diff --git a/src/components/sidebar/tabs/NodeLibrarySidebarTabV2.test.ts b/src/components/sidebar/tabs/NodeLibrarySidebarTabV2.test.ts
index 2fcf1d9ef7..77360d4454 100644
--- a/src/components/sidebar/tabs/NodeLibrarySidebarTabV2.test.ts
+++ b/src/components/sidebar/tabs/NodeLibrarySidebarTabV2.test.ts
@@ -3,10 +3,20 @@ import { ref } from 'vue'
 import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
 import { createI18n } from 'vue-i18n'
 
-import { render, screen } from '@testing-library/vue'
+import { fireEvent, render, screen } from '@testing-library/vue'
 
 import NodeLibrarySidebarTabV2 from './NodeLibrarySidebarTabV2.vue'
 
+const hoisted = vi.hoisted(() => ({
+  mockSearchNode: vi.fn<(query: string) => unknown[]>(() => [])
+}))
+
+vi.mock('@/services/nodeSearchService', () => ({
+  NodeSearchService: class {
+    searchNode = hoisted.mockSearchNode
+  }
+}))
+
 vi.mock('@vueuse/core', async () => {
   const actual = await vi.importActual('@vueuse/core')
   return {
@@ -72,8 +82,10 @@ vi.mock('./nodeLibrary/NodeDragPreview.vue', () => ({
 vi.mock('@/components/ui/search-input/SearchInput.vue', () => ({
   default: {
     name: 'SearchBox',
-    template: '<input data-testid="search-box" />',
+    template:
+      '<input data-testid="search-box" :value="modelValue" @input="$emit(\'update:modelValue\', $event.target.value)" />',
     props: ['modelValue', 'placeholder'],
+    emits: ['update:modelValue', 'search'],
     setup() {
       return { focus: vi.fn() }
     },
@@ -84,12 +96,22 @@ vi.mock('@/components/ui/search-input/SearchInput.vue', () => ({
 const i18n = createI18n({
   legacy: false,
   locale: 'en',
-  messages: { en: {} }
+  messages: {
+    en: {
+      sideToolbar: {
+        nodeLibraryTab: {
+          noMatchingNodes: 'No nodes match "{query}"'
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
 })
 
 describe('NodeLibrarySidebarTabV2', () => {
   beforeEach(() => {
     vi.clearAllMocks()
+    hoisted.mockSearchNode.mockReset()
+    hoisted.mockSearchNode.mockReturnValue([])
   })
 
   function renderComponent() {
@@ -123,4 +145,49 @@ describe('NodeLibrarySidebarTabV2', () => {
     expect(screen.queryByTestId('all-panel')).not.toBeInTheDocument()
     expect(screen.queryByTestId('blueprints-panel')).not.toBeInTheDocument()
   })
+
+  describe('search empty state', () => {
+    it('does not render the empty state when search query is empty', () => {
+      renderComponent()
+
+      expect(screen.queryByText(/No nodes match/)).not.toBeInTheDocument()
+      expect(screen.getByTestId('essential-panel')).toBeInTheDocument()
+    })
+
+    it('renders the empty state with the query when search has no matches', async () => {
+      hoisted.mockSearchNode.mockReturnValue([])
+      renderComponent()
+
+      await fireEvent.update(screen.getByTestId('search-box'), 'gibberish')
+
+      expect(screen.getByText('No nodes match "gibberish"')).toBeInTheDocument()
+      expect(screen.queryByTestId('essential-panel')).not.toBeInTheDocument()
+      expect(screen.queryByTestId('all-panel')).not.toBeInTheDocument()
+      expect(screen.queryByTestId('blueprints-panel')).not.toBeInTheDocument()
+    })
+
+    it('hides the empty state when the search has matches', async () => {
+      hoisted.mockSearchNode.mockReturnValue([{ name: 'KSampler' }])
+      renderComponent()
+
+      await fireEvent.update(screen.getByTestId('search-box'), 'ksampler')
+
+      expect(screen.queryByText(/No nodes match/)).not.toBeInTheDocument()
+      expect(screen.getByTestId('essential-panel')).toBeInTheDocument()
+    })
+
+    it('hides the empty state once the query is cleared', async () => {
+      hoisted.mockSearchNode.mockReturnValue([])
+      renderComponent()
+
+      const input = screen.getByTestId('search-box')
+      await fireEvent.update(input, 'gibberish')
+      expect(screen.getByText('No nodes match "gibberish"')).toBeInTheDocument()
+
+      await fireEvent.update(input, '')
+
+      expect(screen.queryByText(/No nodes match/)).not.toBeInTheDocument()
+      expect(screen.getByTestId('essential-panel')).toBeInTheDocument()
+    })
+  })
 })
diff --git a/src/components/sidebar/tabs/NodeLibrarySidebarTabV2.vue b/src/components/sidebar/tabs/NodeLibrarySidebarTabV2.vue
index 15ee01671f..c13ba6f093 100644
--- a/src/components/sidebar/tabs/NodeLibrarySidebarTabV2.vue
+++ b/src/components/sidebar/tabs/NodeLibrarySidebarTabV2.vue
@@ -117,7 +117,17 @@
     <template #body>
       <NodeDragPreview />
       <div class="flex h-full flex-col">
-        <div class="min-h-0 flex-1 overflow-y-auto py-2">
+        <div
+          v-if="hasNoMatches"
+          class="flex min-h-0 flex-1 items-center justify-center px-6 py-8 text-center text-sm text-muted-foreground"
+        >
+          {{
+            $t('sideToolbar.nodeLibraryTab.noMatchingNodes', {
+              query: searchQuery
+            })
+          }}
+        </div>
+        <div v-else class="min-h-0 flex-1 overflow-y-auto py-2">
           <TabPanel
             v-if="flags.nodeLibraryEssentialsEnabled"
             :model-value="selectedTab"
@@ -274,9 +284,13 @@ const filteredNodeDefs = computed(() => {
 })
 
 const activeNodes = computed(() =>
-  filteredNodeDefs.value.length > 0
-    ? filteredNodeDefs.value
-    : nodeDefStore.visibleNodeDefs
+  searchQuery.value.length === 0
+    ? nodeDefStore.visibleNodeDefs
+    : filteredNodeDefs.value
+)
+
+const hasNoMatches = computed(
+  () => searchQuery.value.length > 0 && filteredNodeDefs.value.length === 0
 )
 
 const sections = computed(() => {
diff --git a/src/locales/en/main.json b/src/locales/en/main.json
index 9821581c50..48331efa9e 100644
--- a/src/locales/en/main.json
+++ b/src/locales/en/main.json
@@ -904,6 +904,7 @@
         "alphabetical": "A-Z",
         "alphabeticalDesc": "Sort alphabetically within groups"
       },
+      "noMatchingNodes": "No nodes match \"{query}\"",
       "sections": {
         "favorites": "Bookmarks",
         "favoriteNode": "Bookmark Node",