4 files changed, 49 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/castle-search/src/engines.ts b/castle-search/src/engines.ts
index 76716c6..fb07649 100644
--- a/castle-search/src/engines.ts
+++ b/castle-search/src/engines.ts
@@ -45,6 +45,12 @@ export type ExtractionConfig = {
   mode: "items" | "headings";
   /** Results container candidates, first match wins. */
   roots: string[];
+  /**
+   * Present only on the engine's own "nothing matched" page. Without it a page
+   * that genuinely has zero hits is indistinguishable from broken markup, and
+   * the error blames the extractor for what is just an over-narrow query.
+   */
+  emptyMarker?: string;
   /** "items" mode: one result. */
   item?: string;
   /** Anchor carrying the outbound link, relative to the item. */
@@ -124,6 +130,9 @@ const DUCKDUCKGO: EngineDefinition = {
   extraction: {
     mode: "items",
     roots: [".results", "#links"],
+    // Seen 2026-11-06: `<div class="result results_links no-results">` — it is
+    // itself a `.result`, which is why the extractor finds a container and no hits.
+    emptyMarker: ".no-results",
     item: ".result",
     link: "a.result__a[href]",
     title: "a.result__a",
@@ -187,7 +196,9 @@ const BRAVE: EngineDefinition = {
   },
   extraction: {
     mode: "items",
-    roots: ["#results"],
+    // `#results` is gone from the live page (2026-11-06); `#main` and `main`
+    // wrap the results. Left first so the older layout still matches.
+    roots: ["#results", "#main", "main"],
     // data-type="web" excludes the AI summariser, video and news cards, which
     // share the .snippet class but are not ranked web results.
     item: '.snippet[data-type="web"]',
diff --git a/castle-search/src/extract.ts b/castle-search/src/extract.ts
index 653942b..0284bb7 100644
--- a/castle-search/src/extract.ts
+++ b/castle-search/src/extract.ts
@@ -65,6 +65,8 @@ export type PageProbe = {
    * and worth telling apart when diagnosing a zero-hit search.
    */
   container: "found" | "none";
+  /** True when the engine's own "no matches" marker is on the page. */
+  empty: boolean;
   results: SearchResult[];
 };
 
@@ -279,6 +281,12 @@ export const buildProbeScript = (config: ExtractionConfig): string => String.raw
   var challenge = null;
   var results = [];
   var container = "none";
+  var empty = false;
+  try {
+    empty = !!(CFG.emptyMarker && document.querySelector(CFG.emptyMarker));
+  } catch (e) {
+    empty = false;
+  }
   try {
     challenge = detectChallenge();
   } catch (e) {
@@ -298,6 +306,7 @@ export const buildProbeScript = (config: ExtractionConfig): string => String.raw
     readyState: document.readyState,
     challenge: challenge,
     container: container,
+    empty: empty,
     results: results,
   };
 })()`;
diff --git a/castle-search/src/search.ts b/castle-search/src/search.ts
index 1c84392..c64735d 100644
--- a/castle-search/src/search.ts
+++ b/castle-search/src/search.ts
@@ -299,6 +299,18 @@ export const search = async (
         });
       }
 
+      if (probe.results.length === 0 && probe.empty) {
+        // The engine itself says nothing matched. That is the query's doing, not
+        // the extractor's or a rate limit's, and saying so stops the caller from
+        // switching engines for a query no index will answer.
+        throw new NoResultsError(
+          `${engine.label} reports no matches for this query (${probe.url || searchUrl}). The page loaded ` +
+            `normally and the engine says so itself, so this is not a block or a broken extractor — the query ` +
+            `is too narrow. Drop the quotes or some of the terms; retrying another engine with the same ` +
+            `over-specific query is unlikely to help.`,
+        );
+      }
+
       if (probe.results.length === 0) {
         // "container missing entirely" and "container present but empty" are
         // different faults, and saying which saves the next person a browser
diff --git a/castle-search/test/extraction-config.test.ts b/castle-search/test/extraction-config.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..43d2108
--- /dev/null
+++ b/castle-search/test/extraction-config.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import { test } from "node:test";
+
+import { getEngine } from "../src/engines.ts";
+
+test("duckduckgo can tell a genuine zero-hit page from broken markup", () => {
+  // Its "no results" notice is itself a `.result`, so without a marker an empty
+  // search looks like an extractor failure.
+  assert.equal(getEngine("duckduckgo").extraction.emptyMarker, ".no-results");
+});
+
+test("brave falls back to main when #results is absent", () => {
+  const roots = getEngine("brave").extraction.roots;
+  assert.ok(roots.includes("main"));
+  assert.equal(roots[0], "#results");
+});