Airweave Search
Use this skill to effectively search and retrieve context from Airweave collections, whether answering questions or gathering context to complete tasks.
When to Search
Search when the user:
- Asks about data in their connected apps ("What did we discuss in Slack about...")
- Needs to find documents, messages, issues, or records
- Asks factual questions about their workspace ("Who is responsible for...", "What's our policy on...")
- References specific tools by name ("in Notion", "on GitHub", "in Jira")
- Needs recent information you don't have in your training
- Needs you to check app data for context to complete a task ("check our Notion docs", "look at the Jira ticket", "see what we decided in Slack")
Don't search when:
- User asks general knowledge questions (use your training)
- User is asking how to SET UP Airweave (use
airweave-setup skill instead)
- User already provided all needed context in the conversation
- The question is about Airweave itself, not data within it
Query Formulation
Extract Key Concepts
Turn user intent into effective search queries:
| User Says |
Search Query |
| "What did Sarah say about the launch?" |
"Sarah product launch" |
| "Find the API documentation" |
"API documentation" |
| "Any bugs reported this week?" |
"bug report issues" |
| "What's our refund policy?" |
"refund policy customer" |
Query Tips
- Use natural language - Airweave uses semantic search, not keyword matching
- Include context - "pricing feedback" is better than just "pricing"
- Be specific but not too narrow - Start moderately specific, broaden if no results
- Avoid filler words - Skip "please find", "can you search for"
Parameter Selection
Choose parameters based on user intent:
| User Intent |
Parameters |
| Recent updates/conversations |
recency_bias: 0.7-0.9 |
| Finding a specific document |
search_method: "keyword" or "hybrid" |
| General topic exploration |
search_method: "hybrid", higher limit |
| High-quality results only |
enable_reranking: true |
| Quick direct answer |
response_type: "completion" |
| Browse/see all matches |
response_type: "raw", limit: 20-50 |
Parameter Quick Reference
| Parameter |
Values |
When to Use |
recency_bias |
0-1 |
Higher = favor recent. Use 0.7+ for "recent", "latest", "this week" |
search_method |
hybrid/neural/keyword |
keyword for exact terms, neural for concepts, hybrid for both |
response_type |
raw/completion |
completion for direct answers, raw to show sources |
limit |
1-1000 |
Lower (5-10) for quick answers, higher (20-50) for exploration |
enable_reranking |
boolean |
true for better relevance (slightly slower) |
expansion_strategy |
auto/llm/no_expansion |
auto for most cases, no_expansion for exact queries |
See PARAMETERS.md for detailed guidance.
Handling Results
Interpreting Scores
| Score |
Meaning |
Action |
| 0.85+ |
Highly relevant |
Use confidently |
| 0.70-0.85 |
Likely relevant |
Use with context |
| 0.50-0.70 |
Possibly relevant |
Mention uncertainty |
| Below 0.50 |
Weak match |
Consider rephrasing query |
Synthesizing Answers
When presenting results to users:
- Lead with the answer - Don't start with "I found 5 results"
- Cite sources - Mention where info came from ("According to your Slack conversation...")
- Synthesize, don't dump - Combine relevant parts into coherent response
- Acknowledge gaps - If results don't fully answer, say so
Handling No/Poor Results
If search returns no results or low-quality matches:
- Broaden the query - Remove specific terms, use more general concepts
- Try different phrasing - Rephrase using synonyms or related terms
- Increase limit - Fetch more results to find relevant matches
- Check source availability - The data source might not be connected
- Ask for clarification - User might have more context to share
Finding the Search Tool
Airweave MCP tools follow the naming pattern search-{collection-name}. Look for tools matching this pattern in your available MCP tools.
Examples:
search-acmes-slack-k8v2x1
search-acmes-notion-p3m9q7
search-acmes-jira-w5n4r2
If no Airweave search tool is available:
- The user may not have Airweave MCP configured
- Ask if they have Airweave set up and connected to their AI assistant
- Suggest using the
airweave-setup skill for configuration help
Multiple collections:
If multiple search-* tools are available, choose based on the collection name and the user's request. If unclear which to use, ask the user or try the most general-sounding one first.
Calling the Search Tool
Use the search-{collection} MCP tool with your chosen parameters:
search-acmes-slack-k8v2x1({
query: "customer feedback pricing",
recency_bias: 0.7,
limit: 10
})
search-acmes-notion-p3m9q7({
query: "API authentication docs",
search_method: "hybrid",
enable_reranking: true
})
search-acmes-jira-w5n4r2({
query: "What is our refund policy?",
response_type: "completion"
})
Examples
See EXAMPLES.md for complete conversation examples showing effective search patterns.
1---2name: airweave-search3description: Search and retrieve context from Airweave collections. Use when users ask about their data in connected apps (Slack, GitHub, Notion, Jira, Confluence, Google Drive, Salesforce, databases, etc.), need to find documents or information from their workspace, want answers based on their company data, or need you to check app data for context to complete a task.4---5
6# Airweave Search
7
8Use this skill to effectively search and retrieve context from Airweave collections, whether answering questions or gathering context to complete tasks.
9
10## When to Search
11
12**Search when the user:**
13- Asks about data in their connected apps ("What did we discuss in Slack about...")
