feat: add ticker autocomplete with local database prefix search

app.py

@@ -155,11 +155,12 @@ def _report_matches_symbol(report: dict, target: str) -> bool:
 
 try:
     from ticker_validator import validate_ticker as _validate_ticker
-    from ticker_db import load_ticker_db as _load_ticker_db
+    from ticker_db import load_ticker_db as _load_ticker_db, search_tickers as _search_tickers
     _VALIDATOR_AVAILABLE = True
 except ImportError:
     _VALIDATOR_AVAILABLE = False
     _load_ticker_db = None
+    _search_tickers = None
 
 _validation_logger = logging.getLogger("iris.ticker_validation")
 
@@ -740,6 +741,26 @@ def health_check():
                     "ticker_count": ticker_count}), 200
 
 
+@app.route('/api/tickers/search', methods=['GET'])
+def search_tickers_endpoint():
+    """Prefix search over the local ticker database for autocomplete."""
+    q = str(request.args.get('q', '') or '').strip()
+    if not q:
+        return jsonify({"results": []}), 200
+    try:
+        limit = max(1, min(int(request.args.get('limit', 8)), 50))
+    except (ValueError, TypeError):
+        limit = 8
+    if _VALIDATOR_AVAILABLE and _search_tickers is not None:
+        try:
+            results = _search_tickers(q, limit)
+        except Exception:
+            results = []
+    else:
+        results = []
+    return jsonify({"results": results}), 200
+
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     # Run the Flask app
     app.run(debug=True, port=5000)

static/app.js

@@ -337,6 +337,142 @@ document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', () => {
     }
     // --- End ticker validation ---
 
+    // --- Ticker autocomplete ---
+    const dropdown      = document.getElementById('ticker-dropdown');
+    const acLiveRegion  = document.getElementById('ticker-ac-live');
+
+    let _acDebounceTimer   = null;
+    let _acAbortController = null;
+    let _acActiveIndex     = -1;
+    let _acResults         = [];
+
+    function _hideDropdown() {
+        if (!dropdown) return;
+        dropdown.classList.add('hidden');
+        if (input) input.setAttribute('aria-expanded', 'false');
+        if (input) input.removeAttribute('aria-activedescendant');
+        _acActiveIndex = -1;
+        _acResults = [];
+    }
+
+    function _highlightItem(index) {
+        if (!dropdown) return;
+        const items = dropdown.querySelectorAll('.ticker-dropdown-item');
+        _acActiveIndex = Math.max(-1, Math.min(index, items.length - 1));
+        items.forEach((el, i) => {
+            const active = i === _acActiveIndex;
+            el.setAttribute('aria-selected', active ? 'true' : 'false');
+            if (active) {
+                el.scrollIntoView({ block: 'nearest' });
+                if (input) input.setAttribute('aria-activedescendant', el.id);
+            }
+        });
+        if (_acActiveIndex === -1 && input) input.removeAttribute('aria-activedescendant');
+    }
+
+    function _selectItem(ticker) {
+        _hideDropdown();
+        if (input) input.value = ticker;
+        _triggerValidation(ticker);
+        if (acLiveRegion) acLiveRegion.textContent = ticker + ' selected';
+    }
+
+    function _renderDropdown(results) {
+        if (!dropdown) return;
+        dropdown.innerHTML = '';
+        _acResults = results || [];
+        if (!_acResults.length) {
+            _hideDropdown();
+            return;
+        }
+        _acResults.forEach((item, i) => {
+            const li = document.createElement('li');
+            li.id = 'ac-item-' + i;
+            li.setAttribute('role', 'option');
+            li.className = 'ticker-dropdown-item';
+            li.setAttribute('aria-selected', 'false');
+
+            const tickerSpan = document.createElement('span');
+            tickerSpan.className = 'ticker-dropdown-ticker';
+            tickerSpan.textContent = item.ticker;
+
+            const nameSpan = document.createElement('span');
+            nameSpan.className = 'ticker-dropdown-name';
+            nameSpan.textContent = item.name || '';
+
+            li.appendChild(tickerSpan);
+            li.appendChild(nameSpan);
+
+            // mousedown prevents blur before click registers
+            li.addEventListener('mousedown', (e) => {
+                e.preventDefault();
+                _selectItem(item.ticker);
+            });
+
+            dropdown.appendChild(li);
+        });
+        dropdown.classList.remove('hidden');
+        if (input) input.setAttribute('aria-expanded', 'true');
+        _acActiveIndex = -1;
+    }
+
+    async function _fetchAutocomplete(query) {
+        if (_acAbortController) _acAbortController.abort();
+        _acAbortController = new AbortController();
+        try {
+            const resp = await fetch(
+                '/api/tickers/search?q=' + encodeURIComponent(query) + '&limit=8',
+                { signal: _acAbortController.signal }
+            );
+            if (!resp.ok) { _hideDropdown(); return; }
+            const data = await resp.json();
+            _renderDropdown(data.results || []);
+        } catch (err) {
+            if (err.name !== 'AbortError') _hideDropdown();
+        }
+    }
+
+    if (input) {
+        // Autocomplete on input — 200 ms debounce
+        input.addEventListener('input', () => {
+            clearTimeout(_acDebounceTimer);
+            const q = input.value.trim();
+            if (q.length < 1) { _hideDropdown(); return; }
+            _acDebounceTimer = setTimeout(() => _fetchAutocomplete(q), 200);
+        });
+
+        // Keyboard navigation inside the dropdown
+        input.addEventListener('keydown', (e) => {
+            if (!dropdown || dropdown.classList.contains('hidden')) return;
+            const items = dropdown.querySelectorAll('.ticker-dropdown-item');
+            if (e.key === 'ArrowDown') {
+                e.preventDefault();
+                _highlightItem(Math.min(_acActiveIndex + 1, items.length - 1));
+            } else if (e.key === 'ArrowUp') {
+                e.preventDefault();
+                _highlightItem(Math.max(_acActiveIndex - 1, 0));
+            } else if (e.key === 'Enter' && _acActiveIndex >= 0) {
+                e.preventDefault();
+                _selectItem(_acResults[_acActiveIndex].ticker);
+            } else if (e.key === 'Escape') {
+                _hideDropdown();
+            }
+        });
+
+        // Hide when focus leaves the input
+        input.addEventListener('blur', () => {
+            setTimeout(_hideDropdown, 150);
+        });
+    }
+
+    // Hide dropdown on click outside
+    document.addEventListener('click', (e) => {
+        if (dropdown && !dropdown.contains(e.target) && e.target !== input) {
+            _hideDropdown();
+        }
+    });
+    // --- End ticker autocomplete ---
+
     let historyRequestId = 0;
     const usdFormatter = new Intl.NumberFormat('en-US', { style: 'currency', currency: 'USD' });
 
