, $srch) = @_;
+	my ($hdr, $over) = @_;
 	my $rv = '';
 
 	my $refs = references($hdr);
@@ -762,10 +759,10 @@ 	}
 
 	# do not display References: if search is present,
 	# we show the thread skeleton at the bottom, instead.
-	return $rv if $srch;
+	return $rv if $over;
 
 	if (@$refs) {
-		@$refs = map { linkify_ref_nosrch($_) } @$refs;
+		@$refs = map { linkify_ref_no_over($_) } @$refs;
 		$rv .= 'References: '. join("\n\t", @$refs) . "\n";
 	}
 	$rv;
@@ -774,12 +771,12 @@
 sub html_footer {
 	my ($hdr, $standalone, $ctx, $rhref) = @_;
 
-	my $srch = $ctx->{srch} if $ctx;
+	my $ibx = $ctx->{-inbox} if $ctx;
 	my $upfx = '../';
 	my $tpfx = '';
 	my $idx = $standalone ? " <a\nhref=\"$upfx\">index</a>" : '';
 	my $irt = '';
-	if ($idx && $srch) {
+	if ($idx && $ibx->over) {
 		$idx .= "\n";
 		thread_skel(\$idx, $ctx, $hdr, $tpfx);
 		my ($next, $prev);
@@ -819,7 +816,7 @@ 	$irt .= qq(<a\nhref="$rhref">reply</a>);
 	$irt .= $idx;
 }
 
-sub linkify_ref_nosrch {
+sub linkify_ref_no_over {
 	my $v = PublicInbox::Hval->new_msgid($_[0]);
 	my $html = $v->as_html;
 	my $href = $v->{href};
@@ -965,7 +962,7 @@
 	# Subject is never undef, this mail was loaded from
 	# our Xapian which would've resulted in '' if it were
 	# really missing (and Filter rejects empty subjects)
-	my @subj = split(/ /, $ctx->{srch}->subject_normalized($smsg->subject));
+	my @subj = split(/ /, subject_normalized($smsg->subject));
 
 	# remove common suffixes from the subject if it matches the previous,
 	# so we do not show redundant text at the end.
@@ -1034,14 +1031,13 @@ # accumulate recent topics if search is supported
 # returns 200 if done, 404 if not
 sub acc_topic {
 	my ($ctx, $level, $node) = @_;
-	my $srch = $ctx->{srch};
 	my $mid = $node->{id};
 	my $x = $node->{smsg} || $ctx->{-inbox}->smsg_by_mid($mid);
 	my ($subj, $ds);
 	my $topic;
 	if ($x) {
 		$subj = $x->subject;
-		$subj = $srch->subject_normalized($subj);
+		$subj = subject_normalized($subj);
 		$subj = '(no subject)' if $subj eq '';
 		$ds = $x->ds;
 		if ($level == 0) {
@@ -1081,7 +1077,6 @@
 	my @out;
 	my $ibx = $ctx->{-inbox};
 	my $obfs_ibx = $ibx->{obfuscate} ? $ibx : undef;
-	my $srch = $ctx->{srch};
 
 	# sort by recency, this allows new posts to "bump" old topics...
 	foreach my $topic (sort { $b->[0] <=> $a->[0] } @$order) {
@@ -1113,7 +1108,7 @@ 		for (my $i = 0; $i < scalar(@ex); $i += 2) {
 			my $level = $ex[$i];
 			my $subj = $ex[$i + 1];
 			$mid = delete $seen->{$subj};
-			my @subj = split(/ /, $srch->subject_normalized($subj));
+			my @subj = split(/ /, subject_normalized($subj));
 			my @next_prev = @subj; # full copy
 			my $omit = dedupe_subject($prev_subj, \@subj, ' &#34;');
 			$prev_subj = \@next_prev;
diff --git a/lib/PublicInbox/WWW.pm b/lib/PublicInbox/WWW.pm
index 1f3ca1574aa0c5c84c43dcc31d8797f08b6de5e6..0f963dcbd907af3097ed5d0a8462c20acee3a0d9 100644
--- a/lib/PublicInbox/WWW.pm
+++ b/lib/PublicInbox/WWW.pm
@@ -168,7 +168,6 @@ sub r404 {
 	my ($ctx) = @_;
 	if ($ctx && $ctx->{mid}) {
 		require PublicInbox::ExtMsg;
-		searcher($ctx);
 		return PublicInbox::ExtMsg::ext_msg($ctx);
 	}
 	r(404, 'Not Found');
@@ -239,7 +238,6 @@ # /$INBOX/?r=$GIT_COMMIT                 -> HTML only
 sub get_index {
 	my ($ctx) = @_;
 	require PublicInbox::Feed;
-	searcher($ctx);
 	if ($ctx->{env}->{QUERY_STRING} =~ /(?:\A|[&;])q=/) {
 		require PublicInbox::SearchView;
 		PublicInbox::SearchView::sres_top_html($ctx);
@@ -259,14 +257,13 @@ # /$INBOX/$MESSAGE_ID/                   -> HTML content (short quotes)
 sub get_mid_html {
 	my ($ctx) = @_;
 	require PublicInbox::View;
-	searcher($ctx);
 	PublicInbox::View::msg_page($ctx) || r404($ctx);
 }
 
