From 205d32c088fbbd01105bfd959dadd72f678709ad Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Siddharth Thevaril <siddharth.thevaril@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2026 14:43:06 +0530
Subject: [PATCH 1/2] Fix meta indexing when Post Search feature is disabled

---
 includes/classes/Indexable/Post/Post.php | 13 +++++++++----
 1 file changed, 9 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/includes/classes/Indexable/Post/Post.php b/includes/classes/Indexable/Post/Post.php
index e45126fe4..dadbab758 100644
--- a/includes/classes/Indexable/Post/Post.php
+++ b/includes/classes/Indexable/Post/Post.php
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 use WP_User;
 use ElasticPress\Elasticsearch;
 use ElasticPress\Indexable;
+use ElasticPress\Feature\Search\Weighting;
 
 if ( ! defined( 'ABSPATH' ) ) {
 	// @codeCoverageIgnoreStart
@@ -852,8 +853,10 @@ public function is_meta_allowed( $meta_key, $post ) {
 	public function filter_allowed_metas( $metas, $post ) {
 		$filtered_metas = [];
 
-		$search = \ElasticPress\Features::factory()->get_registered_feature( 'search' );
-		if ( $search && ! empty( $search->weighting ) && 'manual' === $search->weighting->get_meta_mode() ) {
+		$search    = \ElasticPress\Features::factory()->get_registered_feature( 'search' );
+		$weighting = ( $search && ! empty( $search->weighting ) ) ? $search->weighting : new Weighting();
+
+		if ( 'manual' === $weighting->get_meta_mode() ) {
 			$filtered_metas = $this->filter_allowed_metas_manual( $metas, $post );
 		} else {
 			$filtered_metas = $this->filter_allowed_metas_auto( $metas, $post );
@@ -2552,8 +2555,10 @@ protected function filter_allowed_metas_manual( $metas, $post ) {
 			return $filtered_metas;
 		}
 
-		$weighting     = $search_feature->weighting->get_weighting_configuration_with_defaults();
-		$is_searchable = in_array( $search_feature, $search_feature->get_searchable_post_types(), true );
+		$weighting_obj = ( $search_feature && ! empty( $search_feature->weighting ) ) ? $search_feature->weighting : new \ElasticPress\Feature\Search\Weighting();
+		$weighting     = $weighting_obj->get_weighting_configuration_with_defaults();
+		$is_searchable = $search_feature && in_array( $post->post_type, $search_feature->get_searchable_post_types(), true );
+
 		if ( empty( $weighting[ $post->post_type ] ) && $is_searchable ) {
 			return $filtered_metas;
 		}

From bc97018270c809ada6ca4b3da58e242984281289 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Siddharth Thevaril <siddharth.thevaril@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Apr 2026 20:20:53 +0530
Subject: [PATCH 2/2] add unit test

---
 tests/php/indexables/TestPost.php | 34 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 34 insertions(+)

diff --git a/tests/php/indexables/TestPost.php b/tests/php/indexables/TestPost.php
index 42a3ec0de..4cb8e4111 100644
--- a/tests/php/indexables/TestPost.php
+++ b/tests/php/indexables/TestPost.php
@@ -4040,6 +4040,40 @@ public function testPrepareMetaManual() {
 		);
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Test that filter_allowed_metas keeps manual mode when the Search
+	 * feature is disabled (its `weighting` property is unavailable).
+	 *
+	 * @since 5.4.0
+	 * @group post
+	 */
+	public function testPrepareMetaWithSearchDisabled() {
+		if ( $this->is_network_activate() ) {
+			$this->markTestSkipped();
+		}
+
+		$search             = ElasticPress\Features::factory()->get_registered_feature( 'search' );
+		$original_weighting = $search->weighting;
+		$search->weighting  = null;
+
+		$post_id = $this->ep_factory->post->create(
+			[
+				'meta_input' => [
+					'test_key1'        => 'allowed value',
+					'not_allowed_key1' => 'disallowed value',
+				],
+			]
+		);
+
+		$post          = get_post( $post_id );
+		$prepared_meta = ElasticPress\Indexables::factory()->get( 'post' )->prepare_meta( $post );
+
+		$this->assertArrayHasKey( 'test_key1', $prepared_meta );
+		$this->assertArrayNotHasKey( 'not_allowed_key1', $prepared_meta );
+
+		$search->weighting = $original_weighting;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Helper method for filtering private meta keys
 	 *