models/userModel.js

const userSchema = mongoose.Schema(
   {
        name: {
         type: String,
         required: true,
    },
    username: {
          type: String,
          required: true,
          unique: true,
    },
    },
)

controllers/userController.js

export const findUserConversation = async(req, res) => {
    const { name } = req.params 

    try{ 
        let user 
        
        user = await User.find({$or: [
            { name: { $regex: name, $options: 'i'} },
            { username: { $regex: name, $options: 'i'} }
        ]}).select("-password").select("-updatedAt")
        console.log(user)

        if(!user){
            return res.status(404).json({ error: "User not found" })
        }

        res.status(200).json(user)
    } catch(error){
        res.status(500).json({ error: error.message });
        console.log("Error in getUserProfile: ", error.message);
    }
}

I have a problem that I would like to write a controller that would return the result when part of the query param value exists on the User model either name or username and I tried to type a string that not exists in the model the error message could not be read instead returning an empty array only. I am wondering what is the best way to return the result from the database if part of the string exists in specific fields

I searched and searched but could not find out the best solution to fix the issue.