Search company knowledge and inspect evidence

Search in Cortex Atlas retrieves relevant records from connected sources and captured AI work. Inspect the returned records, follow available source references, and check the evidence behind a generated answer.

Search is currently restricted to the configured internal organization. This guide describes the implemented Atlas workflow, not general availability. The website illustrations use example data and do not guarantee that a source, field, or answer is available in your organization.

How search works

Search starts with your query and any selected sources or scope. Cortex checks organization access, applies the requested narrowing, and returns result groups. Selecting a source does not grant access to it.

Connected apps, captured conversations, sessions, and work records can supply different kinds of context. A connection makes a source eligible for a supported search path; it does not guarantee that every record is indexed or returned. See Workplace connections for connection setup and Roles and visibility for access scope.

The context graph below is the original Cortex website illustration. Its example relationships help explain connected context; they are not a schema for a search response.

Illustrative Cortex Context Graph preview with people, work, decisions, sources, and memory — Illustrative company-website context graph artwork. The example data and connection labels are part of the graphic and do not verify live access, permissions, or API fields in this documentation instance.

Inspect a result

Each result has a title and may include a snippet and an available destination in Cortex or the source application. A returned snippet may be an excerpt or a summary; do not assume it is a complete or verbatim source record.

Atlas displays individual result rows. The Degraded panel reports connectors that are restricted, unavailable, or timed out. Read the supplied message before treating a search as complete. A source can also respond successfully without returning any matching results.

A missing result is not proof that a record was deleted, denied, or never captured. Use an explicit source status when one is supplied, and keep that status separate from the question of whether a particular record matched.

Follow answer evidence

The Answer panel is a separate generated interpretation. Retrieval results and answer evidence are separate outputs: a search hit is not automatically a citation for the answer. Source and scope filters narrow the retrieved result list; they are not applied to the separate Answer request.

When the answer supplies numbered evidence references, inspect the cited evidence item and open its reference when one is available. An available reference helps you check the source; it does not certify that the generated answer is correct or complete.

Evidence and lineage preview

Cortex

What changed in the enterprise SSO rollout?|

AI Overview

The rollout moved from September 9 to September 16 1 so Platform could complete a rollback rehearsal and finalize owner coverage. 2 The deployment checklist remains blocked on the IdP runbook. 3 4

Enterprise SSO launch plan

“Move launch to September 16 after rollback rehearsal and ownership review.”

Maya VossUpdated 2h ago

#sso-war-room

“September 16 confirmed. Platform owns the rollback rehearsal before release.”

3 peopleUpdated 4h ago

PR #1842

“Updates the release target and deployment configuration to 2026-09-16.”

Corey RiceUpdated 12h ago

SEC-318: Finalize IdP runbook

“Deployment checklist remains blocked until the IdP exception runbook is final.”

Priya NairUpdated 12h ago

Illustrative company-website evidence artwork. It shows how a source-backed answer can be presented, not an observed result or a claim about active citations.

Keep the distinction between captured text and inferred meaning. A work-unit summary describes related activity; it does not establish that the activity succeeded. See How Cortex organizes AI work for provenance and grouping semantics.

Try a scoped search

If Search is available in your internal Cortex organization, use a term from a record you are permitted to access:

Open Search in Atlas.

Enter a distinctive project or document name. For example, the website illustration uses Enterprise SSO; use a name from your own connected records when checking your organization.

Use Connectors to narrow third-party results to a connected source. Your organization's memory is always searched.

Inspect the result rows and any Degraded status, then open an available destination to compare the source with the result.

If an answer is generated, inspect its evidence references separately from the search results.

This workflow does not predict a result for the example query. If Search is not available, adding a connector alone does not enable it.

Freshness and missing results

Search is limited by source availability, indexing, capture coverage, and access. A recent query does not establish that every underlying record is current. Use dates supplied with answer citations to assess recency, and read any Degraded notice for source coverage limitations. Neither a date nor the absence of a notice establishes complete coverage.

If a source is unavailable, do not read its absence as an empty source. If a result has no usable reference, its title or snippet alone may not provide enough evidence to verify a claim. For missing captured activity, start with Device and source coverage.

Search and context enrichment

Search retrieves context. A generated answer interprets evidence. How Cortex collects context candidates describes a separate path for collecting context candidates during captured AI activity; that collection does not itself change a prompt.

Continue in Cortex

How Cortex organizes AI work: distinguish source evidence, calculated values, and inferred relationships.
Workplace connections: configure supported source connections.
How Cortex collects context candidates: understand context candidate collection.

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