diff --git a/quickshell/Modals/DankLauncherV2/Controller.qml b/quickshell/Modals/DankLauncherV2/Controller.qml
index 97e208d5..a8137f5b 100644
--- a/quickshell/Modals/DankLauncherV2/Controller.qml
+++ b/quickshell/Modals/DankLauncherV2/Controller.qml
@@ -44,16 +44,14 @@ Item {
     signal searchQueryRequested(string query)
 
     onActiveChanged: {
-        if (active) {
-            if (clipboardSearchEnabledInAll())
-                ClipboardService.ensureLauncherHistory();
-        } else {
+        if (!active) {
             SessionData.addLauncherHistory(searchQuery);
 
             sections = [];
             flatModel = [];
             selectedItem = null;
             _clearModeCache();
+            ClipboardService.invalidateLauncherSearchCache();
         }
     }
 
@@ -88,11 +86,17 @@ Item {
 
     Connections {
         target: ClipboardService
-        function onInternalEntriesChanged() {
+        function onLauncherSearchReady(query) {
             if (!active || !clipboardSearchEnabledInAll())
                 return;
-            if (searchMode === "all" && searchQuery.length >= 2)
-                performSearch();
+            if (searchMode !== "all")
+                return;
+            const trimmed = (searchQuery || "").trim();
+            if (trimmed.length < 2 && query.length > 0)
+                return;
+            if (query !== trimmed)
+                return;
+            searchDebounce.restart();
         }
     }
 
@@ -403,9 +407,6 @@ Item {
         searchQuery = query;
         searchDebounce.restart();
 
-        if (searchMode === "all" && clipboardSearchEnabledInAll() && query.length >= 2)
-            ClipboardService.ensureLauncherHistory();
-
         var filesInAll = searchMode === "all" && (SettingsData.dankLauncherV2IncludeFilesInAll || SettingsData.dankLauncherV2IncludeFoldersInAll);
         if (searchMode !== "plugins" && (searchMode === "files" || query.startsWith("/") || filesInAll) && query.length > 0) {
             fileSearchDebounce.restart();
@@ -424,8 +425,6 @@ Item {
         searchMode = mode;
         modeChanged(mode);
         performSearch();
-        if (mode === "all" && clipboardSearchEnabledInAll() && searchQuery.length >= 2)
-            ClipboardService.ensureLauncherHistory();
         var filesInAll = mode === "all" && (SettingsData.dankLauncherV2IncludeFilesInAll || SettingsData.dankLauncherV2IncludeFoldersInAll) && searchQuery.length > 0;
         if (mode === "files" || filesInAll) {
             fileSearchDebounce.restart();
@@ -1209,7 +1208,6 @@ Item {
         }
 
         if (clipboardSearchEnabledInAll()) {
-            ClipboardService.ensureLauncherHistory();
             var clipboardItems = AppSearchService.getBuiltInLauncherItems("dms_clipboard_search", query);
             var clipboardLimit = Math.min(clipboardItems.length, 8);
             for (var j = 0; j < clipboardLimit; j++) {
diff --git a/quickshell/Services/AppSearchService.qml b/quickshell/Services/AppSearchService.qml
index 5a22f6fd..062c1f8e 100644
--- a/quickshell/Services/AppSearchService.qml
+++ b/quickshell/Services/AppSearchService.qml
@@ -296,9 +296,8 @@ Singleton {
 
     function getBuiltInLauncherItems(pluginId, query) {
         if (pluginId === "dms_clipboard_search") {
-            ClipboardService.ensureLauncherHistory();
             const trimmed = (query || "").toString().trim();
-            const entries = trimmed.length === 0 ? ClipboardService.getRecentLauncherEntries(20) : ClipboardService.getLauncherEntries(trimmed, 20, 1);
+            const entries = ClipboardService.getCachedLauncherSearchEntries(trimmed, 20);
             return entries.map(entry => ({
                 type: "clipboard",
                 data: entry
@@ -308,8 +307,7 @@ Singleton {
         if (pluginId !== "dms_settings_search")
             return [];
 
