diff --git a/frontend/templates/search.html b/frontend/templates/search.html
index 18d24575..0a9f771b 100644
--- a/frontend/templates/search.html
+++ b/frontend/templates/search.html
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@
       .then(r => { if (!r.ok) throw new Error('Search returned ' + r.status); return r.json(); })
       .then(data => renderResults(data, q))
       .catch(err => {
-        resultsDiv.innerHTML = '<div style="text-align:center;padding:2rem;color:#dc2626;"><i class="fas fa-exclamation-triangle fa-2x"></i><p style="margin-top:0.5rem;">Search unavailable: ' + err.message + '</p></div>';
+        resultsDiv.innerHTML = '<div style="text-align:center;padding:2rem;color:#dc2626;"><i class="fas fa-exclamation-triangle fa-2x"></i><p style="margin-top:0.5rem;">Search is temporarily unavailable. Please try again in a moment.</p><p style="font-size:0.75rem;color:#9ca3af;margin-top:0.25rem;">' + escapeHtml(err.message) + '</p></div>';
       });
   }
 
@@ -157,6 +157,24 @@
     return d.innerHTML;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Sanitize Meilisearch highlighted HTML: allow only <mark> tags,
+   * escape everything else to prevent XSS from indexed content.
+   */
+  function sanitizeHighlight(html) {
+    // Temporarily replace <mark> and </mark> with placeholders
+    var safe = html
+      .replace(/<mark>/gi,  '\x00MARK_OPEN\x00')
+      .replace(/<\/mark>/gi, '\x00MARK_CLOSE\x00');
+    // Escape all remaining HTML
+    safe = escapeHtml(safe);
+    // Restore the <mark> tags
+    safe = safe
+      .replace(/\x00MARK_OPEN\x00/g,  '<mark>')
+      .replace(/\x00MARK_CLOSE\x00/g, '</mark>');
+    return safe;
+  }
+
   function renderResults(data, q) {
     const { results, total, page, pages } = data;
 
@@ -189,14 +207,15 @@
       // Snippet: use highlighted text, truncate if very long
       var snippetHtml = '';
       if (snippet) {
-        // The API returns highlighted HTML with <mark> tags; we trust it here
-        // because it comes from our own Meilisearch instance.
         var trimmed = snippet.length > 500 ? snippet.substring(0, 500) + '…' : snippet;
-        snippetHtml = '<div class="search-result-snippet">…' + trimmed + '…</div>';
+        snippetHtml = '<div class="search-result-snippet">…' + sanitizeHighlight(trimmed) + '…</div>';
       }
 
+      // Sanitize title (may contain <mark> highlights from _formatted)
+      var safeTitle = (fmt.document_title) ? sanitizeHighlight(title) : escapeHtml(title);
+
       return '<div class="search-result">' +
-        '<div class="search-result-title"><a href="' + escapeHtml(fileUrl) + '">' + title + '</a></div>' +
+        '<div class="search-result-title"><a href="' + escapeHtml(fileUrl) + '">' + safeTitle + '</a></div>' +
         '<div class="search-result-url">' + escapeHtml(filename) + '</div>' +
         (badges ? '<div class="search-result-meta">' + badges + '</div>' : '') +
         snippetHtml +
@@ -206,9 +225,9 @@
     // Pagination
     if (pages > 1) {
       var btns = [];
-      if (page > 1) btns.push('<button onclick="doSearch(' + (page - 1) + ')">« Previous</button>');
+      if (page > 1) btns.push('<button data-page="' + (page - 1) + '">« Previous</button>');
       btns.push('<span>Page ' + page + ' of ' + pages + '</span>');
-      if (page < pages) btns.push('<button onclick="doSearch(' + (page + 1) + ')">Next »</button>');
+      if (page < pages) btns.push('<button data-page="' + (page + 1) + '">Next »</button>');
       paginationDiv.innerHTML = btns.join('');
       paginationDiv.style.display = 'flex';
     } else {
@@ -216,6 +235,12 @@
     }
   }
 
+  // Event delegation for pagination buttons
+  paginationDiv.addEventListener('click', function(e) {
+    var btn = e.target.closest('button[data-page]');
+    if (btn) doSearch(parseInt(btn.getAttribute('data-page'), 10));
+  });
+
   // Event listeners
   searchBtn.addEventListener('click', function() { doSearch(1); });
   searchInput.addEventListener('keydown', function(e) {