diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 817eebf7ae..d9c77c7453 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@ bld/
 
 # Visual Studio 2015/2017 cache/options directory
 .vs/
-# Uncomment if you have tasks that create the project's static files in wwwroot
-#wwwroot/
+# Pagefind.Net.Frontend auto-extraction output (disabled via PagefindFrontendDisableExtract)
+wwwroot/
 
 # Visual Studio 2017 auto generated files
 Generated\ Files/
diff --git a/Directory.Build.props b/Directory.Build.props
index 3f89a0761e..1e2d4f14b3 100644
--- a/Directory.Build.props
+++ b/Directory.Build.props
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
     <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
     <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
     <EnforceCodeStyleInBuild>true</EnforceCodeStyleInBuild>
+    <PagefindFrontendDisableExtract>true</PagefindFrontendDisableExtract>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
diff --git a/Directory.Packages.props b/Directory.Packages.props
index a7b7128b31..2eb37b661f 100644
--- a/Directory.Packages.props
+++ b/Directory.Packages.props
@@ -45,6 +45,8 @@
     <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration.Abstractions" Version="10.0.8" />
     <PackageVersion Include="Microsoft.Extensions.Telemetry.Abstractions" Version="10.6.0" />
     <PackageVersion Include="Nullean.ScopedFileSystem" Version="0.4.0" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="Pagefind.Net" Version="0.4.1" />
+    <PackageVersion Include="Pagefind.Net.Frontend" Version="0.4.1" />
     <PackageVersion Include="OpenTelemetry.Instrumentation.AspNetCore" Version="1.15.2" />
     <PackageVersion Include="Generator.Equals" Version="4.0.0" PrivateAssets="all" IncludeAssets="runtime; build; native; contentfiles; analyzers; buildtransitive" />
     <PackageVersion Include="KubernetesClient" Version="19.0.2" />
diff --git a/NOTICE.txt b/NOTICE.txt
index 9547245cfc..0a230b0236 100644
--- a/NOTICE.txt
+++ b/NOTICE.txt
@@ -26,6 +26,29 @@ OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
 SOFTWARE.
 
 
+License notice for Pagefind (v1.5.2)
+-----------------------------------
+Copyright 2022 Pagefind
+
+Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of
+this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in
+the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to
+use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies
+of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do
+so, subject to the following conditions:
+
+The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
+copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
+IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
+AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+SOFTWARE.
+
+
 License notice for Errata (v0.13.0)
 ------------------------------------
 MIT License
diff --git a/src/Elastic.Codex/CodexGenerator.cs b/src/Elastic.Codex/CodexGenerator.cs
index 3e8126fe7c..a6b9948e2c 100644
--- a/src/Elastic.Codex/CodexGenerator.cs
+++ b/src/Elastic.Codex/CodexGenerator.cs
@@ -72,11 +72,9 @@ private async Task ExtractEmbeddedStaticResources(Cancel ctx)
 	{
 		_logger.LogInformation("Copying static files to codex output directory");
 		var assembly = typeof(EmbeddedOrPhysicalFileProvider).Assembly;
-		var embeddedStaticFiles = assembly
-			.GetManifestResourceNames()
-			.ToList();
 
-		foreach (var resourceName in embeddedStaticFiles)
+		foreach (var resourceName in assembly.GetManifestResourceNames()
+			.Where(r => r.StartsWith("Elastic.Documentation.Site._static.", StringComparison.Ordinal)))
 		{
 			await using var resourceStream = assembly.GetManifestResourceStream(resourceName);
 			if (resourceStream == null)
diff --git a/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/Header/DeploymentInfo.tsx b/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/Header/DeploymentInfo.tsx
index 73a381ee0f..3884c433de 100644
--- a/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/Header/DeploymentInfo.tsx
+++ b/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/Header/DeploymentInfo.tsx
@@ -72,9 +72,14 @@ export const DeploymentInfo = ({
             <button
                 type="button"
                 onClick={() => setIsOpen((prev) => !prev)}
+                aria-label={`Deployment info for branch ${gitBranch}, commit ${gitCommit}`}
                 css={css`
                     ${headerButtonCss(euiTheme)};
                     margin-inline: ${euiTheme.size.s};
+                    @media (max-width: 768px) {
+                        margin-inline: ${euiTheme.size.xs};
+                        padding-inline: ${euiTheme.size.s};
+                    }
                 `}
             >
                 <span
@@ -85,13 +90,24 @@ export const DeploymentInfo = ({
                     `}
                 >
                     <EuiIcon type="branch" color="inherit" />
-                    {gitBranch}
+                    <span
+                        css={css`
+                            @media (max-width: 768px) {
+                                display: none;
+                            }
+                        `}
+                    >
+                        {gitBranch}
+                    </span>
                 </span>
                 <span
                     css={css`
                         display: inline-flex;
                         align-items: center;
                         gap: ${euiTheme.size.xs};
+                        @media (max-width: 768px) {
+                            display: none;
+                        }
                     `}
                 >
                     <EuiIcon type={commitSvg} color="inherit" />
diff --git a/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/Header/Header.tsx b/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/Header/Header.tsx
index b4a65df6b0..6a61547317 100644
--- a/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/Header/Header.tsx
+++ b/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/Header/Header.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
+import { config } from '../../config'
 import '../../eui-icons-cache'
+import { ModalSearch } from '../ModalSearch/ModalSearch'
 import { useHtmxContainer } from '../shared/htmx/useHtmxContainer'
+import { sharedQueryClient } from '../shared/queryClient'
 import { DeploymentInfo, headerButtonCss } from './DeploymentInfo'
 import {
     EuiHeader,
@@ -10,6 +13,7 @@ import {
 } from '@elastic/eui'
 import { css } from '@emotion/react'
 import r2wc from '@r2wc/react-to-web-component'
+import { QueryClientProvider } from '@tanstack/react-query'
 import { useRef } from 'react'
 
