AddThisFeature

Semantic Search

Find records by meaning, so the right result appears without the exact wording.

involved AI Analysis & Search

What it adds

An embedding-backed retrieval path over the app's searchable records, blended with the existing keyword search and filtered by the same permissions.

What your agent is told to do

5
  1. 1

    Choose per record type exactly which fields are embedded, and exclude anything that is hidden, internal, or restricted. A field that is not searchable today must not become searchable by way of an embedding.

  2. 2

    Apply tenant scoping and per-record permission checks to the retrieved set before results are shown, and over-fetch candidates so filtering does not leave a short page.

  3. 3

    Blend semantic results with the existing keyword search rather than replacing it. Exact identifiers, quoted phrases, and precise names must still return their exact match at the top.

  4. 4

    Re-embed a record when its embedded fields change, and store the model or index version alongside each vector so a version change can trigger a controlled rebuild rather than silently mixing incompatible vectors.

  5. 5

    Ranking of an already-retrieved set is owned by AI Search Result Reranking. This feature owns candidate retrieval and the index; do not add a second ordering pass here.

Edge cases it handles

7
  • Embedding a field the user cannot see leaks it through result ordering even when the field itself is never displayed. Decide the embedded field list explicitly per record type.
  • Permission and tenant filters must run after retrieval and before display. A vector index treated as pre-filtered will eventually return another tenant's record.
  • A user searching for an order number or a quoted phrase wants that exact record, not something conceptually adjacent. Exact matches must not be diluted by semantic neighbours.
  • Content changes and index-version changes both invalidate vectors. Handle re-embedding in the background with a visible backlog, and keep serving keyword results while a rebuild is in progress.
  • One-word, ambiguous, or non-supported-language queries produce poor semantic matches. Detect them and fall back to keyword behaviour rather than returning confidently irrelevant results.
  • Embedding every record on first deploy is a large, slow, and expensive job. Batch it, make it resumable, and cap its rate so it does not starve the rest of the app.
  • If the embedding provider is down, search must still work on keywords alone, with no error shown beyond a quiet note that results may be less relevant.

Definition of done

8
  • Only the explicitly listed fields per record type are embedded, and restricted fields are excluded.
  • Tenant and permission filters are applied to retrieved candidates before any result is displayed.
  • Exact identifier and quoted-phrase matches still rank first.
  • Content edits and index-version changes queue a re-embed, and vectors record the version that produced them.
  • Short, ambiguous, or unsupported-language queries fall back to keyword search.
  • Search returns keyword results with no visible failure when the embedding provider is unavailable.
  • The feature matches the existing design system.
  • No existing functionality is broken.

Related features

How it works

  1. 1

    Copy the link

    Grab the Markdown instruction URL for this feature.

  2. 2

    Give it to your AI

    Paste it into Claude Code, Cursor, v0, Lovable — whatever you build with.

  3. 3

    It inspects, then implements

    Your agent reads your existing app first, then adds the feature to fit it.

Works with your stack

These instructions are written to adapt. They tell the agent to detect your framework, match your existing design system, and reuse what you already have — rather than assuming a particular stack.

Need it tighter than that? Customize the feature and tell it exactly what you're running.