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Every company-data task in Company data, documents and reports goes through the Minds of your DataMind OS, with your own account and permissions, so Oda never sees more than you can. Behind the scenes, a fixed set of company-data tools asks the Minds, reads their tables, runs read-only queries and searches their documents. This page covers those tools, their limits and the messages they return.
| The tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| Finding a Mind | Lists the Minds your account can use, with their type and description. Oda asks the one or few Minds that fit the task, not every Mind. |
| Asking a question | Sends a business question and waits for the answer. A follow-up continues the same conversation with the same Mind. The answer comes with the queries the Mind ran for it. |
| Waiting for a long answer | Keeps waiting for a question the Mind is still working on, without asking it again. |
| Answering back | When a Mind pauses with a question, Oda brings it to you and passes your answer back to the Mind. |
| Cancelling | Calls off a question or query that is no longer needed. |
| Reading the structure | Lists the tables a Mind can read, optionally of one database; the columns of one table with their type and whether they are part of the primary key or can be empty; or every table with its columns in one step. |
| Checking numbers | Runs a read-only query over those tables and shows a preview of the result in the chat. |
| Saving full results | Saves the complete result of a query in the chat's workspace as a CSV or Excel file. See Export query results. |
| Documents and definitions | Searches a Mind's knowledge base for documents, business definitions and instructions, in every folder or in one, and lists the knowledge cards a Mind has. |
These tools are the only route from Oda to your company's data. Their reach is fixed: Oda cannot change Minds, dashboards, users or permissions, and it cannot write to company databases. Those changes stay in the DataMind web app.
Each company-data step appears in the chat as a line you can open, such as Ask a Mind, Wait for the Mind, Read the schema, Run a query, Search knowledge or List knowledge cards. Opened, it shows what came back: the Mind's answer with Queries behind the answer, The Mind is still working on this question, the Mind's question and its options, the tables and columns marked Primary key or Nullable, the query with its preview rows, the saved file, which opens on a click, or the knowledge passages and cards with their folders. The documentation lookup is a line of its own: it reads Ask the DataMind documentation and opens on a Documentation answer card, with the pages it used under Documentation pages ({count}); in Excel the same line reads Asking the DataMind documentation.
The company-data tools appear only while your account holds the Use Minds from DataMind Oda permission. While it is missing, none of the tools are offered, and the message reads Minds are not available for this account. If your account can reach no Minds at all, Oda reports No Minds are available to this account. and tells you to ask an administrator for access to a Mind.
The permission does not gate datamind_ask_docs, which looks up the public DataMind documentation: every signed-in account has it. See How Oda works with DataMind OS.
Listing a Mind's knowledge cards also needs the View Training Cards permission, which Training Cards Viewer grants. Without it, only that step reports that DataMind denied the request; searching a Mind's knowledge still works.
Permission changes follow your account: a grant or a removal takes effect the next time your account loads in Oda, for example at the next sign-in. Ask your administrator for the permission; Manage DataMind Oda for your company shows where it is given.
A query preview ends with a line that tells you what came back:
The query returned no rows. The query ran and found nothing.57 rows returned. The preview holds that many rows.A Mind can pause before it can finish: it asks for something it needs. Oda answers only when your own request already makes the answer clear; otherwise it brings the question to you in the chat and waits. Your answer goes back to the Mind, and the answer completes. The question arrives like any other question Oda asks; see Answering Oda's questions.
Two rules hold whatever the question:
Not every question ends with an answer in words. The chat shows what happened:
The Mind job was cancelled: The job stopped before it finished: you stopped the turn that left it running, Oda cancelled it, or it was stopped in the DataMind web app. Oda does not ask again on its own; ask it to when you still need the answer.The DataMind job did not finish within <minutes>, so it was cancelled. A query preview ran too long; narrow the query, or try again later.The Mind could not finish this job: <reason>. The Mind stopped with an error. The reason comes from the Mind, or reads DataMind reported no reason when it reports none.server restarted as its reason. Ask again to get the answer.The Mind finished without a text answer. The Mind completed but wrote no answer text. Any queries it ran are still listed with the answer.To call a question off yourself, ask Oda to cancel it, or stop the turn that is waiting for it; the chat reports Cancelled DataMind job "<id>". Stopping a turn also cancels the questions that turn left running. A question an earlier turn left running keeps going until you ask Oda to cancel it. A cancelled question stays cancelled even if its work finishes afterwards: the late result is dropped.
At most four are started and awaited at a time, across everything Oda is doing. Further asks wait their turn in order, and a question cancelled while it waits never reaches your DataMind server.
Up to 10 minutes by default. If the Mind is still working after that, Oda tells you and the question keeps running on your DataMind server. Ask for the answer later, and Oda checks back instead of asking again.
Yes. Ask Oda to cancel it, or stop the turn that is waiting for it. The chat reports Cancelled DataMind job "<id>". A question that an earlier turn left running is cancelled only when you ask Oda to cancel it.
The job stopped before it finished: you stopped the turn that left it running, Oda cancelled it, or it was stopped in the DataMind web app. Ask again if you still need the answer.
At most 50. For the complete result, ask for it as a file; see Export query results.
A long cell is shortened to 200 characters in the preview. Save the complete result as a file if you need the full values.
Oda answers it only when your own request already makes the answer clear; otherwise it brings the question to you and waits. Answer it and Oda passes your answer back, then shows the finished answer. Oda never answers a request for passwords or keys; it cancels such a question and tells you.
The chat reads The Mind finished without a text answer. Any queries the Mind ran are still listed under the answer.
Your account does not hold the Use Minds from DataMind Oda permission. Ask your administrator for it; access is picked up the next time your account loads in Oda, for example at the next sign-in. Manage DataMind Oda for your company shows where it is given.
8 by default, and never more than 20. Each result carries its title, its folder and a snippet from the Mind's documents. Oda can limit a search to one folder of the knowledge base.