 interface Props {
@@ -169,6 +173,28 @@ export const Header = ({
                     {
                         items: [logoSection],
                     },
+                    ...(config.buildType === 'isolated'
+                        ? [
+                              {
+                                  items: [
+                                      <QueryClientProvider
+                                          client={sharedQueryClient}
+                                      >
+                                          <div
+                                              css={css`
+                                                  width: min(22rem, 35vw);
+                                              `}
+                                          >
+                                              <ModalSearch
+                                                  size="s"
+                                                  placeholder="Search"
+                                              />
+                                          </div>
+                                      </QueryClientProvider>,
+                                  ],
+                              },
+                          ]
+                        : []),
                     ...(!airGapped
                         ? [
                               {
diff --git a/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/ModalSearch/ModalSearch.test.tsx b/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/ModalSearch/ModalSearch.test.tsx
index 815c66fd36..f8691ec242 100644
--- a/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/ModalSearch/ModalSearch.test.tsx
+++ b/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/ModalSearch/ModalSearch.test.tsx
@@ -71,4 +71,16 @@ describe('ModalSearch', () => {
             screen.queryByRole('button', { name: 'Close search modal' })
         ).not.toBeInTheDocument()
     })
+
+    it('does not offer Ask AI in an isolated build', () => {
+        renderModalSearch()
+
+        act(() => {
+            modalSearchStore.getState().actions.openModal()
+            modalSearchStore.getState().actions.setSearchTerm('logging')
+        })
+
+        expect(screen.queryByText('Ask AI Assistant')).not.toBeInTheDocument()
+        expect(screen.queryByText('Tell me more about')).not.toBeInTheDocument()
+    })
 })
diff --git a/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/ModalSearch/ModalSearch.tsx b/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/ModalSearch/ModalSearch.tsx
index 9a3168e12e..72c3a30c27 100644
--- a/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/ModalSearch/ModalSearch.tsx
+++ b/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/ModalSearch/ModalSearch.tsx
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { config } from '../../config'
 import '../../eui-icons-cache'
 import { ElasticAiAssistantButton } from '../AskAi/ElasticAiAssistantButton'
 import { InfoBanner } from '../AskAi/InfoBanner'
@@ -209,7 +210,7 @@ const ModalSearchContent = ({
 
             {<EuiHorizontalRule margin="none" />}
 
-            {searchTerm && (
+            {config.buildType !== 'isolated' && searchTerm && (
                 <div
                     css={css`
                         padding-inline: ${euiTheme.size.base};
@@ -251,7 +252,7 @@ const ModalSearchContent = ({
                 </div>
             )}
 
-            <InfoBanner />
+            {config.buildType !== 'isolated' && <InfoBanner />}
             <KeyboardShortcutsFooter shortcuts={SEARCH_KEYBOARD_SHORTCUTS} />
         </div>
     )
@@ -311,6 +312,10 @@ const ModalSearchTrigger = ({
                 color: ${euiTheme.colors.textDisabled};
                 cursor: pointer;
 
+                @media (max-width: 768px) {
+                    padding-right: ${euiTheme.size.s};
+                }
+
                 &:hover {
                     border-color: ${euiTheme.colors.borderBasePlain};
                 }
@@ -344,6 +349,9 @@ const ModalSearchTrigger = ({
                     right: ${euiTheme.size.m};
                     color: ${euiTheme.colors.textDisabled};
                     font-size: ${euiTheme.font.scale.s * euiTheme.base}px;
+                    @media (max-width: 768px) {
+                        display: none;
+                    }
                 `}
             >
                 {isMac ? '⌘K' : 'Ctrl+K'}
diff --git a/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/ModalSearch/ModalSearchResultsList.tsx b/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/ModalSearch/ModalSearchResultsList.tsx
index bbec8f86d3..7008f5374e 100644
--- a/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/ModalSearch/ModalSearchResultsList.tsx
+++ b/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/ModalSearch/ModalSearchResultsList.tsx
@@ -177,6 +177,9 @@ const ModalSearchResultRow = ({
         if (config.buildType === 'codex') {
             return result.parents.map((p) => p.title)
         }
+        if (config.buildType === 'isolated') {
+            return result.parents.slice(1).map((p) => p.title)
+        }
 
