diff --git a/frontend/src/components/input/editor/emoji/emojiData.test.ts b/frontend/src/components/input/editor/emoji/emojiData.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..87e57d53b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/components/input/editor/emoji/emojiData.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+import {describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach, afterEach} from 'vitest'
+import {filterEmojis, __resetEmojiCacheForTest, loadEmojis} from './emojiData'
+
+const fixture = [
+	{shortcodes: ['grinning', 'grinning_face'], annotation: 'grinning face', tags: ['face', 'grin'], emoji: '😀'},
+	{shortcodes: ['eyes'], annotation: 'eyes', tags: ['look'], emoji: '👀'},
+	{shortcodes: ['eyeglasses'], annotation: 'glasses', tags: ['eye'], emoji: '👓'},
+	{shortcodes: ['smile'], annotation: 'grinning face with smiling eyes', tags: ['eye', 'smile'], emoji: '😄'},
+]
+
+describe('emojiData', () => {
+	beforeEach(() => {
+		__resetEmojiCacheForTest()
+		vi.stubGlobal('fetch', vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
+			ok: true,
+			json: async () => fixture,
+		}))
+	})
+
+	afterEach(() => {
+		vi.unstubAllGlobals()
+	})
+
+	it('flattens multi-shortcode entries and sorts alphabetically', async () => {
+		const idx = await loadEmojis()
+		const codes = idx.map(e => e.shortcode)
+		expect(codes).toEqual(['eyeglasses', 'eyes', 'grinning', 'grinning_face', 'smile'])
+	})
+
+	it('returns [] for empty query', () => {
+		expect(filterEmojis([{shortcode: 'eyes', emoji: '👀', annotation: '', tags: []}], '')).toEqual([])
+	})
+
+	it('prefers startsWith matches over substring matches', () => {
+		const loaded = [
+			{shortcode: 'eyeglasses', emoji: '👓', annotation: 'glasses', tags: ['eye']},
+			{shortcode: 'eyes', emoji: '👀', annotation: 'eyes', tags: []},
+			{shortcode: 'smile', emoji: '😄', annotation: 'grinning face with smiling eyes', tags: ['eye']},
+		]
+		const result = filterEmojis(loaded, 'eye')
+		expect(result[0].shortcode).toBe('eyeglasses')
+		expect(result[1].shortcode).toBe('eyes')
+		expect(result[2].shortcode).toBe('smile')
+	})
+
+	it('limits results to 15', () => {
+		const big = Array.from({length: 100}, (_, i) => ({
+			shortcode: `foo_${String(i).padStart(3, '0')}`, emoji: '✨', annotation: '', tags: [],
+		}))
+		expect(filterEmojis(big, 'foo')).toHaveLength(15)
+	})
+
+	it('caches the fetch promise across calls', async () => {
+		await loadEmojis()
+		await loadEmojis()
+		expect((globalThis.fetch as ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>).mock.calls).toHaveLength(1)
+	})
+})
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/input/editor/emoji/emojiData.ts b/frontend/src/components/input/editor/emoji/emojiData.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3ea2c662b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/components/input/editor/emoji/emojiData.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+export interface EmojiEntry {
+	emoji: string
+	shortcode: string
+	annotation: string
+	tags: string[]
+}
+
+interface RawEmoji {
+	shortcodes: string[]
+	annotation: string
+	tags?: string[]
+	emoji: string
+}
+
+const MAX_RESULTS = 15
+
+let cache: Promise<EmojiEntry[]> | null = null
+
+export function __resetEmojiCacheForTest() {
+	cache = null
+}
+
+export function loadEmojis(): Promise<EmojiEntry[]> {
+	if (cache) return cache
+	cache = fetch('/emojis.json')
+		.then(res => {
+			if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`emojis.json HTTP ${res.status}`)
+			return res.json() as Promise<RawEmoji[]>
+		})
+		.then(raw => {
+			const flat: EmojiEntry[] = []
+			for (const entry of raw) {
+				for (const shortcode of entry.shortcodes) {
+					flat.push({
+						emoji: entry.emoji,
+						shortcode,
+						annotation: entry.annotation,
+						tags: entry.tags ?? [],
+					})
+				}
+			}
+			flat.sort((a, b) => a.shortcode.localeCompare(b.shortcode))
+			return flat
+		})
+		.catch(err => {
+			cache = null
+			throw err
+		})
+	return cache
+}
+
+export function filterEmojis(index: EmojiEntry[], rawQuery: string): EmojiEntry[] {
+	const query = rawQuery.toLowerCase()
+	if (query === '') return []
+
+	const starts: EmojiEntry[] = []
+	const contains: EmojiEntry[] = []
+
+	for (const entry of index) {
+		if (entry.shortcode.startsWith(query)) {
+			starts.push(entry)
+			continue
+		}
+		if (
+			entry.shortcode.includes(query) ||
+			entry.annotation.toLowerCase().includes(query) ||
+			entry.tags.some(t => t.toLowerCase().includes(query))
+		) {
+			contains.push(entry)
+		}
+		if (starts.length >= MAX_RESULTS) break
+	}
+
+	return [...starts, ...contains].slice(0, MAX_RESULTS)
+}