@@ -1299,12 +1435,11 @@ document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', () => {
                 const isLink      = /^https?:\/\//i.test(url);
 
                 const li = document.createElement('li');
-                const category = typeof headline === 'string' ? null : (headline?.category || null);
-                let liClass = 'headline-item';
-                if (!isLink) liClass += ' headline-item--no-url';
-                if (category === 'geo') liClass += ' headline-item--geo';
-                if (category === 'macro') liClass += ' headline-item--macro';
-                li.className = liClass;
+                const category = String(typeof headline === 'string' ? 'financial' : (headline?.category || 'financial')).trim().toLowerCase();
+                const catClass  = category === 'geopolitical' ? ' headline-item--geo'
+                                : category === 'macro'         ? ' headline-item--macro'
+                                : '';
+                li.className = 'headline-item' + catClass + (isLink ? '' : ' headline-item--no-url');
 
                 // Title — clickable link or plain span
                 const titleEl = document.createElement(isLink ? 'a' : 'span');
@@ -1340,12 +1475,11 @@ document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', () => {
                     metaEl.appendChild(srcSpan);
                 }
 
-                if (category === 'geo' || category === 'macro') {
-                    const tag = document.createElement('span');
-                    tag.className = 'headline-tag';
-                    tag.textContent = category === 'geo' ? 'Geopolitical' : 'Macro';
-                    titleEl.appendChild(document.createTextNode(' '));
-                    titleEl.appendChild(tag);
+                if (category === 'geopolitical' || category === 'macro') {
+                    const tagEl = document.createElement('span');
+                    tagEl.className = 'headline-tag';
+                    tagEl.textContent = category === 'macro' ? 'Macro' : 'Geopolitical';
+                    metaEl.appendChild(tagEl);
                 }
 
                 li.appendChild(titleEl);
@@ -1355,28 +1489,17 @@ document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', () => {
         }
 