         const typePrefix = 'Docs'
         return [typePrefix, ...result.parents.slice(1).map((p) => p.title)]
diff --git a/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/ModalSearch/pagefind.test.ts b/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/ModalSearch/pagefind.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c696819fdf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/ModalSearch/pagefind.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+import { createPagefindOptions, mapPagefindResults } from './pagefind'
+
+describe('createPagefindOptions', () => {
+    it('does not prepend the deployment root to indexed URLs', () => {
+        expect(
+            createPagefindOptions('/elastic/docs-builder/pull/3709')
+        ).toEqual({
+            baseUrl: '/',
+            basePath: '/elastic/docs-builder/pull/3709/_static/pagefind/',
+        })
+    })
+})
+
+describe('mapPagefindResults', () => {
+    it('maps matching pages into modal results', () => {
+        const results = mapPagefindResults([
+            {
+                score: 0.9,
+                data: {
+                    url: '/guide/',
+                    excerpt: 'Guide excerpt',
+                    meta: {
+                        title: 'Guide',
+                        breadcrumbs: JSON.stringify({
+                            itemListElement: [
+                                {
+                                    name: 'Docs',
+                                    item: 'https://example.com/',
+                                },
+                                {
+                                    name: 'Syntax guide',
+                                    item: 'https://example.com/syntax',
+                                },
+                                {
+                                    name: 'Mermaid diagrams',
+                                },
+                            ],
+                        }),
+                    },
+                },
+            },
+        ])
+
+        expect(results).toEqual([
+            {
+                type: 'docs',
+                url: '/guide/',
+                title: 'Guide',
+                description: 'Guide excerpt',
+                score: 0.9,
+                parents: [
+                    {
+                        title: 'Docs',
+                        url: 'https://example.com/',
+                    },
+                    {
+                        title: 'Syntax guide',
+                        url: 'https://example.com/syntax',
+                    },
+                ],
+            },
+        ])
+    })
+
+    it('falls back to page metadata when no sections are returned', () => {
+        const [result] = mapPagefindResults([
+            {
+                score: 0.5,
+                data: {
+                    url: '/guide/',
+                    excerpt: 'Guide excerpt',
+                    meta: { title: 'Guide' },
+                },
+            },
+        ])
+
+        expect(result.title).toBe('Guide')
+        expect(result.description).toBe('Guide excerpt')
+    })
+
+    it('falls back to the page URL when title metadata is missing', () => {
+        const [result] = mapPagefindResults([
+            {
+                score: 0.5,
+                data: {
+                    url: '/guide/',
+                    excerpt: 'Guide excerpt',
+                    meta: {},
+                },
+            },
+        ])
+
+        expect(result.title).toBe('/guide/')
+        expect(result.url).toBe('/guide/')
+    })
+})
diff --git a/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/ModalSearch/pagefind.ts b/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/ModalSearch/pagefind.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..59b3099f4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/ModalSearch/pagefind.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+import { config } from '../../config'
+
+interface PagefindResultData {
+    url: string
+    excerpt: string
+    meta: {
+        title?: string
+        breadcrumbs?: string
+    }
+}
+
+interface PagefindRawResult {
+    score: number
+    data: () => Promise<PagefindResultData>
+}
+
+interface PagefindSearch {
+    results: PagefindRawResult[]
+}
+
+interface PagefindApi {
+    options: (options: PagefindOptions) => Promise<void>
+    init: () => Promise<void>
+    search: (query: string) => Promise<PagefindSearch | null>
+}
+
+interface PagefindOptions {
+    baseUrl: string
+    basePath: string
+}
+
+interface StaticSearchResult {
+    type: 'docs'
+    url: string
+    title: string
+    description: string
+    score: number
+    parents: Array<{ url: string; title: string }>
+}
+
+interface PagefindLoadedResult {
+    score: number
+    data: PagefindResultData
+}
+
+interface StructuredBreadcrumbs {
+    itemListElement?: Array<{
+        name?: string
+        item?: string
+    }>
+}
+
+let pagefindPromise: Promise<PagefindApi> | undefined
+
+const rootPath = config.rootPath.replace(/\/$/, '')
+
+export const createPagefindOptions = (rootPath: string): PagefindOptions => ({
+    // Indexed URLs already include the deployment root path.
+    baseUrl: '/',
+    basePath: `${rootPath}/_static/pagefind/`,
+})
+
+const loadPagefind = () => {
+    pagefindPromise ??= (async () => {
+        try {
+            const moduleUrl = `${rootPath}/_static/pagefind/pagefind.js`
+            const pagefind = (await import(moduleUrl)) as PagefindApi
+            await pagefind.options(createPagefindOptions(rootPath))
+            await pagefind.init()
+            return pagefind
+        } catch (error) {
+            pagefindPromise = undefined
+            throw error
+        }
+    })()
+    return pagefindPromise
+}
+
+export const searchPagefind = async (
+    query: string
+): Promise<StaticSearchResult[]> => {
+    const pagefind = await loadPagefind()
+    const search = await pagefind.search(query)
+    if (!search) return []
+
+    const pages = await Promise.all(
+        search.results.slice(0, 20).map(async (result) => ({
+            score: result.score,
+            data: await result.data(),
+        }))
+    )
+
+    return mapPagefindResults(pages)
+}
+
+export const mapPagefindResults = (
+    pages: PagefindLoadedResult[]
+): StaticSearchResult[] =>
+    pages.map(({ score, data }) => ({
+        type: 'docs' as const,
+        url: data.url,
+        title: data.meta.title || data.url,
+        description: data.excerpt,
+        score,
+        parents: parseBreadcrumbs(data.meta.breadcrumbs),
+    }))
+
+const parseBreadcrumbs = (value?: string) => {
+    if (!value) return []
+
+    try {
+        const breadcrumbs = JSON.parse(value) as StructuredBreadcrumbs
+        return (breadcrumbs.itemListElement ?? [])
+            .filter(
+                (item): item is { name: string; item: string } =>
+                    !!item.name && !!item.item
+            )
+            .map(({ name, item }) => ({ title: name, url: item }))
+    } catch {
+        return []
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/ModalSearch/useModalSearchQuery.ts b/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/ModalSearch/useModalSearchQuery.ts
index d6422f389f..1ca23e633b 100644
--- a/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/ModalSearch/useModalSearchQuery.ts
+++ b/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/Assets/web-components/ModalSearch/useModalSearchQuery.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import {
 } from '../shared/errorHandling'
 import { ApiError } from '../shared/errorHandling'
 import { usePageNumber, useSearchTerm } from './modalSearch.store'
+import { searchPagefind } from './pagefind'
 import {
     keepPreviousData,
     useQuery,
@@ -85,12 +86,14 @@ export const useModalSearchQuery = () => {
         !!trimmedSearchTerm &&
         trimmedSearchTerm.length >= 1 &&
         !isCooldownActive &&
-        !awaitingNewInput
+        !awaitingNewInput &&
+        true
 
     const query = useQuery<SearchResponse, ApiError>({
         queryKey: [
             'modal-search',
             {
+                buildType: config.buildType,
                 searchTerm: debouncedSearchTerm.toLowerCase(),
                 pageNumber,
             },
@@ -106,6 +109,20 @@ export const useModalSearchQuery = () => {
                 })
             }
 
+            if (config.buildType === 'isolated') {
+                const results = await searchPagefind(debouncedSearchTerm)
+                if (signal.aborted)
+                    throw new DOMException('Aborted', 'AbortError')
+
+                return SearchResponse.parse({
+                    results,
+                    totalResults: results.length,
+                    pageCount: results.length > 0 ? 1 : 0,
+                    pageNumber: 1,
+                    pageSize: 20,
+                })
+            }
+
             return traceSpan('modal_search', async (span) => {
                 span.setAttribute(
                     ATTR_NAVIGATION_SEARCH_QUERY,
@@ -167,6 +184,7 @@ export const useModalSearchQuery = () => {
             queryKey: [
                 'modal-search',
                 {
+                    buildType: config.buildType,
                     searchTerm: debouncedSearchTerm.toLowerCase(),
                     pageNumber,
                 },
diff --git a/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/_ViewModels.cs b/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/_ViewModels.cs
index 2705824838..7bbc4db766 100644
--- a/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/_ViewModels.cs
+++ b/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/_ViewModels.cs
@@ -22,7 +22,14 @@ public static class GlobalSections
 }
 
 /// <summary>Configuration injected into the frontend for build-type-specific behavior (OTEL, HTMX).</summary>
-public record FrontendConfig(string BuildType, string ServiceName, bool TelemetryEnabled, string RootPath, string ApiBasePath, bool AirGapped = false);
+public record FrontendConfig(
+	string BuildType,
+	string ServiceName,
+	bool TelemetryEnabled,
+	string RootPath,
+	string ApiBasePath,
+	bool AirGapped = false
+);
 