 # /$INBOX/$MESSAGE_ID/t/
 sub get_thread {
 	my ($ctx, $flat) = @_;
-	searcher($ctx) or return need_search($ctx);
+	$ctx->{-inbox}->over or return need($ctx, 'Overview');
 	$ctx->{flat} = $flat;
 	require PublicInbox::View;
 	PublicInbox::View::thread_html($ctx);
@@ -303,21 +300,11 @@ 	(defined $val && $val ne '') or die "BUG: bad ctx, $key unusable";
 	$val;
 }
 
-# search support is optional, returns undef if Xapian is not installed
-# or not configured for the given GIT_DIR
-sub searcher {
-	my ($ctx) = @_;
-	eval {
-		require PublicInbox::Search;
-		$ctx->{srch} = $ctx->{-inbox}->search;
-	};
-}
-
-sub need_search {
-	my ($ctx) = @_;
+sub need {
+	my ($ctx, $extra) = @_;
 	my $msg = <<EOF;
-<html><head><title>Search not available for this
-public-inbox</title><body><pre>Search is not available for this public-inbox
+<html><head><title>$extra not available for this
+public-inbox</title><body><pre>$extra is not available for this public-inbox
 <a href="../">Return to index</a></pre></body></html>
 EOF
 	[ 501, [ 'Content-Type' => 'text/html; charset=UTF-8' ], [ $msg ] ];
@@ -330,16 +317,16 @@ # significantly more expensive on CPU than gzip and less-widely available,
 # especially on older systems.  Stick to zlib since that's what git uses.
 sub get_thread_mbox {
 	my ($ctx, $sfx) = @_;
-	my $srch = searcher($ctx) or return need_search($ctx);
+	my $over = $ctx->{-inbox}->over or return need($ctx, 'Overview');
 	require PublicInbox::Mbox;
-	PublicInbox::Mbox::thread_mbox($ctx, $srch, $sfx);
+	PublicInbox::Mbox::thread_mbox($ctx, $over, $sfx);
 }
 
 
 # /$INBOX/$MESSAGE_ID/t.atom		  -> thread as Atom feed
 sub get_thread_atom {
 	my ($ctx) = @_;
-	searcher($ctx) or return need_search($ctx);
+	$ctx->{-inbox}->over or return need($ctx, 'Overview');
 	require PublicInbox::Feed;
 	PublicInbox::Feed::generate_thread_atom($ctx);
 }
@@ -453,7 +440,7 @@
 sub mbox_results {
 	my ($ctx) = @_;
 	if ($ctx->{env}->{QUERY_STRING} =~ /(?:\A|[&;])q=/) {
-		searcher($ctx) or return need_search($ctx);
+		$ctx->{-inbox}->search or return need($ctx, 'search');
 		require PublicInbox::SearchView;
 		return PublicInbox::SearchView::mbox_results($ctx);
 	}
@@ -464,7 +451,6 @@ sub serve_mbox_range {
 	my ($ctx, $inbox, $range) = @_;
 	invalid_inbox($ctx, $inbox) || eval {
 		require PublicInbox::Mbox;
-		searcher($ctx);
 		PublicInbox::Mbox::emit_range($ctx, $range);
 	}
 }
diff --git a/t/search.t b/t/search.t
index 35d71473e29a8bf9e71178ed5d774982775dc0ad..493e00de5df17ff14cd64fda8e660f3b953fcfdc 100644
--- a/t/search.t
+++ b/t/search.t
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ 	ok($rw->add_message($long_reply) > $long_id, "inserted long reply");
 
 	$rw_commit->();
 	$ro->reopen;
-	my $t = $ro->get_thread('root@s');
+	my $t = $ro->{over_ro}->get_thread('root@s');
 	is(scalar(@$t), 4, "got all 4 mesages in thread");
 	my @exp = sort($long_reply_mid, 'root@s', 'last@s', $long_mid);
 	@res = filter_mids($t);
@@ -422,7 +422,7 @@ 	my $art;
 	if (scalar(@$n) >= 1) {
 		my $mid = $n->[0]->mid;
 		my ($id, $prev);
-		$art = $ro->next_by_mid($mid, \$id, \$prev);
+		$art = $ro->{over_ro}->next_by_mid($mid, \$id, \$prev);
 		ok($art, 'article exists in OVER DB');
 	}
 	$rw->unindex_blob($amsg);
diff --git a/t/v2writable.t b/t/v2writable.t
index 5f34d12798a512d2c96515d652bf9490ac0e3119..b0f88d27b75855cc1a77f41f172195b34ee2aeb3 100644
--- a/t/v2writable.t
+++ b/t/v2writable.t
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ 	$mime->header_set('References', "<$x>");
 	ok($im->add($mime), 'add excessively long References');
 	$im->barrier;
 
-	my $msgs = $ibx->search->reopen->get_thread('x'x244);
+	my $msgs = $ibx->search->{over_ro}->get_thread('x'x244);
 	is(2, scalar(@$msgs), 'got both messages');
 	is($msgs->[0]->{mid}, 'x'x244, 'stored truncated mid');
 	is($msgs->[1]->{references}, '<'.('x'x244).'>', 'stored truncated ref');
diff --git a/t/view.t b/t/view.t
index ef7d6958aaa9f0c27e9d2125df0278c0b7b8d7b3..0782954305944857ddd59d69f9c5ff9d7a277c4a 100644
--- a/t/view.t
+++ b/t/view.t
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ my $ctx = {
 	env => { HTTP_HOST => 'example.com', 'psgi.url_scheme' => 'http' },
 	-inbox => Plack::Util::inline_object(
 		name => 'test',
+		over => sub { undef },
 		search => sub { undef },
 		base_url => sub { 'http://example.com/' },
 		cloneurl => sub {[]},