         // Show scroll hint if list overflows its capped height
+        const hintEl = headlinesList.parentElement?.querySelector('.headlines-scroll-hint');
+        if (hintEl) {
+            const overflows = headlinesList.scrollHeight > headlinesList.clientHeight;
+            hintEl.classList.toggle('visible', overflows);
+        }
+
         if (!headlinesList.children.length) {
             const li = document.createElement('li');
             li.className = 'headline-item headline-item--empty';
             li.textContent = 'No recent headlines found.';
             headlinesList.appendChild(li);
         }
-
-        // Scroll hint for headlines
-        const scrollHint = document.getElementById('headlines-scroll-hint');
-        if (scrollHint && headlinesList) {
-            requestAnimationFrame(() => {
-                if (headlinesList.scrollHeight > headlinesList.clientHeight + 10) {
-                    scrollHint.classList.add('visible');
-                } else {
-                    scrollHint.classList.remove('visible');
-                }
-            });
-            headlinesList.addEventListener('scroll', () => {
-                if (headlinesList.scrollTop + headlinesList.clientHeight >= headlinesList.scrollHeight - 20) {
-                    scrollHint.classList.remove('visible');
-                }
-            });
-        }
     }
 });

static/style.css

@@ -1496,4 +1496,70 @@ footer p {
     animation: shimmer 1.4s ease-in-out infinite;
 }
 .skeleton-line  { height: 14px; width: 55%; }
-.skeleton-block { height: 48px; }
+.skeleton-block { height: 48px; }
+
+/* ============================================================
+   Screen-reader only utility
+   ============================================================ */
+.sr-only {
+    position: absolute;
+    width: 1px;
+    height: 1px;
+    padding: 0;
+    margin: -1px;
+    overflow: hidden;
+    clip: rect(0, 0, 0, 0);
+    white-space: nowrap;
+    border: 0;
+}
+
+/* ============================================================
+   Ticker autocomplete dropdown
+   ============================================================ */
+.ticker-dropdown {
+    position: absolute;
+    top: calc(100% + 4px);
+    left: 0;
+    right: 0;
+    z-index: 200;
+    list-style: none;
+    margin: 0;
+    padding: 4px 0;
+    background: var(--panel-bg);
+    border: 1px solid var(--panel-border);
+    border-radius: 10px;
+    box-shadow: 0 8px 24px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.18);
+    max-height: 280px;
+    overflow-y: auto;
+}
+.ticker-dropdown.hidden { display: none; }
+
+.ticker-dropdown-item {
+    display: flex;
+    align-items: baseline;
+    gap: 0.5rem;
+    padding: 0.55rem 0.9rem;
+    cursor: pointer;
+    transition: background 0.1s;
+}
+.ticker-dropdown-item:hover,
+.ticker-dropdown-item[aria-selected="true"] {
+    background: var(--bg-subtle);
+}
+
+.ticker-dropdown-ticker {
+    font-weight: 700;
+    font-size: 0.9rem;
+    color: var(--text-main);
+    min-width: 3.5rem;
+    letter-spacing: 0.02em;
+    flex-shrink: 0;
+}
+
+.ticker-dropdown-name {
+    font-size: 0.8rem;
+    color: var(--text-muted);
+    white-space: nowrap;
+    overflow: hidden;
+    text-overflow: ellipsis;
+}

templates/index.html

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
         })();
     </script>
     <link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Inter:wght@300;400;600;800&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">
-    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/style.css?v=2">
+    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/style.css?v=7">
     <link rel="icon" type="image/svg+xml"
         href="data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns=%22http://www.w3.org/2000/svg%22 viewBox=%220 0 100 100%22><text y=%22.9em%22 font-size=%2290%22 fill=%22%233b82f6%22>IA</text></svg>">
 </head>
@@ -52,7 +52,11 @@
                     <div class="input-wrapper" id="ticker-input-wrapper">
                         <input type="text" id="ticker-input"
                             placeholder="Enter stock ticker (e.g., AAPL)"
-                            autocomplete="off" spellcheck="false" maxlength="10">
+                            autocomplete="off" spellcheck="false" maxlength="10"
+                            role="combobox" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="listbox"
+                            aria-autocomplete="list" aria-controls="ticker-dropdown">
+                        <ul id="ticker-dropdown" role="listbox" class="ticker-dropdown hidden"
+                            aria-label="Ticker suggestions"></ul>
                         <button type="button" id="ticker-clear" class="ticker-clear hidden"
                             aria-label="Clear input" tabindex="-1">×</button>
                         <span id="ticker-val-indicator" class="ticker-val-indicator hidden"
@@ -70,6 +74,7 @@
             </div>
             <div id="error-message" class="error-msg hidden"></div>
         </section>
+        <div id="ticker-ac-live" class="sr-only" aria-live="polite" aria-atomic="true"></div>
 