 /// <summary>Single breadcrumb item for the codex sub-header.</summary>
 public record CodexBreadcrumb(string Title, string? Url);
diff --git a/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/package-lock.json b/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/package-lock.json
index 6667ccad98..079708b80a 100644
--- a/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/package-lock.json
+++ b/src/Elastic.Documentation.Site/package-lock.json
@@ -23964,9 +23964,6 @@
         "arm64"
       ],
       "dev": true,
-      "libc": [
-        "glibc"
-      ],
       "license": "MIT",
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
@@ -23984,9 +23981,6 @@
         "arm64"
       ],
       "dev": true,
-      "libc": [
-        "musl"
-      ],
       "license": "MIT",
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
@@ -24004,9 +23998,6 @@
         "x64"
       ],
       "dev": true,
-      "libc": [
-        "glibc"
-      ],
       "license": "MIT",
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
@@ -24024,9 +24015,6 @@
         "x64"
       ],
       "dev": true,
-      "libc": [
-        "musl"
-      ],
       "license": "MIT",
       "optional": true,
       "os": [
diff --git a/src/Elastic.Documentation.Tooling/Exporter.cs b/src/Elastic.Documentation.Tooling/Exporter.cs
index ac2113ca9a..54b151e0cf 100644
--- a/src/Elastic.Documentation.Tooling/Exporter.cs
+++ b/src/Elastic.Documentation.Tooling/Exporter.cs
@@ -16,12 +16,13 @@ public enum Exporter
 	DocumentationState,
 	LinkMetadata,
 	Redirects,
-	Okf
+	Okf,
+	Pagefind
 }
 
 public static class ExportOptions
 {
-	public static HashSet<Exporter> Default { get; } = [Exporter.Html, Exporter.LLMText, Exporter.Configuration, Exporter.DocumentationState, Exporter.LinkMetadata, Exporter.Redirects];
+	public static HashSet<Exporter> Default { get; } = [Exporter.Html, Exporter.LLMText, Exporter.Configuration, Exporter.DocumentationState, Exporter.LinkMetadata, Exporter.Redirects, Exporter.Pagefind];
 	public static HashSet<Exporter> MetadataOnly { get; } = [Exporter.Configuration, Exporter.DocumentationState, Exporter.LinkMetadata, Exporter.Redirects];
 
 	/// <summary>
@@ -29,5 +30,5 @@ public static class ExportOptions
 	/// (and emits diagnostics) without running LLM export, config copy, link-index writes,
 	/// or redirect generation — none of which are meaningful in an in-memory build.
 	/// </summary>
-	public static HashSet<Exporter> Validation { get; } = [Exporter.Html];
+	public static HashSet<Exporter> Validation { get; } = [Exporter.Html, Exporter.Pagefind];
 }
diff --git a/src/Elastic.Documentation.Tooling/FileSystemFactory.cs b/src/Elastic.Documentation.Tooling/FileSystemFactory.cs
index f26c6f02f5..883b56d777 100644
--- a/src/Elastic.Documentation.Tooling/FileSystemFactory.cs
+++ b/src/Elastic.Documentation.Tooling/FileSystemFactory.cs
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ public static class FileSystemFactory
 		[Paths.WorkingDirectoryRoot.FullName, Paths.ApplicationData.FullName])
 	{
 		AllowedHiddenFolderNames = new HashSet<string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase) { ".git", ".artifacts" },
-		AllowedHiddenFileNames = new HashSet<string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase) { ".git", ".doc.state" }
+		AllowedHiddenFileNames = new HashSet<string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase) { ".git", ".doc.state", ".pagefind-net-frontend-version" }
 	};
 
 	// Write options: same scope roots but no .git — nothing in the build output
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ public static class FileSystemFactory
 		[Paths.WorkingDirectoryRoot.FullName, Paths.ApplicationData.FullName])
 	{
 		AllowedHiddenFolderNames = new HashSet<string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase) { ".artifacts" },
-		AllowedHiddenFileNames = new HashSet<string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase) { ".doc.state" },
+		AllowedHiddenFileNames = new HashSet<string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase) { ".doc.state", ".pagefind-net-frontend-version" },
 		AllowedSpecialFolders = AllowedSpecialFolder.Temp
 	};
 
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ public static ScopedFileSystem InMemoryForPath(string? path)
 			[Paths.WorkingDirectoryRoot.FullName, Paths.ApplicationData.FullName, root])
 		{
 			AllowedHiddenFolderNames = new HashSet<string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase) { ".git", ".artifacts" },
-			AllowedHiddenFileNames = new HashSet<string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase) { ".git", ".doc.state" }
+			AllowedHiddenFileNames = new HashSet<string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase) { ".git", ".doc.state", ".pagefind-net-frontend-version" }
 		});
 	}
 
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ public static ScopedFileSystem ScopeCurrentWorkingDirectory(IFileSystem inner, I
 		return new ScopedFileSystem(inner, new ScopedFileSystemOptions(roots)
 		{
 			AllowedHiddenFolderNames = new HashSet<string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase) { ".git", ".artifacts" },
-			AllowedHiddenFileNames = new HashSet<string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase) { ".git", ".doc.state" }
+			AllowedHiddenFileNames = new HashSet<string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase) { ".git", ".doc.state", ".pagefind-net-frontend-version" }
 		});
 	}
 
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ private static ScopedFileSystemOptions BuildWriteOptions(IFileSystem inner, para
 		return new ScopedFileSystemOptions([.. allRoots])
 		{
 			AllowedHiddenFolderNames = new HashSet<string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase) { ".artifacts" },
-			AllowedHiddenFileNames = new HashSet<string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase) { ".doc.state" },
+			AllowedHiddenFileNames = new HashSet<string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase) { ".doc.state", ".pagefind-net-frontend-version" },
 			AllowedSpecialFolders = AllowedSpecialFolder.Temp
 		};
 	}
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ public static ScopedFileSystem ScopeSourceDirectory(IFileSystem inner, string so
 		new(inner, new ScopedFileSystemOptions([sourceRoot, Paths.ApplicationData.FullName])
 		{
 			AllowedHiddenFolderNames = new HashSet<string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase) { ".git", ".artifacts" },
-			AllowedHiddenFileNames = new HashSet<string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase) { ".git", ".doc.state" }
+			AllowedHiddenFileNames = new HashSet<string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase) { ".git", ".doc.state", ".pagefind-net-frontend-version" }
 		});
 
