diff --git a/server/admin-next/package.json b/server/admin-next/package.json
index afe93bc5..8431a1eb 100644
--- a/server/admin-next/package.json
+++ b/server/admin-next/package.json
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
   "scripts": {
     "dev": "nodemon",
     "start": "cross-env NODE_ENV=production node dist/admin-next/src/server/index.js",
-    "test": "node --test -r ts-node/register src/client/*.test.ts src/client/*.test.tsx",
+    "test": "node --test -r ts-node/register src/client/*.test.ts src/client/*.test.tsx src/server/middleware/express-mongoose-ra-json-server/utils/*.test.ts",
     "check:type": "tsc --noEmit",
     "build": "pnpm build:client && pnpm build:server",
     "build:client": "vite build",
diff --git a/server/admin-next/src/server/middleware/express-mongoose-ra-json-server/index.ts b/server/admin-next/src/server/middleware/express-mongoose-ra-json-server/index.ts
index c3e082b9..ce89fd4f 100644
--- a/server/admin-next/src/server/middleware/express-mongoose-ra-json-server/index.ts
+++ b/server/admin-next/src/server/middleware/express-mongoose-ra-json-server/index.ts
@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@ export interface raExpressMongooseOptions<T> {
   /** Fields to search from ?q (used for autofill and search) */
   q?: string[];
 
+  /** Extra $or condition built from ?q, e.g. structured `nickname#discriminator` */
+  qFilter?: (q: string) => Record<string, any> | undefined;
+
   /** Base name for ACLs (e.g. list operation does baseName.list) */
   aclName?: string;
 
@@ -67,6 +70,7 @@ export function raExpressMongoose<T extends ADPBaseModel, I>(
 ) {
   const {
     q,
+    qFilter,
     allowedRegexFields = [],
     readOnlyFields,
     inputTransformer = (input: any) => input,
@@ -105,7 +109,8 @@ export function raExpressMongoose<T extends ADPBaseModel, I>(
             ),
             model,
             allowedRegexFields,
-            q
+            q,
+            qFilter
           ),
         };
         let query = model.find(filterQuery);
diff --git a/server/admin-next/src/server/middleware/express-mongoose-ra-json-server/utils/parseQuery.test.ts b/server/admin-next/src/server/middleware/express-mongoose-ra-json-server/utils/parseQuery.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c13f619c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/admin-next/src/server/middleware/express-mongoose-ra-json-server/utils/parseQuery.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+import test from 'node:test';
+import assert from 'node:assert/strict';
+import parseQuery from './parseQuery';
+
+const model: any = { schema: { path: () => ({ cast: (v: any) => v }) } };
+const uniqueName = (q: string) => {
+  const [nickname, discriminator] = q.split('#');
+  return discriminator ? { nickname, discriminator } : undefined;
+};
+
+test('adds nickname#discriminator match to $or', () => {
+  const result = parseQuery(
+    { q: 'admin#6485' },
+    model,
+    ['nickname'],
+    ['nickname', 'email'],
+    uniqueName
+  );
+  assert.equal(result.q, undefined);
+  assert.deepEqual(result.$or.at(-1), {
+    nickname: 'admin',
+    discriminator: '6485',
+  });
+});
+
+test('keeps plain search unchanged without #', () => {
+  const result = parseQuery(
+    { q: 'admin' },
+    model,
+    ['nickname'],
+    ['nickname', 'email'],
+    uniqueName
+  );
+  assert.equal(result.$or.length, 2);
+  assert.deepEqual(result.$or[1], { email: 'admin' });
+});
diff --git a/server/admin-next/src/server/middleware/express-mongoose-ra-json-server/utils/parseQuery.ts b/server/admin-next/src/server/middleware/express-mongoose-ra-json-server/utils/parseQuery.ts
index b589e4c6..b549e511 100644
--- a/server/admin-next/src/server/middleware/express-mongoose-ra-json-server/utils/parseQuery.ts
+++ b/server/admin-next/src/server/middleware/express-mongoose-ra-json-server/utils/parseQuery.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ interface parseQueryParam {
  * Turns ?q into $or queries, deletes q
  * @param {Object} results Original object with the q field
  * @param {string[]} fields Fields to apply q to
+ * @param {Function} qFilter Optional extra $or condition built from q
  */
 export default function parseQuery<
   T extends parseQueryParam,
@@ -19,7 +20,8 @@ export default function parseQuery<
   result: T,
   model: M,
   allowedRegexes: string[],
-  fields?: string[]
+  fields?: string[],
+  qFilter?: (q: string) => Record<string, any> | undefined
 ): T & { $or?: any } {
   if (!fields) return result;
   if (result.q) {
@@ -32,6 +34,8 @@ export default function parseQuery<
       const newFilter = { [field]: result.q };
       result.$or.push(castFilter(newFilter, model, allowedRegexes));
     });
+    const extra = qFilter?.(String(result.q));
+    if (extra) result.$or.push(extra);
     delete result.q;
   }
   return result;
diff --git a/server/admin-next/src/server/router/api.ts b/server/admin-next/src/server/router/api.ts
index 63f3d670..18874690 100644
--- a/server/admin-next/src/server/router/api.ts
+++ b/server/admin-next/src/server/router/api.ts
@@ -177,6 +177,10 @@ router.use(
   auth(),
   raExpressMongoose(userModel, {
     q: ['_id', 'nickname', 'email'],
+    qFilter: (q) => {
+      const [nickname, discriminator] = q.split('#');
+      return discriminator ? { nickname, discriminator } : undefined;
+    },
     allowedRegexFields: ['nickname'],
   })
 );