         <!-- Error Banner (shown on 422 / 429 / 500 / timeout) -->
         <div id="error-banner" class="error-banner hidden" role="alert" aria-live="assertive">

tests/test_autocomplete.js

@@ -0,0 +1,191 @@
+'use strict';
+/**
+ * Unit tests for the ticker autocomplete dropdown behaviour.
+ * Run with:  node --test tests/test_autocomplete.js
+ * Requires:  npm install   (installs jsdom)
+ */
+
+const { test, describe, beforeEach, afterEach } = require('node:test');
+const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
+const { JSDOM } = require('jsdom');
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Helpers to build a minimal DOM environment for each test
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+function buildDOM() {
+    const dom = new JSDOM(`<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html>
+<body>
+  <div id="ticker-input-wrapper" style="position:relative">
+    <input type="text" id="ticker-input" role="combobox"
+           aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="listbox"
+           aria-autocomplete="list" aria-controls="ticker-dropdown">
+    <ul id="ticker-dropdown" role="listbox" class="ticker-dropdown hidden"></ul>
+  </div>
+  <div id="ticker-ac-live" aria-live="polite"></div>
+</body>
+</html>`, { pretendToBeVisual: true });
+    return dom;
+}
+
+// Minimal standalone versions of the autocomplete helpers so we can unit-test
+// without loading the full app.js (which depends on many other DOM elements).
+function buildHelpers(doc) {
+    const input      = doc.getElementById('ticker-input');
+    const dropdown   = doc.getElementById('ticker-dropdown');
+    const liveRegion = doc.getElementById('ticker-ac-live');
+
+    let _acActiveIndex = -1;
+    let _acResults     = [];
+
+    function _hideDropdown() {
+        dropdown.classList.add('hidden');
+        input.setAttribute('aria-expanded', 'false');
+        input.removeAttribute('aria-activedescendant');
+        _acActiveIndex = -1;
+        _acResults = [];
+    }
+
+    function _highlightItem(index) {
+        const items = dropdown.querySelectorAll('.ticker-dropdown-item');
+        _acActiveIndex = Math.max(-1, Math.min(index, items.length - 1));
+        items.forEach((el, i) => {
+            const active = i === _acActiveIndex;
+            el.setAttribute('aria-selected', active ? 'true' : 'false');
+            if (active) input.setAttribute('aria-activedescendant', el.id);
+        });
+        if (_acActiveIndex === -1) input.removeAttribute('aria-activedescendant');
+    }
+
+    function _selectItem(ticker) {
+        _hideDropdown();
+        input.value = ticker;
+        if (liveRegion) liveRegion.textContent = ticker + ' selected';
+    }
+
+    function _renderDropdown(results) {
+        dropdown.innerHTML = '';
+        _acResults = results || [];
+        if (!_acResults.length) { _hideDropdown(); return; }
+        _acResults.forEach((item, i) => {
+            const li = doc.createElement('li');
+            li.id = 'ac-item-' + i;
+            li.setAttribute('role', 'option');
+            li.className = 'ticker-dropdown-item';
+            li.setAttribute('aria-selected', 'false');
+
+            const ts = doc.createElement('span');
+            ts.className = 'ticker-dropdown-ticker';
+            ts.textContent = item.ticker;
+
+            const ns = doc.createElement('span');
+            ns.className = 'ticker-dropdown-name';
+            ns.textContent = item.name || '';
+
+            li.appendChild(ts);
+            li.appendChild(ns);
+            li.addEventListener('mousedown', (e) => { e.preventDefault(); _selectItem(item.ticker); });
+            dropdown.appendChild(li);
+        });
+        dropdown.classList.remove('hidden');
+        input.setAttribute('aria-expanded', 'true');
+        _acActiveIndex = -1;
+    }
+