 	/// <summary>
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ public static ScopedFileSystem RealGitRootForPath(string? path)
 		return new ScopedFileSystem(new FileSystem(), new ScopedFileSystemOptions([.. roots])
 		{
 			AllowedHiddenFolderNames = new HashSet<string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase) { ".git", ".artifacts" },
-			AllowedHiddenFileNames = new HashSet<string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase) { ".git", ".doc.state" }
+			AllowedHiddenFileNames = new HashSet<string>(StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase) { ".git", ".doc.state", ".pagefind-net-frontend-version" }
 		});
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/Elastic.Markdown/DocumentationGenerator.cs b/src/Elastic.Markdown/DocumentationGenerator.cs
index cdca65b33a..ca25f93b09 100644
--- a/src/Elastic.Markdown/DocumentationGenerator.cs
+++ b/src/Elastic.Markdown/DocumentationGenerator.cs
@@ -287,10 +287,8 @@ private async Task ExtractEmbeddedStaticResources(Cancel ctx)
 
 		_logger.LogInformation($"Copying static files to output directory");
 		var assembly = typeof(EmbeddedOrPhysicalFileProvider).Assembly;
-		var embeddedStaticFiles = assembly
-			.GetManifestResourceNames()
-			.ToList();
-		foreach (var a in embeddedStaticFiles)
+		foreach (var a in assembly.GetManifestResourceNames()
+			.Where(r => r.StartsWith("Elastic.Documentation.Site._static.", StringComparison.Ordinal)))
 		{
 			await using var resourceStream = assembly.GetManifestResourceStream(a);
 			if (resourceStream == null)
diff --git a/src/Elastic.Markdown/Elastic.Markdown.csproj b/src/Elastic.Markdown/Elastic.Markdown.csproj
index c3b583fa07..ade126da05 100644
--- a/src/Elastic.Markdown/Elastic.Markdown.csproj
+++ b/src/Elastic.Markdown/Elastic.Markdown.csproj
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@
     <PackageReference Include="YamlDotNet" />
     <PackageReference Include="System.IO.Abstractions" />
     <PackageReference Include="NetEscapades.EnumGenerators" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Pagefind.Net" />
+    <PackageReference Include="Pagefind.Net.Frontend" />
   </ItemGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
diff --git a/src/Elastic.Markdown/Exporters/ExporterExtensions.cs b/src/Elastic.Markdown/Exporters/ExporterExtensions.cs
index a1e3474120..16ac8b45fa 100644
--- a/src/Elastic.Markdown/Exporters/ExporterExtensions.cs
+++ b/src/Elastic.Markdown/Exporters/ExporterExtensions.cs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 using Elastic.Documentation;
 using Elastic.Documentation.Configuration;
 using Elastic.Markdown.Exporters.Elasticsearch;
+using Elastic.Markdown.Exporters.Pagefind;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
 
