diff --git a/src/__tests__/templateFilters.test.ts b/src/__tests__/templateFilters.test.ts
index 90a03d4..accce12 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/templateFilters.test.ts
+++ b/src/__tests__/templateFilters.test.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import {
   type TemplateFilters,
 } from "@/lib/templateFilters";
 import { TEMPLATES, templateCategories } from "@/lib/templates";
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
 
 /**
  * The gallery had one filter and a search box. Every listing people actually buy from
@@ -120,3 +121,22 @@ describe("a filtered view is a link someone can send", () => {
     expect(read.filters.q.length).toBeLessThanOrEqual(100);
   });
 });
+
+describe("the gallery is a page a crawler can read", () => {
+  const PAGE = readFileSync("src/app/templates/page.tsx", "utf8");
+  const CLIENT = readFileSync("src/app/templates/TemplatesClient.tsx", "utf8");
+
+  it("reads the filters on the server and hands them down", () => {
+    // Reading them in the browser put the whole gallery behind a Suspense boundary, and
+    // the served HTML then carried none of the 22 cards.
+    expect(PAGE).toContain("filtersFromQuery");
+    expect(PAGE).toContain("initialFilters");
+    expect(CLIENT).not.toContain("useSearchParams");
+    expect(PAGE, "the gallery is wrapped in a boundary again").not.toMatch(/<Suspense/);
+  });
+
+  it("still lets the browser own the filters once the page is interactive", () => {
+    expect(CLIENT).toContain("filtersToQuery");
+    expect(CLIENT).toContain("router.replace");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/app/templates/TemplatesClient.tsx b/src/app/templates/TemplatesClient.tsx
index 7674211..e255e6f 100644
--- a/src/app/templates/TemplatesClient.tsx
+++ b/src/app/templates/TemplatesClient.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 "use client";
 import { useEffect, useMemo, useState } from "react";
-import { usePathname, useRouter, useSearchParams } from "next/navigation";
+import { usePathname, useRouter } from "next/navigation";
 import Link from "next/link";
 import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button";
 import { Input } from "@/components/ui/input";
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ import {
   backgroundCounts,
   categoryCounts,
   filterTemplates,
-  filtersFromQuery,
   filtersToQuery,
   hasActiveFilters,
   sortTemplates,
@@ -41,16 +40,24 @@ export interface TemplateCard {
   scrollHeight: number;
 }
 
-export default function TemplatesClient({ templates, categories: allCategories }: { templates: TemplateCard[]; categories: string[] }) {
+export default function TemplatesClient({
+  templates,
+  categories: allCategories,
+  initialFilters,
+  initialSort,
+}: {
+  templates: TemplateCard[];
+  categories: string[];
+  initialFilters: TemplateFilters;
+  initialSort: TemplateSort;
+}) {
   const router = useRouter();
   const pathname = usePathname();
-  const params = useSearchParams();
 
-  // The URL is the starting state, so a filtered gallery can be linked, bookmarked and
-  // sent to somebody else rather than described to them.
-  const fromUrl = useMemo(() => filtersFromQuery(params, { categories: allCategories }), [params, allCategories]);
-  const [filters, setFilters] = useState<TemplateFilters>(fromUrl.filters);
-  const [sort, setSort] = useState<TemplateSort>(fromUrl.sort);
+  // The server read these out of the URL and rendered the matching cards, so a shared
+  // link and a crawler both get the real page. From here they are this component's.
+  const [filters, setFilters] = useState<TemplateFilters>(initialFilters);
+  const [sort, setSort] = useState<TemplateSort>(initialSort);
 
   useEffect(() => {
     const query = filtersToQuery(filters, sort);
diff --git a/src/app/templates/page.tsx b/src/app/templates/page.tsx
index 99d50c8..d6b76b4 100644
--- a/src/app/templates/page.tsx
+++ b/src/app/templates/page.tsx
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 import type { Metadata } from "next";
-import { Suspense } from "react";
 import { pageMeta } from "@/lib/pageMeta";
 import { TEMPLATES, templateCategories, templateScrollHeight, templateSectionCount } from "@/lib/templates";
 import TemplatesClient, { type TemplateCard } from "./TemplatesClient";
+import { filtersFromQuery } from "@/lib/templateFilters";
 
 export const metadata: Metadata = pageMeta({
   title: "Templates",
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ const LEAD_SLUG = "kept";
  * which is the bulk of the file and none of this page. Reading it here keeps that on the
  * server and sends down only what a card renders.
  */
-export default function TemplatesPage() {
+export default async function TemplatesPage({ searchParams }: { searchParams: Promise<Record<string, string | string[] | undefined>> }) {
   const ordered = [...TEMPLATES].sort((a, b) => Number(b.slug === LEAD_SLUG) - Number(a.slug === LEAD_SLUG));
   const templates: TemplateCard[] = ordered.map((t) => ({
     slug: t.slug,
@@ -36,11 +36,15 @@ export default function TemplatesPage() {
     scrollHeight: templateScrollHeight(t),
   }));
 
-  // The gallery reads its filters from the URL, which is a client-side concern; the
-  // boundary lets the rest of the page stay static.
-  return (
-    <Suspense fallback={null}>
-      <TemplatesClient templates={templates} categories={templateCategories()} />
-    </Suspense>
-  );
+  // Filters are read here rather than in the browser. Reading them client-side put the
+  // whole gallery behind a Suspense boundary, and the served HTML then carried none of
+  // the 22 cards: a crawler, and anyone arriving from search, saw an empty page.
+  const categories = templateCategories();
+  const query = new URLSearchParams();
+  for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(await searchParams)) {
+    if (typeof value === "string") query.set(key, value);
+  }
+  const { filters, sort } = filtersFromQuery(query, { categories });
+
+  return <TemplatesClient templates={templates} categories={categories} initialFilters={filters} initialSort={sort} />;
 }