diff --git a/server/src/module/opensource/opensource.routes.ts b/server/src/module/opensource/opensource.routes.ts
index 0fe379c8d..1db7fb98a 100644
--- a/server/src/module/opensource/opensource.routes.ts
+++ b/server/src/module/opensource/opensource.routes.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { Router } from "express";
+import { Router } from "express";
 import { prisma } from "../../database/db.js";
 import { OpensourceController } from "./opensource.controller.js";
 import { authMiddleware } from "../../middleware/auth.middleware.js";
@@ -21,24 +21,6 @@ opensourceRouter.get("/languages", (req, res, next) => controller.getLanguages(r
 // Get GSoC organizations
 opensourceRouter.get("/gsoc/orgs", (req, res, next) => controller.getGsocOrgs(req, res, next));
 
-// ─── Student Progress Tracking ─────────────────────────────────
-// NOTE: must be before /:id to avoid route conflicts
-
-opensourceRouter.get(
-  "/first-pr/progress",
-  authMiddleware,
-  requireRole("STUDENT"),
-  (req, res, next) => controller.getFirstPrProgress(req, res, next),
-);
-
-opensourceRouter.patch(
-  "/first-pr/progress",
-  authMiddleware,
-  requireRole("STUDENT"),
-  (req, res, next) => controller.patchFirstPrProgress(req, res, next),
-);
-
-// ─── Repo Requests (Student-authenticated) ─────────────────────
 // NOTE: these must be registered BEFORE /:id to avoid route conflicts
 
 opensourceRouter.post("/requests", authMiddleware, requireRole("STUDENT"), (req, res, next) =>
@@ -81,6 +63,13 @@ opensourceRouter.get("/analytics/trend", authMiddleware, requireRole("STUDENT"),
   controller.getStudentContributionTrend(req, res, next),
 );
 
+opensourceRouter.get("/first-pr/progress", authMiddleware, requireRole("STUDENT"), (req, res, next) =>
+  controller.getFirstPrProgress(req, res, next),
+);
+
+opensourceRouter.patch("/first-pr/progress", authMiddleware, requireRole("STUDENT"), (req, res, next) =>
+  controller.patchFirstPrProgress(req, res, next),
+);
 // ─── Admin: Manage Repo Requests ───────────────────────────────
 
 opensourceRouter.get("/requests/all", authMiddleware, requireRole("ADMIN"), (req, res, next) =>
diff --git a/server/src/module/opensource/opensource.service.ts b/server/src/module/opensource/opensource.service.ts
index 27ff7603c..9fca8dffd 100644
--- a/server/src/module/opensource/opensource.service.ts
+++ b/server/src/module/opensource/opensource.service.ts
@@ -78,23 +78,25 @@ export class OpensourceService {
     if (language) where["language"] = { equals: language, mode: "insensitive" };
     if (difficulty) where["difficulty"] = difficulty;
     if (domain) where["domain"] = domain;
-    const trimmedSearch = search?.trim();
-    if (trimmedSearch) {
-      // Prisma's scalar-list filters can't do case-insensitive substring match
-      // on array elements, so resolve tag matches via a raw ILIKE-on-unnest
-      // subquery and merge the matching ids into the OR clause.
+const trimmedSearch = search?.trim();
+
+if (trimmedSearch) {
+  // Prisma's scalar-list filters can't do case-insensitive substring match
+  // on array elements, so resolve tag matches via a raw ILIKE-on-unnest
+  // subquery and merge the matching ids into the OR clause.
       const tagMatches = await prisma.$queryRaw<Array<{ id: number }>>`
         SELECT id FROM "opensourceRepo"
         WHERE EXISTS (
           SELECT 1 FROM unnest(tags) AS t WHERE t ILIKE ${`%${trimmedSearch}%`}
         )
       `;
+    
       const tagMatchIds = tagMatches.map((r) => r.id);
-      where["OR"] = [
-        { name: { contains: trimmedSearch, mode: "insensitive" } },
-        { owner: { contains: trimmedSearch, mode: "insensitive" } },
-        { description: { contains: search, mode: "insensitive" } },
-        { language: { contains: search, mode: "insensitive" } },
+where["OR"] = [
+  { name: { contains: trimmedSearch, mode: "insensitive" } },
+  { owner: { contains: trimmedSearch, mode: "insensitive" } },
+  { description: { contains: trimmedSearch, mode: "insensitive" } },
+  { language: { contains: trimmedSearch, mode: "insensitive" } },
         ...(tagMatchIds.length > 0 ? [{ id: { in: tagMatchIds } }] : []),
       ];
     }
@@ -162,10 +164,12 @@ export class OpensourceService {
     const skip = (page - 1) * limit;
     const where: any = {};
 
-    if (search) {
+    const trimmedSearch = search?.trim();
+
+      if (trimmedSearch) {
       where.OR = [
-        { name: { contains: search, mode: "insensitive" } },
-        { description: { contains: search, mode: "insensitive" } },
+        { name: { contains: trimmedSearch, mode: "insensitive" } },
+        { description: { contains: trimmedSearch, mode: "insensitive" } },
       ];
     }
     if (category) {