 namespace Elastic.Markdown.Exporters;
@@ -27,6 +28,8 @@ public static IReadOnlyCollection<IMarkdownExporter> CreateMarkdownExporters(
 			markdownExporters.Add(new ElasticsearchMarkdownExporter(logFactory, context.Collector, context.Endpoints, context));
 		if (exportOptions.Contains(Exporter.Okf))
 			markdownExporters.Add(new OkfMarkdownExporter());
+		if (exportOptions.Contains(Exporter.Pagefind))
+			markdownExporters.Add(new PagefindMarkdownExporter(logFactory));
 		return markdownExporters;
 	}
 }
diff --git a/src/Elastic.Markdown/Exporters/Pagefind/PagefindMarkdownExporter.cs b/src/Elastic.Markdown/Exporters/Pagefind/PagefindMarkdownExporter.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..99ac6da081
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Elastic.Markdown/Exporters/Pagefind/PagefindMarkdownExporter.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,182 @@
+// Licensed to Elasticsearch B.V under one or more agreements.
+// Elasticsearch B.V licenses this file to you under the Apache 2.0 License.
+// See the LICENSE file in the project root for more information
+
+using System.IO.Abstractions;
+using System.Text;
+using System.Text.Json;
+using Elastic.Documentation;
+using Elastic.Documentation.Navigation;
+using Elastic.Markdown.Helpers;
+using Elastic.Markdown.IO;
+using Elastic.Markdown.Myst.InlineParsers;
+using Markdig.Syntax;
+using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
+using Pagefind.Net;
+using Pagefind.Net.Frontend;
+
+namespace Elastic.Markdown.Exporters.Pagefind;
+
+public sealed class PagefindMarkdownExporter(ILoggerFactory logFactory) : IMarkdownExporter
+{
+	private readonly ILogger _logger = logFactory.CreateLogger<PagefindMarkdownExporter>();
+
+	private PagefindIndex? _index;
+	private IFileSystem? _fileSystem;
+	private int _indexed;
+
+	public ValueTask StartAsync(Cancel ctx = default) => ValueTask.CompletedTask;
+
+	public ValueTask StopAsync(Cancel ctx = default) => ValueTask.CompletedTask;
+
+	public ValueTask<bool> ExportAsync(MarkdownExportFileContext fileContext, Cancel ctx)
+	{
+		// Pagefind static search is only relevant for isolated builds and serve mode;
+		// assembler and codex builds use the Elasticsearch-backed search API.
+		if (fileContext.BuildContext.BuildType != BuildType.Isolated)
+			return ValueTask.FromResult(true);
+
+		if (_index is null)
+		{
+			_fileSystem = fileContext.BuildContext.WriteFileSystem;
+			_index = new PagefindIndex(new PagefindIndexOptions { Language = "en", IndexedMetaFields = ["title"] }, _fileSystem);
+		}
+
+		var file = fileContext.SourceFile;
+		var navigation = fileContext.PositionaNavigation;
+		var currentNavigation = navigation.GetNavigationFor(file);
+		var url = currentNavigation.Url;
+
+		if (url is "/docs" or "/docs/404")
+			return ValueTask.FromResult(true);
+
+		var sections = BuildHtmlSections(fileContext);
+
+		var parents = navigation.GetParentsOfMarkdownFile(file).Reverse().ToArray();
+		var breadcrumbsMeta = BuildBreadcrumbsMeta(parents, fileContext.BuildContext.CanonicalBaseUrl);
+
+		var meta = new Dictionary<string, string> { ["title"] = file.Title ?? url };
+		if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(breadcrumbsMeta))
+			meta["breadcrumbs"] = breadcrumbsMeta;
+
+		try
+		{
+			_index.AddHtmlRecord(new HtmlPageData
+			{
+				Url = url,
+				Sections = sections,
+				Meta = meta
+			});
+			_indexed++;
+		}
+		catch (PagefindIndexingException ex)
+		{
+			_logger.LogWarning(ex, "Failed to index {Url} for static search, skipping", ex.Url);
+		}
+
+		return ValueTask.FromResult(true);
+	}
+
+	private const int MaxHeadings = 10;
+	private const int MaxBodySections = 5;
+
+	private static List<HtmlSection> BuildHtmlSections(MarkdownExportFileContext fileContext)
+	{
+		var sections = new List<HtmlSection>();
+		var file = fileContext.SourceFile;
+
+		if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(file.Title))
+			sections.Add(new HtmlSection("h1", file.Title));
+
+		var headingCount = 0;
+		var bodyCount = 0;
+		var currentBodyLines = new List<string>();
+
+		foreach (var block in fileContext.Document)
+		{
+			if (block is HeadingBlock heading)
+			{
+				FlushBody(sections, currentBodyLines, ref bodyCount);
+				if (headingCount >= MaxHeadings)
+					continue;
+
+				var text = heading.GetData("header") as string ?? string.Empty;
+				if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(text))
+				{
+					var anchor = heading.GetData("anchor") as string;
+					var slugTarget = (anchor ?? text) ?? string.Empty;
+					if (slugTarget.Contains('$'))
+						slugTarget = HeadingAnchorParser.InlineAnchors().Replace(slugTarget, "");
+					var id = slugTarget.Slugify();
+					sections.Add(new HtmlSection($"h{heading.Level}", text, id));
+					headingCount++;
+				}
+			}
+			else
+			{
+				if (bodyCount >= MaxBodySections)
+					continue;
+
+				var text = PlainTextExporter.ConvertBlockToPlainText(block, fileContext.BuildContext);
+				if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(text))
+					currentBodyLines.Add(text);
+			}
+		}
+
+		FlushBody(sections, currentBodyLines, ref bodyCount);
+		return sections;
+	}
+
+	private static void FlushBody(List<HtmlSection> sections, List<string> lines, ref int bodyCount)
+	{
+		if (lines.Count == 0)
+			return;
+
+		if (bodyCount < MaxBodySections)
+		{
+			sections.Add(new HtmlSection("p", string.Join(" ", lines)));
+			bodyCount++;
+		}
+		lines.Clear();
+	}
+
+	public async ValueTask<bool> FinishExportAsync(IDirectoryInfo outputFolder, Cancel ctx)
+	{
+		if (_index is null || _indexed == 0)
+		{
+			_logger.LogInformation("No pages to index for static search");
+			return true;
+		}
+
+		_logger.LogInformation("Writing static search index for {Count} pages", _indexed);
+
+		var staticDir = Path.Combine(outputFolder.FullName, "_static");
+		await _index.WriteAsync(staticDir, ctx);
+		var pagefindDir = Path.Combine(staticDir, "pagefind");
+		_ = await PagefindFrontend.ExtractToAsync(
+			_fileSystem!, pagefindDir, force: false, ctx);
+
+		_logger.LogInformation("Generated static search index with {Count} pages", _indexed);
+		return true;
+	}
+
+	private static string BuildBreadcrumbsMeta(IReadOnlyList<INavigationItem> parents, Uri? canonicalBaseUrl)
+	{
+		if (parents.Count == 0)
+			return string.Empty;
+
+		var baseUrl = canonicalBaseUrl?.ToString().TrimEnd('/') ?? string.Empty;
+		var sb = new StringBuilder();
+		_ = sb.Append("{\"itemListElement\":[");
+		for (var i = 0; i < parents.Count; i++)
+		{
+			if (i > 0)
+				_ = sb.Append(',');
+			var title = JsonEncodedText.Encode(parents[i].NavigationTitle);
+			var itemUrl = JsonEncodedText.Encode($"{baseUrl}{parents[i].Url}");
+			_ = sb.Append($"{{\"name\":\"{title}\",\"item\":\"{itemUrl}\"}}");
+		}
+		_ = sb.Append("]}");
+		return sb.ToString();
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/Elastic.Markdown/Exporters/PlainTextExporter.cs b/src/Elastic.Markdown/Exporters/PlainTextExporter.cs
index a970a50ee0..892c401f1b 100644
--- a/src/Elastic.Markdown/Exporters/PlainTextExporter.cs
+++ b/src/Elastic.Markdown/Exporters/PlainTextExporter.cs
@@ -25,4 +25,13 @@ public static string ConvertToPlainText(MarkdownDocument document, IDocumentatio
 		{
 			_ = renderer.Render(doc);
 		});
+
+	/// <summary>
+	/// Converts a single markdown block to plain text suitable for search indexing.
+	/// </summary>
+	public static string ConvertBlockToPlainText(Block block, IDocumentationConfigurationContext context) =>
+		DocumentationObjectPoolProvider.UsePlainTextRenderer(context, block, static (renderer, b) =>
+		{
+			_ = renderer.Render(b);
+		});
 }
diff --git a/src/Elastic.Markdown/Extensions/CliReference/CliReferenceDocsBuilderExtension.cs b/src/Elastic.Markdown/Extensions/CliReference/CliReferenceDocsBuilderExtension.cs
index 9204df6927..ac6c4c0c2a 100644
--- a/src/Elastic.Markdown/Extensions/CliReference/CliReferenceDocsBuilderExtension.cs
+++ b/src/Elastic.Markdown/Extensions/CliReference/CliReferenceDocsBuilderExtension.cs
@@ -147,6 +147,11 @@ public bool TryGetDocumentationFileBySlug(DocumentationSet documentationSet, str
 			if (fileInfo.Exists)
 				continue;
 
