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Overview

Cleve’s search system helps you find any content across your entire knowledge base instantly. With both traditional keyword search and AI-powered semantic search, you can discover connections and insights you might have missed.

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Keyboard Shortcut

Press Cmd/Ctrl + / from anywhere in Cleve to open the search overlay. Click the search icon in the top navigation or use the search input in any panel.

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Search Types

Cleve offers two powerful search modes that work together.

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Full-Text Keyword Search

Traditional search that matches exact words and phrases. How it works:
  • Searches through titles, content, and metadata
  • Matches exact keywords (case-insensitive)
  • Highlights matching terms in results
  • Fast and precise
Best for:
  • Finding specific quotes or references
  • Searching for names, dates, or numbers
  • Locating documents by title
Example queries: 
"product roadmap"
customer feedback 2024
meeting notes
AI-powered search that understands meaning, not just keywords. How it works:
  • Your content is embedded as vectors using AI
  • Your query is also converted to a vector
  • Finds content with similar meaning
  • Discovers conceptually related content
Best for:
  • Exploring related concepts
  • Finding content you can’t remember exact wording for
  • Discovering connections between ideas
Example queries: 
"strategies for improving team communication"
(finds writings about collaboration, meetings, async work, etc.)

"dealing with procrastination"
(finds content about productivity, motivation, focus)
Semantic search works even if the exact keywords don’t appear in your content—it understands concepts and context.

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Search Results

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What’s Included

Search returns results from:
  • 📝 Writings: Full documents with titles and content
  • 💡 Ideas: Quick captures and notes
  • 🗂️ Categories: Folder names and descriptions
Each result shows:
  • Title or preview of the content
  • Snippet with highlighted matches
  • Creation date and last modified
  • Category it belongs to
  • Relevance score (semantic search only)

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Result Actions

Click a result to:
  • Open the writing in the editor
  • View the idea in context
  • Navigate to the category
Right-click for additional options:
  • Open in new panel
  • Copy link to content
  • Share content

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Filters

Refine your search with filters:
  • Type: Writings only, Ideas only, or All
  • Category: Search within specific categories
  • Date Range: Created or modified within timeframe
  • Author: In shared categories, filter by who created it

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Search Operators

Use operators for precise searches:
OperatorExampleDescription
"exact match""customer feedback"Find exact phrase
author:nameauthor:johnFilter by author
category:namecategory:blogSearch specific category
created:datecreated:2024-01Filter by creation date

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Combining Operators

"user research" category:product created:2024-02
Finds writings with the exact phrase “user research” in the “product” category created in February 2024.

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Pagination & Load More

Search returns the top 20 most relevant results initially. To see more:
  • Scroll to bottom of results
  • Click “Load More” to fetch the next page
  • Results load incrementally for performance
Large result sets are paginated to keep search fast and responsive.

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Search Performance

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Indexing

Your content is automatically indexed:
  • Instant indexing: New writings and ideas are searchable immediately
  • Background embedding: Semantic vectors are generated asynchronously
  • Incremental updates: Only changed content is re-indexed

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Speed Optimization

Search is optimized for speed:
  • < 100ms response time for keyword search
  • < 500ms for semantic search
  • Client-side caching for repeated queries
  • Debounced input to avoid excessive requests

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Search in AI Chat

Use search context in AI conversations.

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Enabling Search Context

Toggle “Web Search” in AI chat settings to:
  • Search the internet for real-time information
  • Pull in external sources and citations
  • Combine your knowledge with current data
Toggle “Writings” or “Ideas” to search your content as AI context.

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Search-Based Prompts

"What did I write about AI in Q1 2024?"
→ AI searches your writings, summarizes findings

"Find ideas related to marketing campaigns"
→ AI retrieves and organizes relevant ideas

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Privacy & Data

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What’s Indexed

  • Content: Full text of writings and ideas
  • Metadata: Titles, dates, categories, authors
  • Embeddings: AI-generated semantic vectors (hashed)

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What’s NOT Indexed

  • Private writings are only searchable by you
  • Shared content respects permission levels
  • Deleted content is removed from search immediately

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Search Privacy

  • All search queries are private to your account
  • Search history is not logged or tracked
  • Semantic embeddings are one-way hashes (can’t be reversed to original text)
Search works seamlessly on mobile devices:
  • Swipe down from top to open search
  • Voice search: Speak your query instead of typing
  • Quick filters: Tap to filter by type or category
  • Offline search: Search cached content even without connection

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Use Cases

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Research & Reference

Find all mentions of "competitor analysis" across writings
→ Gather research for a new report

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Content Repurposing

Search for "social media tips"
→ Find past writings to repurpose into new content

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Knowledge Discovery

Semantic search: "strategies for growing an audience"
→ Discover writings about marketing, community building, content creation

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Collaboration

Search in shared category: "meeting notes"
→ Find all team meeting summaries

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Best Practices

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Writing SEO-Friendly Content

To make your content more searchable:
  1. Use clear titles: First H1 becomes the searchable title
  2. Add keywords naturally: Include terms you’d search for
  3. Structure content: Headings and lists improve relevance
  4. Link related writings: Builds semantic connections

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Effective Search Queries

Do:
  • Use specific keywords for targeted results
  • Try semantic search for exploratory queries
  • Combine filters to narrow results
  • Use quotes for exact phrases
Don’t:
  • Search for very generic single words (use filters instead)
  • Expect semantic search to find exact quotes
  • Forget to check filters if results seem off

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Organizing for Discoverability

  • Consistent category naming: Makes filtering easier
  • Descriptive titles: Improve search relevance
  • Tag with keywords: Add relevant terms to metadata

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Troubleshooting

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No Results Found

Solutions:
  • Check spelling and try alternative phrasing
  • Remove filters to broaden search
  • Try semantic search instead of keyword search
  • Verify content exists and isn’t deleted

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Irrelevant Results

Solutions:
  • Use exact match with quotes "like this"
  • Add more specific keywords
  • Use category or date filters
  • Switch from semantic to keyword search

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Slow Search Performance

Solutions:
  • Check internet connection
  • Clear browser cache
  • Reduce result limit with filters
  • Contact support if persistent

AI Chat

Use search results as context in AI conversations.

Writing System

Learn how to write searchable, well-structured content.

Ideas

Quick captures are also included in search results.

Collaboration

Search respects category permissions and sharing settings.