diff --git a/webapi/Search Dispatch.go b/webapi/Search Dispatch.go
index c62d69f..cd636a4 100644
--- a/webapi/Search Dispatch.go	
+++ b/webapi/Search Dispatch.go	
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ func (api *WebapiInstance) dispatchSearch(input SearchRequest) (job *SearchJob)
 	job = CreateSearchJob(Timeout, input.MaxResults, Filter)
 
 	// todo: create actual search clients!
+	job.Status = SearchStatusLive
 
 	go job.localSearch(api, input.Term)
 
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ func (api *WebapiInstance) dispatchSearch(input SearchRequest) (job *SearchJob)
 
 func (job *SearchJob) localSearch(api *WebapiInstance, term string) {
 	if api.backend.SearchIndex == nil || api.backend.GlobalBlockchainCache == nil {
+		job.Status = SearchStatusNoIndex
 		return
 	}
 
@@ -75,6 +77,8 @@ resultLoop:
 		job.statsAdd(&newFile)
 	}
 
+	job.Status = SearchStatusTerminated
+
 	job.ResultSync.Unlock()
 	job.Terminate()
 }
diff --git a/webapi/Search Job.go b/webapi/Search Job.go
index 9d83502..80f1f9f 100644
--- a/webapi/Search Job.go	
+++ b/webapi/Search Job.go	
@@ -48,6 +48,9 @@ type SearchJob struct {
 
 	// -- result data --
 
+	// Status indicates the overall search status. This will be removed later when relying on search clients.
+	Status int
+
 	// runtime data
 	//clients        []*SearchClient // all search clients
 	clientsMutex sync.Mutex // mutex for manipulating client list
@@ -67,10 +70,18 @@ type SearchJob struct {
 	currentOffset int // for always getting the next results
 }
 
+const (
+	SearchStatusNotStarted = iota // Search was not yet started
+	SearchStatusLive              // Search running
+	SearchStatusTerminated        // Search is terminated. No more results are expected.
+	SearchStatusNoIndex           // Search is terminated. No search index to use.
+)
+
 // CreateSearchJob creates a new search job and adds it to the lookup list.
 // Timeout and MaxResults must be set and must not be 0.
 func CreateSearchJob(Timeout time.Duration, MaxResults int, Filter SearchFilter) (job *SearchJob) {
 	job = &SearchJob{}
+	job.Status = SearchStatusNotStarted
 	job.id = uuid.New()
 	job.timeout = Timeout
 	job.maxResult = MaxResults
diff --git a/webapi/Search.go b/webapi/Search.go
index dcf1bc2..3c44761 100644
--- a/webapi/Search.go
+++ b/webapi/Search.go
@@ -169,12 +169,23 @@ func apiSearchResult(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		result.Files = append(result.Files, *resultFiles[n])
 	}
 
-	if len(result.Files) == 0 {
-		result.Status = 3 // No results yet available keep trying
+	// set the status
+	if len(result.Files) > 0 {
+		result.Status = 0 // 0 = Success with results
+	} else {
+		switch job.Status {
+		case SearchStatusLive:
+			result.Status = 3 // No results yet available keep trying
+
+		case SearchStatusTerminated:
+			result.Status = 1 // No more results to expect
+
+		default: // SearchStatusNoIndex, SearchStatusNotStarted
+			result.Status = 1 // No more results to expect
+		}
 	}
 
 	//if !job.IsSearchResults() { // if no fresh results to be expected
-	result.Status = 1 // No more results to expect
 
 	// embedded statistics?
 	if returnStats, _ := strconv.ParseBool(r.Form.Get("stats")); returnStats {