+			// Already created during the main scan via a supplemental cmd-*.md interception —
+			// CreateMarkdownFile cached the CliCommandFile under this clean synthetic path.
+			if (_createdFiles.ContainsKey(fileInfo.FullName))
+				continue;
+
 			// defaultFileHandling calls extension.CreateDocumentationFile(file, markdownParser)
 			// which routes back to our CreateDocumentationFile above — now with the MarkdownParser available
 			var doc = defaultFileHandling(fileInfo, Build.DocumentationSourceDirectory);
diff --git a/src/Elastic.Markdown/IO/MarkdownFileFactory.cs b/src/Elastic.Markdown/IO/MarkdownFileFactory.cs
index cd246c804b..2afb84ea41 100644
--- a/src/Elastic.Markdown/IO/MarkdownFileFactory.cs
+++ b/src/Elastic.Markdown/IO/MarkdownFileFactory.cs
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ [.. build.ReadFileSystem.Directory
 				".gif" => (file, CreateImageFile(file, sourceDirectory, build, relativePath, "image/gif")),
 				".svg" => (file, CreateImageFile(file, sourceDirectory, build, relativePath, "image/svg+xml")),
 				".png" => (file, CreateImageFile(file, sourceDirectory, build, relativePath)),
-				".md" => (file, CreateMarkDownFile(file, build)),
+				".md" => CreateMarkdownTuple(file, build),
 				_ => (file, DefaultFileHandling(file, sourceDirectory))
 			};
 		})];
@@ -110,6 +110,14 @@ private DocumentationFile CreateImageFile(IFileInfo file, IDirectoryInfo sourceD
 		return new ImageFile(file, sourceDirectory, context.Git.RepositoryName, mimeType);
 	}
 
+	private (IFileInfo, DocumentationFile) CreateMarkdownTuple(IFileInfo file, BuildContext context)
+	{
+		var doc = CreateMarkDownFile(file, context);
+		// Extensions may create files with a canonical SourceFile different from the discovery path
+		// (e.g. CLI cmd-upload.md → upload.md). Register under SourceFile so navigation lookups work.
+		return (doc.SourceFile, doc);
+	}
+
 	private DocumentationFile CreateMarkDownFile(IFileInfo file, BuildContext context)
 	{
 		var sourceDirectory = context.DocumentationSourceDirectory;
diff --git a/src/Elastic.Markdown/Page/Index.cshtml b/src/Elastic.Markdown/Page/Index.cshtml
index 7eb53507e3..f79b0b1853 100644
--- a/src/Elastic.Markdown/Page/Index.cshtml
+++ b/src/Elastic.Markdown/Page/Index.cshtml
@@ -68,6 +68,8 @@
 				<meta name="DC.identifier" content="@(new HtmlString(Model.CurrentVersion))"/>
 			}
 			<link rel="alternate" type="text/markdown" href="@(Model.MarkdownUrl)" title="Markdown export"/>
+			<meta data-pagefind-meta="title[content]" content="@Model.Title"/>
+			<meta data-pagefind-meta="breadcrumbs[content]" content="@Model.StructuredBreadcrumbsJson"/>
 			<script type="application/ld+json">
 	    	@(new HtmlString(Model.StructuredBreadcrumbsJson))
 	    	</script>
diff --git a/src/Elastic.Markdown/_Layout.cshtml b/src/Elastic.Markdown/_Layout.cshtml
index 53d8bd3840..c4643ec352 100644
--- a/src/Elastic.Markdown/_Layout.cshtml
+++ b/src/Elastic.Markdown/_Layout.cshtml
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
 					<main id="content-container" class="min-w-0 flex flex-col lg:grid lg:grid-cols-[minmax(0,var(--max-text-width))_minmax(0,var(--max-sidebar-width))] lg:justify-end mx-4 gap-4 md:col-start-2 md:row-start-1">
 						<div class="mb-9 mt-0 min-w-0 order-2 lg:order-1">
 							@await RenderPartialAsync(_Breadcrumbs.Create(Model))
-							<article id="markdown-content" class="markdown-content min-w-0">
+							<article id="markdown-content" class="markdown-content min-w-0" data-pagefind-body>
 								<input type="checkbox" class="hidden" id="pages-nav-hamburger">
 								@await RenderBodyAsync()
 							</article>
diff --git a/src/services/Elastic.Documentation.Assembler/Building/ExporterParser.cs b/src/services/Elastic.Documentation.Assembler/Building/ExporterParser.cs
index 99a5ae894e..a2155af2f6 100644
--- a/src/services/Elastic.Documentation.Assembler/Building/ExporterParser.cs
+++ b/src/services/Elastic.Documentation.Assembler/Building/ExporterParser.cs
@@ -56,6 +56,9 @@ public bool TryParse(string raw, out IReadOnlySet<Exporter> result)
 				case "okf":
 					_ = set.Add(Exporter.Okf);
 					break;
+				case "pagefind":
+					_ = set.Add(Exporter.Pagefind);
+					break;
 				case "none":
 					break;
 				case "default":
@@ -68,7 +71,7 @@ public bool TryParse(string raw, out IReadOnlySet<Exporter> result)
 					break;
 				default:
 					throw new ArgumentException(
-						$"Unknown exporter '{token}'. Valid values: html, llm, es, config, links, state, redirects, okf, default, metadata, none.");
+						$"Unknown exporter '{token}'. Valid values: html, llm, es, config, links, state, redirects, okf, pagefind, default, metadata, none.");
 			}
 		}
 		result = set;
diff --git a/src/services/Elastic.Documentation.Isolated/ExporterParser.cs b/src/services/Elastic.Documentation.Isolated/ExporterParser.cs
index 9992476e1e..72c26b6710 100644
--- a/src/services/Elastic.Documentation.Isolated/ExporterParser.cs
+++ b/src/services/Elastic.Documentation.Isolated/ExporterParser.cs
@@ -56,6 +56,9 @@ public bool TryParse(string raw, out IReadOnlySet<Exporter> result)
 				case "okf":
 					_ = set.Add(Exporter.Okf);
 					break;
+				case "pagefind":
+					_ = set.Add(Exporter.Pagefind);
+					break;
 				case "none":
 					break;
 				case "default":
@@ -68,7 +71,7 @@ public bool TryParse(string raw, out IReadOnlySet<Exporter> result)
 					break;
 				default:
 					throw new ArgumentException(
-						$"Unknown exporter '{token}'. Valid values: html, llm, es, config, links, state, redirects, okf, default, metadata, none.");
+						$"Unknown exporter '{token}'. Valid values: html, llm, es, config, links, state, redirects, okf, pagefind, default, metadata, none.");
 			}
 		}
 		result = set;
diff --git a/src/tooling/docs-builder/Http/DocumentationWebHost.cs b/src/tooling/docs-builder/Http/DocumentationWebHost.cs
index 8ef88049ca..395437a6f8 100644
--- a/src/tooling/docs-builder/Http/DocumentationWebHost.cs
+++ b/src/tooling/docs-builder/Http/DocumentationWebHost.cs
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ bool isWatchBuild
 			.AddFilter("Microsoft.AspNetCore.StaticFiles.StaticFileMiddleware", LogLevel.Error)
 			.AddFilter("Microsoft.AspNetCore.Routing.EndpointMiddleware", LogLevel.Warning)
 			.AddFilter("Microsoft.AspNetCore.Http.Result.ContentResult", LogLevel.Warning)
+			.AddFilter("Microsoft.AspNetCore.Http.Result.FileContentResult", LogLevel.Warning)
 			.AddFilter("Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime", LogLevel.Information);
 
