Searching Your Knowledge Base

Sophic gives you two ways to find what you need: two complementary search lanes for direct lookups, and an AI Agent chat that answers questions with citations. This guide covers when to use each, how to read results, and how topic pages tie it all together.

The Two Search Lanes

Every search runs through one of two retrieval lanes. Pick the one that matches what you're looking for.

• Semantic search uses vector embeddings to match meaning, not exact words. Use it for concepts and fuzzy questions like "how do we handle a failed deploy?" or "what's our on-call rotation policy?" It finds the right document even when your phrasing doesn't match the original text.
• Grep search does literal string or regex matching. Use it for exact identifiers — environment-variable names, function names, error strings — where you know the precise text. For example, search for SOPHIC_API_URL or a specific stack-trace line.

A quick rule of thumb: if you'd describe what you want in a sentence, use semantic. If you'd paste an exact token, use grep.

Reading Your Results

Search results carry heading breadcrumbs — the document section path that shows where each match lives within a runbook. Breadcrumbs let you confirm a result is from the right context (for example, "Deploys › Rollback › Database") before you open the full document, so you spend less time hunting inside long pages.

The AI Agent Chat (Business and Enterprise)

On the Business and Enterprise plans, the AI Agent chat answers questions in natural language. Instead of scanning results yourself, you ask a question and the agent uses retrieval-augmented generation to draft an answer.

Key behaviors:

1. It cites its sources. Every answer references the source documents it drew from, so you can verify the claim and jump to the original.
2. It can edit your knowledge base. The agent can create and update documents directly — useful for filling gaps or correcting a runbook as you chat.

Free and Basic workspaces don't include the AI Agent chat. If your workspace is on Free or Basic, the chat is declined and you'll use the two search lanes instead.

Topic Pages

Topic pages are AI-synthesized overviews that aggregate related documents into a single, readable summary. When several runbooks, captures, and threads cover the same subject, the topic page pulls them together so you get the big picture without opening each document one by one. They're a great starting point when you're new to an area of your knowledge base.

FAQ

Which search lane should I use for an error message?
Use grep. Error strings are exact text, so a literal match is faster and more precise than semantic search.

Why didn't a document show up in my results?
Folder visibility is gated by role. Folders are either workspace-visible (all members can see them) or role-restricted (only members at or above a required role can see them), so a document in a restricted folder won't appear if your role is below the required tier.

Can I get the AI Agent chat on the Free plan?
No. The AI Agent chat requires Business or Enterprise. Free and Basic workspaces have basic AI search and query, but the chat assistant is unavailable.

The agent edited a document — can I recover the previous version?
Deletes in Sophic are soft (a deleted_at marker), so history is preserved. Reach out to your workspace owner or admin if you need to review prior content.