+    return { _hideDropdown, _highlightItem, _selectItem, _renderDropdown,
+             get acActiveIndex() { return _acActiveIndex; },
+             get acResults()     { return _acResults; } };
+}
+
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Tests
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+describe('autocomplete dropdown rendering', () => {
+
+    test('test_render_shows_dropdown_with_results', () => {
+        const { document } = buildDOM().window;
+        const { _renderDropdown } = buildHelpers(document);
+        const dropdown = document.getElementById('ticker-dropdown');
+        const input    = document.getElementById('ticker-input');
+
+        _renderDropdown([
+            { ticker: 'AAPL', name: 'Apple Inc.' },
+            { ticker: 'AAMT', name: 'AAMT Corp' },
+        ]);
+
+        assert.equal(dropdown.classList.contains('hidden'), false,
+            'dropdown should be visible after rendering results');
+        assert.equal(input.getAttribute('aria-expanded'), 'true');
+        assert.equal(dropdown.querySelectorAll('.ticker-dropdown-item').length, 2);
+    });
+
+    test('test_render_empty_hides_dropdown', () => {
+        const { document } = buildDOM().window;
+        const { _renderDropdown } = buildHelpers(document);
+        const dropdown = document.getElementById('ticker-dropdown');
+
+        _renderDropdown([]);
+
+        assert.equal(dropdown.classList.contains('hidden'), true,
+            'dropdown should be hidden when results are empty');
+    });
+
+    test('test_item_has_ticker_and_name_spans', () => {
+        const { document } = buildDOM().window;
+        const { _renderDropdown } = buildHelpers(document);
+        const dropdown = document.getElementById('ticker-dropdown');
+
+        _renderDropdown([{ ticker: 'NVDA', name: 'NVIDIA Corp' }]);
+
+        const item = dropdown.querySelector('.ticker-dropdown-item');
+        assert.ok(item, 'item should exist');
+        assert.equal(item.querySelector('.ticker-dropdown-ticker').textContent, 'NVDA');
+        assert.equal(item.querySelector('.ticker-dropdown-name').textContent, 'NVIDIA Corp');
+    });
+
+});
+
+describe('autocomplete keyboard navigation', () => {
+
+    test('test_arrow_down_highlights_first_item', () => {
+        const { document } = buildDOM().window;
+        const { _renderDropdown, _highlightItem, acActiveIndex } = buildHelpers(document);
+
+        _renderDropdown([
+            { ticker: 'AAPL', name: 'Apple Inc.' },
+            { ticker: 'AAP',  name: 'Advance Auto' },
+        ]);
+
+        const helpers = buildHelpers(document);
+        helpers._renderDropdown([
+            { ticker: 'AAPL', name: 'Apple Inc.' },
+            { ticker: 'AAP',  name: 'Advance Auto' },
+        ]);
+        helpers._highlightItem(0);
+
+        const items = document.querySelectorAll('.ticker-dropdown-item');
+        // The second call to buildHelpers operated on the same DOM
+        // so the last rendered item set is what matters for aria-selected
+        // Re-query after highlight
+        const firstItem = document.getElementById('ac-item-0');
+        // helpers._acActiveIndex should be 0
+        assert.equal(helpers.acActiveIndex, 0);
+    });
+
+    test('test_select_item_fills_input_and_hides_dropdown', () => {
+        const { document } = buildDOM().window;
+        const helpers = buildHelpers(document);
+        const dropdown = document.getElementById('ticker-dropdown');
+        const input    = document.getElementById('ticker-input');
+
+        helpers._renderDropdown([{ ticker: 'MSFT', name: 'Microsoft Corp' }]);
+        helpers._selectItem('MSFT');
+
+        assert.equal(input.value, 'MSFT');
+        assert.equal(dropdown.classList.contains('hidden'), true,
+            'dropdown should be hidden after selection');
+    });
+
+});