 		var collector = new LiveModeDiagnosticsCollector(logFactory);
@@ -157,8 +158,9 @@ private void SetUpRoutes()
 				{
 					FileProvider = new EmbeddedOrPhysicalFileProvider(Context),
 					RequestPath = "/_static"
-				})
-			.UseRouting();
+				});
+
+		_ = _webApplication.UseRouting();
 
 		_ = _webApplication.MapGet("/", (ReloadableGeneratorState holder, Cancel ctx) =>
 			ServeDocumentationFile(holder, "index", _writeFileSystem, ctx));
@@ -211,10 +213,40 @@ private void SetUpRoutes()
 		_ = _webApplication.MapGet("/_api/diagnostics/state", (InMemoryBuildState buildState) =>
 			Results.Json(buildState.GetCurrentState(), DiagnosticsJsonContext.Default.BuildEvent));
 
+		_ = _webApplication.MapGet("/_static/pagefind/{**path}", (string path, InMemoryBuildState buildState, ReloadableGeneratorState holder) =>
+			ServePagefindFile(path, buildState, holder));
+
 		_ = _webApplication.MapGet("{**slug}", (string slug, ReloadableGeneratorState holder, Cancel ctx) =>
 			ServeDocumentationFile(holder, slug, _writeFileSystem, ctx));
 	}
 
+	private static IResult ServePagefindFile(string path, InMemoryBuildState buildState, ReloadableGeneratorState holder)
+	{
+		var writeFs = buildState.WriteFileSystem;
+		if (writeFs is null)
+			return Results.NotFound();
+
+		var outputDir = holder.Generator.DocumentationSet.Context.OutputDirectory.FullName;
+		var filePath = Path.Combine(outputDir, "_static", "pagefind", path);
+		var fileInfo = writeFs.FileInfo.New(filePath);
+		if (!fileInfo.Exists)
+			return Results.NotFound();
+
+		var mimeType = Path.GetExtension(path) switch
+		{
+			".js" => "application/javascript",
+			".json" => "application/json",
+			".pagefind" => "application/wasm",
+			".pf_meta" => "application/octet-stream",
+			".pf_index" => "application/octet-stream",
+			".pf_fragment" => "application/octet-stream",
+			_ => "application/octet-stream"
+		};
+
+		var bytes = writeFs.File.ReadAllBytes(filePath);
+		return Results.Bytes(bytes, mimeType);
+	}
+
 	private static async Task WriteSSEEvent(HttpResponse response, string eventType, BuildEvent data, Cancel ct)
 	{
 		var json = JsonSerializer.Serialize(data, DiagnosticsJsonContext.Default.BuildEvent);
diff --git a/src/tooling/docs-builder/Http/InMemoryBuildState.cs b/src/tooling/docs-builder/Http/InMemoryBuildState.cs
index 4f0c05c78e..d882cd195e 100644
--- a/src/tooling/docs-builder/Http/InMemoryBuildState.cs
+++ b/src/tooling/docs-builder/Http/InMemoryBuildState.cs
@@ -60,8 +60,9 @@ public class InMemoryBuildState(ILoggerFactory loggerFactory, IConfigurationCont
 
 	// Reuse MockFileSystem across builds to benefit from caching.
 	// Initialized lazily on first ExecuteBuildAsync so we can scope it to the source path.
-	private ScopedFileSystem? _writeFs;
+	// Exposed so the serve host can read pagefind index files written by the background build.
 	private string? _writeFsPath;
+	public ScopedFileSystem? WriteFileSystem { get; private set; }
 
 	// Broadcast: maintain list of connected client channels
 	private readonly Lock _clientsLock = new();
@@ -164,9 +165,9 @@ private async Task ExecuteBuildAsync(string sourcePath, Cancel ct)
 			var streamingCollector = new StreamingDiagnosticsCollector(_loggerFactory, this);
 
 			var readFs = FileSystemFactory.RealGitRootForPath(sourcePath);
-			if (_writeFs is null || _writeFsPath != sourcePath)
+			if (WriteFileSystem is null || _writeFsPath != sourcePath)
 			{
-				_writeFs = FileSystemFactory.InMemoryForPath(sourcePath);
+				WriteFileSystem = FileSystemFactory.InMemoryForPath(sourcePath);
 				_writeFsPath = sourcePath;
 			}
 			var service = new IsolatedBuildService(_loggerFactory, _configurationContext, new NullCoreService(), SystemEnvironmentVariables.Instance);
@@ -189,7 +190,7 @@ private async Task ExecuteBuildAsync(string sourcePath, Cancel ct)
 					SkipApi = true,
 					SkipCrossLinks = false
 				},
-				_writeFs, // reuse MockFileSystem across builds for caching; initialized above
+				WriteFileSystem, // reuse MockFileSystem across builds for caching; initialized above
 				ct
 			);
 
diff --git a/tests/authoring/Generator/LinkReferenceFile.fs b/tests/authoring/Generator/LinkReferenceFile.fs
index df048c95ea..a452a88627 100644
--- a/tests/authoring/Generator/LinkReferenceFile.fs
+++ b/tests/authoring/Generator/LinkReferenceFile.fs
@@ -31,12 +31,12 @@ Through various means $$$including-this-inline-syntax$$$
  	            <em>Welcome</em>
  	            to this documentation</p>
              <div class="heading-wrapper" id="this-anchor-is-autogenerated">
- 	            <h2>
+                 <h2>
  		            <a class="headerlink" href="#this-anchor-is-autogenerated">This anchor is autogenerated</a>
  	            </h2>
              </div>
              <div class="heading-wrapper" id="and-anchored">
- 	            <h3>
+                 <h3>
  		            <a class="headerlink" href="#and-anchored">Several pages can be created</a>
  	            </h3>
              </div>