-        SettingsSearchService.search(query);
-        const results = SettingsSearchService.results;
+        const results = SettingsSearchService.searchForLauncher(query);
         const items = [];
         for (let i = 0; i < results.length; i++) {
             const r = results[i];
diff --git a/quickshell/Services/ClipboardService.qml b/quickshell/Services/ClipboardService.qml
index 46ddd2df..3a45ebce 100644
--- a/quickshell/Services/ClipboardService.qml
+++ b/quickshell/Services/ClipboardService.qml
@@ -27,9 +27,14 @@ Singleton {
     property bool keyboardNavigationActive: false
     property int refCount: 0
     property real _launcherLastRefresh: 0
+    property bool _launcherCacheValid: false
+    property string _launcherCachedQuery: ""
+    property var _launcherCachedEntries: []
+    property int _launcherSearchSeq: 0
 
     signal historyCopied
     signal historyCleared
+    signal launcherSearchReady(string query)
 
     Process {
         id: wtypeProcess
@@ -103,6 +108,63 @@ Singleton {
         }
     }
 
+    function requestLauncherSearch(query, limit) {
+        if (!clipboardAvailable) {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        const trimmed = (query || "").toString().trim();
+        const maxItems = limit > 0 ? limit : 20;
+        if (_launcherCacheValid && _launcherCachedQuery === trimmed) {
+            return;
+        }
+
+        _launcherSearchSeq++;
+        const seq = _launcherSearchSeq;
+        DMSService.sendRequest("clipboard.search", {
+            "query": trimmed,
+            "limit": maxItems
+        }, function (response) {
+            if (seq !== _launcherSearchSeq) {
+                return;
+            }
+            if (response.error) {
+                log.warn("Launcher clipboard search failed:", response.error);
+                _launcherCacheValid = true;
+                _launcherCachedQuery = trimmed;
+                _launcherCachedEntries = [];
+                launcherSearchReady(trimmed);
+                return;
+            }
+            const result = response.result || {};
+            _launcherCacheValid = true;
+            _launcherCachedQuery = trimmed;
+            _launcherCachedEntries = result.entries || [];
+            launcherSearchReady(trimmed);
+        });
+    }
+
+    function getCachedLauncherSearchEntries(query, limit) {
+        if (!clipboardAvailable) {
+            return [];
+        }
+
+        const trimmed = (query || "").toString().trim();
+        const maxItems = limit > 0 ? limit : 20;
+        if (!_launcherCacheValid || _launcherCachedQuery !== trimmed) {
+            requestLauncherSearch(trimmed, maxItems);
+            return [];
+        }
+        return _launcherCachedEntries.slice(0, maxItems);
+    }
+
+    function invalidateLauncherSearchCache() {
+        _launcherCacheValid = false;
+        _launcherCachedQuery = "";
+        _launcherCachedEntries = [];
+        _launcherSearchSeq++;
+    }
+
     function getLauncherEntries(query, limit, minLength) {
         if (!clipboardAvailable) {
             return [];
diff --git a/quickshell/Services/SettingsSearchService.qml b/quickshell/Services/SettingsSearchService.qml
index 232cff4c..6566d539 100644
--- a/quickshell/Services/SettingsSearchService.qml
+++ b/quickshell/Services/SettingsSearchService.qml
@@ -159,17 +159,15 @@ Singleton {
         _translatedCache = cache;
     }
 
-    function search(text) {
-        query = text;
-        if (!text) {
-            results = [];
-            return;
-        }
+    function _searchEntries(text, maxResults) {
+        if (!text)
+            return [];
 
         var queryLower = text.toLowerCase().trim();
         var queryWords = queryLower.split(/\s+/).filter(w => w.length > 0);
         var scored = [];
         var cache = _translatedCache;
+        var limit = maxResults > 0 ? maxResults : 15;
 
         for (var i = 0; i < cache.length; i++) {
             var entry = cache[i];
@@ -234,7 +232,20 @@ Singleton {
         }
 
         scored.sort((a, b) => b.score - a.score);
-        results = scored.slice(0, 15).map(s => s.item);
+        return scored.slice(0, limit).map(s => s.item);
+    }
+
+    function searchForLauncher(text) {
+        return _searchEntries(text, 15);
+    }
+
+    function search(text) {
+        query = text;
+        if (!text) {
+            results = [];
+            return;
+        }
+        results = _searchEntries(text, 15);
     }
 
     function clear() {