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Prophecy’s search feature lets you query multiple document libraries at once and see ranked results from each one. Rather than logging into separate systems for meeting records, the municipal code, and your internal file repositories, you enter one query and Prophecy searches all configured sources in parallel.

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What gets searched

Prophecy can search across the following backends, depending on which are configured for your city:
Agendas, minutes, staff reports, and attachments from your city’s meeting records, including documents from all configured meeting bodies.

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How to search

1

Open Search

Click Search in the left sidebar.
2

Enter your query

Type a keyword, phrase, or question in the search box. There is no special syntax required — plain language works.
3

Select document types

Choose which backends to search. By default, all available sources are selected. Uncheck any you want to exclude.
4

Review results

Results are grouped by source type. Each result shows a relevance score, a text excerpt, and the document it came from.

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Understanding search results

Results are sorted by relevance within each source group. Each result card shows:
  • Document title or filename — the source document
  • Excerpt — the specific passage that matched your query
  • Relevance score — how closely the passage matches
Click a result to open the source document. For meeting documents, Prophecy takes you to the exact passage in the file.
Search results are unfiltered — they show raw matches from the selected sources. The AI has not synthesized or verified the results. If you need a reasoned answer that draws across multiple documents, use AI chat instead.

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Search vs. AI chat

Search and AI chat serve different purposes:
SearchAI chat
What it returnsA list of matching document excerptsA synthesized, cited answer
Best forFinding a specific document or passageUnderstanding a topic, drafting, or research
Source transparencyShows raw results from each backendCites sources inline in the response
ReasoningNone — results ranked by relevanceAI reads and synthesizes across sources
Use search when you know roughly what document you’re looking for. Use AI chat when you have a question and want Prophecy to find and explain the answer.
If a search result looks relevant but you want to understand it better, copy the document name or key phrase into an AI chat message and ask Prophecy to explain it in context.

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Frequently asked questions

Yes. All available sources are selected by default. You can uncheck individual sources to narrow results, but there is no limit on how many you can search simultaneously.
These backends only appear and return results if the integration is configured for your city. Contact your city administrator if you expect these sources to be available.
Yes. Search only returns Data Vault files you have permission to access — your own files and any files shared with you or set to city-wide access.
Search returns a ranked list of document excerpts — it doesn’t interpret or reason about them. AI chat reads those documents and produces a synthesized, cited answer. Use search to locate a document; use chat to understand its contents or get an answer to a research question.