Protractor sendKeys returns NoSuchElementError - angularjs

Question

I am learning Protractor and am trying to sendKeys in an input field in the angularjs.org page but I am getting this error:
NoSuchElementError: No element found using locator:
By.model("projectList.search")
Here is my code:
describe ("Search list", function() {
it ("should search for jQuery and display 1 result", function() {
browser.get("https://angularjs.org/");
element(by.model("projectList.search")).sendKeys("jQuery");
});
});
I tried using by.id and got the same error. I am assuming that this is caused because element is not visible yet. When I add browser.pause() and go step by step (slowly), the test passes. What is the best way to solve this?
Related HTML from angularjs.org
<input type="text" ng-model="projectList.search" class="search-query" id="projects_search"
placeholder="Search">
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Project</th>
<th>Description</th>
<th><i class="icon-plus-sign"></i></th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr ng-repeat="project in projectList.projects | filter:projectList.search | orderBy:'name'">
<td><a ng-href="{{project.site}}" target="_blank">{{project.name}}</a></td>
<td>{{project.description}}</td>
<td>
<a ng-href="#/edit/{{project.$id}}"><i class="icon-pencil"></i></a>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

Answer 1

I managed to find a small library called waitReady.js and it has solved my problem. Here is my final code,
require './waitReady.js')
var searchBtnElm = element(by.model('projectList.search'));
searchBtnElm.waitReady().then(function() {
searchBtnElm.sendKeys("myText");
});

Answer 2

You can try something like that :
var elementSelector = by.model("projectList.search");
browser.driver.isElementPresent(elementSelector).then(function(isPresent){
element(elementSelector).sendKeys("jQuery");
});
See protractor docs for more usefull functions

Answer 3

Is waitReady.js really works for you ?
Have tried to use it to click on stale elements but sometimes anyway exceptions occurs.
Have written function to click on element:
function clickWait(element) {
(element).waitReady().then(function () {
return element.click();
});
};
And invoke it like that:
clickWait(element);
framework: jasmine2