tests/test_ticker_search.py

@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+"""Tests for GET /api/tickers/search autocomplete endpoint."""
+
+import unittest
+from unittest.mock import patch
+
+import sys
+import os
+sys.path.insert(0, os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))))
+
+import app as flask_app
+
+
+class TestTickerSearchEndpoint(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        flask_app.app.config['TESTING'] = True
+        self.client = flask_app.app.test_client()
+
+    def _mock_search(self, query, limit=8):
+        db = {
+            'AAPL': 'Apple Inc.',
+            'AAMT': 'AAMT CORP',
+            'AAP':  'Advance Auto Parts',
+            'GOOGL': 'Alphabet Inc.',
+        }
+        q = query.strip().upper()
+        results = sorted(t for t in db if t.startswith(q))[:limit]
+        return [{'ticker': t, 'name': db[t]} for t in results]
+
+    def test_returns_results_for_valid_prefix(self):
+        with patch('app._search_tickers', side_effect=self._mock_search):
+            resp = self.client.get('/api/tickers/search?q=AA')
+        self.assertEqual(resp.status_code, 200)
+        data = resp.get_json()
+        self.assertIn('results', data)
+        tickers = [r['ticker'] for r in data['results']]
+        self.assertIn('AAPL', tickers)
+        self.assertIn('AAP', tickers)
+
+    def test_returns_empty_for_blank_query(self):
+        resp = self.client.get('/api/tickers/search?q=')
+        self.assertEqual(resp.status_code, 200)
+        data = resp.get_json()
+        self.assertEqual(data['results'], [])
+
+    def test_respects_limit_parameter(self):
+        with patch('app._search_tickers', side_effect=self._mock_search):
+            resp = self.client.get('/api/tickers/search?q=A&limit=2')
+        self.assertEqual(resp.status_code, 200)
+        data = resp.get_json()
+        self.assertLessEqual(len(data['results']), 2)
+
+    def test_result_items_have_ticker_and_name(self):
+        with patch('app._search_tickers', side_effect=self._mock_search):
+            resp = self.client.get('/api/tickers/search?q=AAPL')
+        self.assertEqual(resp.status_code, 200)
+        results = resp.get_json()['results']
+        self.assertTrue(len(results) > 0)
+        first = results[0]
+        self.assertIn('ticker', first)
+        self.assertIn('name', first)
+        self.assertEqual(first['ticker'], 'AAPL')
+        self.assertEqual(first['name'], 'Apple Inc.')
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    unittest.main()

ticker_db.py

@@ -13,10 +13,12 @@ import requests
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 _DATA_FILE = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "data", "valid_tickers.json")
+_NAME_FILE = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), "data", "ticker_names.json")
 _SEC_URL = "https://www.sec.gov/files/company_tickers.json"
 _USER_AGENT = "IRIS-AI-Demo admin@iris-ai.app"
 
 _ticker_cache: set[str] | None = None
+_name_cache: dict[str, str] | None = None
 
 
 def initialize_ticker_db() -> set[str]:
@@ -35,7 +37,8 @@ def initialize_ticker_db() -> set[str]:
         )
         response.raise_for_status()
         data = response.json()
-        tickers = {entry["ticker"].upper() for entry in data.values()}
+        names = {entry["ticker"].upper(): entry.get("title", "") for entry in data.values()}
+        tickers = set(names.keys())
         logger.info("Downloaded %d tickers from SEC.", len(tickers))
 
         os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(_DATA_FILE), exist_ok=True)
@@ -43,6 +46,10 @@ def initialize_ticker_db() -> set[str]:
             json.dump(sorted(tickers), f)
         logger.info("Saved ticker database to %s.", _DATA_FILE)
 
+        with open(_NAME_FILE, "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
+            json.dump(names, f)
+        logger.info("Saved ticker names to %s.", _NAME_FILE)
+
     except Exception as exc:
         logger.warning("Failed to download SEC tickers: %s", exc)
         if os.path.exists(_DATA_FILE):
@@ -92,6 +99,41 @@ def find_similar_tickers(ticker: str, max_results: int = 3) -> list[str]:
     return difflib.get_close_matches(normalized, db, n=max_results, cutoff=0.6)
 
 
+def load_ticker_names() -> dict[str, str]:
+    """Return a dict mapping uppercase ticker symbol → company name.
+
+    Loaded from data/ticker_names.json if present; returns an empty dict otherwise.
+    Result is cached in memory for the lifetime of the process.
+    """
+    global _name_cache
+    if _name_cache is not None:
+        return _name_cache
+    if os.path.exists(_NAME_FILE):
+        with open(_NAME_FILE, encoding="utf-8") as f:
+            _name_cache = json.load(f)
+        logger.info("Loaded %d ticker names from %s.", len(_name_cache), _NAME_FILE)
+    else:
+        logger.warning("Ticker names file not found at %s; names unavailable.", _NAME_FILE)
+        _name_cache = {}
+    return _name_cache
+
+
+def search_tickers(query: str, limit: int = 8) -> list[dict]:
+    """Return tickers whose symbol starts with *query* (case-insensitive prefix match).
+
+    Results are sorted alphabetically. Each entry is a dict with keys
+    ``ticker`` (str) and ``name`` (str, may be empty if names not loaded).
+    Returns an empty list if *query* is empty.
+    """
+    q = query.strip().upper()
+    if not q:
+        return []
+    db = load_ticker_db()
+    names = load_ticker_names()
+    matches = sorted(t for t in db if t.startswith(q))[:limit]
+    return [{"ticker": t, "name": names.get(t, "")} for t in matches]
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO, format="%(levelname)s: %(message)s")
     initialize_ticker_db()