In my local web development I'm using the .test tld but safari is determined to search the web instead of loading the webpage As a work around I can use the .local or .localhost tlds (note I used to use .dev before google acquired it) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.test Is this internet behaviour? I think the .test domain for local development is a perfect example for what I assume it's intended use is
https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6761#section-6.2
The decision whether the text entered into smart address bar is a URL or text to search for is made by Safari, not WebKit. Please file a bug via <https://bugreport.apple.com>