diff --git a/server/helpers/levenshtein.js b/server/helpers/levenshtein.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..94e2fad
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+++ b/server/helpers/levenshtein.js
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+/**
+ * Levenshtein distance utility
+ * Used for fuzzy matching block/item names for inventory operations.
+ * Inspired by runi95/turtle-control-panel utility.
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Compute the Levenshtein edit distance between two strings.
+ * @param {string} a - First string
+ * @param {string} b - Second string
+ * @returns {number} The edit distance
+ */
+export function levenshtein(a, b) {
+  if (a === b) return 0;
+  if (a.length === 0) return b.length;
+  if (b.length === 0) return a.length;
+
+  // Use a single-row approach for memory efficiency
+  const aLen = a.length;
+  const bLen = b.length;
+  const row = new Array(bLen + 1);
+
+  // Initialize the first row (distance from empty string to b[0..j])
+  for (let j = 0; j <= bLen; j++) {
+    row[j] = j;
+  }
+
+  for (let i = 1; i <= aLen; i++) {
+    let prev = i; // row[0] for this iteration = i
+    for (let j = 1; j <= bLen; j++) {
+      const cost = a[i - 1] === b[j - 1] ? 0 : 1;
+      const val = Math.min(
+        row[j] + 1,       // deletion
+        prev + 1,          // insertion
+        row[j - 1] + cost  // substitution
+      );
+      row[j - 1] = prev;
+      prev = val;
+    }
+    row[bLen] = prev;
+  }
+
+  return row[bLen];
+}
+
+/**
+ * Find the best match for a query string among candidates using Levenshtein distance.
+ * @param {string} query - The search term
+ * @param {string[]} candidates - Array of candidate strings
+ * @param {number} maxDistance - Maximum acceptable distance (default: Infinity)
+ * @returns {{ match: string|null, distance: number }} Best match and its distance
+ */
+export function findBestMatch(query, candidates, maxDistance = Infinity) {
+  let bestMatch = null;
+  let bestDistance = Infinity;
+
+  const lowerQuery = query.toLowerCase();
+
+  for (const candidate of candidates) {
+    const lowerCandidate = candidate.toLowerCase();
+
+    // Exact substring match is distance 0
+    if (lowerCandidate.includes(lowerQuery) || lowerQuery.includes(lowerCandidate)) {
+      const dist = Math.abs(lowerCandidate.length - lowerQuery.length);
+      if (dist < bestDistance) {
+        bestDistance = dist;
+        bestMatch = candidate;
+      }
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    const dist = levenshtein(lowerQuery, lowerCandidate);
+    if (dist < bestDistance && dist <= maxDistance) {
+      bestDistance = dist;
+      bestMatch = candidate;
+    }
+  }
+
+  return { match: bestMatch, distance: bestDistance };
+}
+
+/**
+ * Find all matches within a given distance.
+ * @param {string} query - The search term
+ * @param {string[]} candidates - Array of candidate strings
+ * @param {number} maxDistance - Maximum acceptable distance
+ * @returns {Array<{match: string, distance: number}>} Matches sorted by distance
+ */
+export function findAllMatches(query, candidates, maxDistance = 3) {
+  const lowerQuery = query.toLowerCase();
+  const matches = [];
+
+  for (const candidate of candidates) {
+    const lowerCandidate = candidate.toLowerCase();
+
+    // Exact substring match
+    if (lowerCandidate.includes(lowerQuery) || lowerQuery.includes(lowerCandidate)) {
+      matches.push({ match: candidate, distance: 0 });
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    const dist = levenshtein(lowerQuery, lowerCandidate);
+    if (dist <= maxDistance) {
+      matches.push({ match: candidate, distance: dist });
+    }
+  }
+
+  return matches.sort((a, b) => a.distance - b.distance);
+}