Spec a search-as-you-type box over a slow API

Your React and TypeScript app is getting a search-as-you-type box over the GET /search?q= API. In the last prototype, typing "cat" quickly sometimes showed the results for "ca". The API team also complained about a request on every keystroke. An agent will build the real one.

Write the spec you would hand the agent.

What you know:

• the API returns up to 20 results and takes 50 to 800 ms, depending on load
• queries under 2 characters are useless and expensive
• the app has no data-fetching library, and the team does not want one added
• people use the box on phones with slow connections as well as on desktops

Then, in a few sentences: what does a careless "add a live search box" prompt get wrong?