eXist-db include html template in .xq data

i have an index.html data where I included the template through:

<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" data-template="templates:surround" data-template-with="templates/page.html" data-template-at="content">

At the index html site I included a keyword search form, and the idea is when I click on the search button it should call an .xq file to request the search results:

<form method="GET" action="ksearch.xq">

When I submit the form, the ksearch.xq page opens, but even though I include the same template div as above:

<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" data-template="templates:surround" data-template-with="templates/page.html" data-template-at="content">

The ksearch.xq page does not have the template applied.

It seems that when I call an .xq file the template is not applied, but when I call a plain HTML file, the template is applied.

So the question is how can I use this template also in output of an .xq file?

Thanks in advance.

eXist-db's templating framework, by default, operates on requests for files with the .html file extension, not for .xq files. As you have found, the templating framework passes results from non-.html files through unchanged. (You will see the special handling for .html files if you open the controller.xql file in the app's collection.) Thus, instead of ksearch.xq, have your form submit the search parameters to an .html file that uses the templating framework's conventions to call XQuery code, e.g.,

<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" data-template="templates:surround" data-template-with="templates/page.html" data-template-at="content">
    <div class="app:show-search-results"/>
</div>

This app:show-search-results class (which I made-up) would point to a function in the app module (in /db/apps/myapp/modules/app.xqm) called show-search-results(), with the conventional arguments as used elsewhere in template functions. This is where you would put your search XQuery code.