14- Needs to find documents, messages, issues, or records
15- Asks factual questions about their workspace ("Who is responsible for...", "What's our policy on...")
16- References specific tools by name ("in Notion", "on GitHub", "in Jira")
17- Needs recent information you don't have in your training
18- Needs you to check app data for context to complete a task ("check our Notion docs", "look at the Jira ticket", "see what we decided in Slack")
19
20**Don't search when:**
21- User asks general knowledge questions (use your training)
22- User is asking how to SET UP Airweave (use `airweave-setup` skill instead)
23- User already provided all needed context in the conversation
24- The question is about Airweave itself, not data within it
25
26## Query Formulation
27
28### Extract Key Concepts
29
30Turn user intent into effective search queries:
31
32| User Says | Search Query |
33|-----------|--------------|
34| "What did Sarah say about the launch?" | "Sarah product launch" |
35| "Find the API documentation" | "API documentation" |
36| "Any bugs reported this week?" | "bug report issues" |
37| "What's our refund policy?" | "refund policy customer" |
38
39### Query Tips
40
411. **Use natural language** - Airweave uses semantic search, not keyword matching
422. **Include context** - "pricing feedback" is better than just "pricing"
433. **Be specific but not too narrow** - Start moderately specific, broaden if no results
444. **Avoid filler words** - Skip "please find", "can you search for"
45
46## Parameter Selection
47
48Choose parameters based on user intent:
49
50| User Intent | Parameters |
51|-------------|------------|
52| Recent updates/conversations | `recency_bias: 0.7-0.9` |
53| Finding a specific document | `search_method: "keyword"` or `"hybrid"` |
54| General topic exploration | `search_method: "hybrid"`, higher `limit` |
55| High-quality results only | `enable_reranking: true` |
56| Quick direct answer | `response_type: "completion"` |
57| Browse/see all matches | `response_type: "raw"`, `limit: 20-50` |
58
59### Parameter Quick Reference
60
61| Parameter | Values | When to Use |
62|-----------|--------|-------------|
63| `recency_bias` | 0-1 | Higher = favor recent. Use 0.7+ for "recent", "latest", "this week" |
64| `search_method` | hybrid/neural/keyword | `keyword` for exact terms, `neural` for concepts, `hybrid` for both |
65| `response_type` | raw/completion | `completion` for direct answers, `raw` to show sources |
66| `limit` | 1-1000 | Lower (5-10) for quick answers, higher (20-50) for exploration |
67| `enable_reranking` | boolean | `true` for better relevance (slightly slower) |
68| `expansion_strategy` | auto/llm/no_expansion | `auto` for most cases, `no_expansion` for exact queries |
69
70See [PARAMETERS.md](PARAMETERS.md) for detailed guidance.
71
72## Handling Results
73
74### Interpreting Scores
75
76| Score | Meaning | Action |
77|-------|---------|--------|
78| 0.85+ | Highly relevant | Use confidently |
79| 0.70-0.85 | Likely relevant | Use with context |
80| 0.50-0.70 | Possibly relevant | Mention uncertainty |
81| Below 0.50 | Weak match | Consider rephrasing query |
82
83### Synthesizing Answers
84
85When presenting results to users:
86
871. **Lead with the answer** - Don't start with "I found 5 results"
882. **Cite sources** - Mention where info came from ("According to your Slack conversation...")
893. **Synthesize, don't dump** - Combine relevant parts into coherent response
904. **Acknowledge gaps** - If results don't fully answer, say so
91
92### Handling No/Poor Results
93
94If search returns no results or low-quality matches:
95
961. **Broaden the query** - Remove specific terms, use more general concepts
972. **Try different phrasing** - Rephrase using synonyms or related terms
983. **Increase limit** - Fetch more results to find relevant matches
994. **Check source availability** - The data source might not be connected
1005. **Ask for clarification** - User might have more context to share
101
102## Finding the Search Tool
103
104Airweave MCP tools follow the naming pattern `search-{collection-name}`. Look for tools matching this pattern in your available MCP tools.
105
106**Examples:**
107- `search-acmes-slack-k8v2x1`
108- `search-acmes-notion-p3m9q7`
109- `search-acmes-jira-w5n4r2`
110
111**If no Airweave search tool is available:**
112- The user may not have Airweave MCP configured
113- Ask if they have Airweave set up and connected to their AI assistant
114- Suggest using the `airweave-setup` skill for configuration help
115
116**Multiple collections:**
117If multiple `search-*` tools are available, choose based on the collection name and the user's request. If unclear which to use, ask the user or try the most general-sounding one first.
118
119## Calling the Search Tool
120
121Use the `search-{collection}` MCP tool with your chosen parameters:
122
123```
124search-acmes-slack-k8v2x1({
125 query: "customer feedback pricing",
126 recency_bias: 0.7,
127 limit: 10
128})
129```
130
131```
132search-acmes-notion-p3m9q7({
133 query: "API authentication docs",
134 search_method: "hybrid",
135 enable_reranking: true
136})
137```
138
139```
140search-acmes-jira-w5n4r2({
141 query: "What is our refund policy?",
142 response_type: "completion"
143})
144```
145
146## Examples
147
148See [EXAMPLES.md](EXAMPLES.md) for complete conversation examples showing effective search patterns.
149