Session search and history paging
DataMind Oda searches across your chats, and it loads a long chat's older messages in pages as you read back. This page covers what a search returns and its limits, how history loads, and what happens when a search or a page cannot finish.
Search your chats
Open chat search with Ctrl K (see Chat with Oda) and type what you remember. Oda looks through your messages and its answers in the chats that are visible in your list at that moment.
- Up to 20 chats. A search returns at most 20 results, and each result is one chat with a short piece of the matching message. A chat appears once even when several of its messages match, and it never uses up more than one of the 20 places.
- Short snippets. The piece of the message shown is at most 240 characters, and it never breaks a symbol in half. Open the chat to read around the match.
- More chats match. When more chats match than the 20 returned, the results say so; make the query more specific to see the others.
- One shared budget. All the lookups a single search needs share a budget of 100. A search that needs more stops with a failure instead of returning something incomplete.
What a query can contain
- Not empty. A blank query, or one that holds only spaces, is refused. Type something to search for.
- At most 500 UTF-16 code units. An ordinary character counts as one; a symbol such as most emoji counts as two. A longer query is refused; shorten it.
- No NUL characters. A query cannot contain a NUL character, an invisible character that can ride along in copied text. Remove it and search again.
When a search stops early
Most searches end with results. Sometimes a search stops first, and the reason is one of these:
- Cancelled. The search was stopped before it finished. Run it again if you still need it.
- Failed. Something went wrong while searching. Try again; if it keeps failing, contact your DataMind OS administrator with the message and what you searched. For general help with messages, see Updates and troubleshooting.
- Not in every setup. Some setups run without chat search, and a search then reports that it is not available instead of running.
How older messages load
A chat opens at its newest messages, and older ones arrive as you read back, so a long chat never loads all at once.
- Pages of 50. Reading back loads up to 50 messages at a time.
- Larger steps for a jump. Moving straight to an earlier point loads through it in larger steps, up to 200 messages at a time.
- The state travels with the newest page. When a chat opens, its current state, such as its title and the model it is set to, arrives with the newest page as one block that describes the chat up to its latest entry.
- Older pages bring messages only. Pages loaded behind the newest one never carry that block, so reading back does not change the state you see.
When history cannot load
Loading history is strict. When Oda cannot serve a request exactly, it refuses instead of guessing:
- Beyond the end. A request to load through a point the chat has not reached is refused; nothing is filled in for it.
- Invalid page limits. A page request with limits that are not valid is refused.
- A skipped part. If part of a chat's live updates is missing, Oda refuses to show an incomplete history, and loads the missing part again.
Questions, answered
How many results does a chat search return?
At most 20 chats, one result each. A chat that matches in several places still appears once, and the repeat does not use up one of the 20 places. When more chats match, the results say so; make the query more specific to see the others.
Why is the snippet in a search result so short?
Snippets are cut to at most 240 characters so each result stays readable, and a symbol is never split in half. Open the chat and read around the match for the full text.
Why was my search query refused?
The query was empty or held only spaces, it was longer than 500 UTF-16 code units, or it contained a NUL character. Shorten the query, or remove the invisible character, and search again.
Why did a search stop before it finished?
A search can be cancelled, or it can fail while it runs. Run it again; if it keeps failing, contact your DataMind OS administrator with the message and what you searched.
Why does a search say it is not available?
Chat search is not enabled in every setup, and a search then reports that it is not available instead of running. If you need it, ask your DataMind OS administrator.
How far back can I read in a chat?
As far back as the chat goes. Oda loads older messages as you read back, in pages of up to 50 messages, so the newest part arrives first.
Why did a large block of older messages load at once?
Moving straight to an earlier point in a chat loads through it in larger steps, up to 200 messages at a time, rather than 50 at a time.
Do older pages change the chat's title or model?
No. The chat's state arrives as one block with its newest page and describes the chat up to its latest entry. Pages loaded behind it bring messages only, so reading back never changes the state you see.
What happens if part of a chat's history is missing?
Oda loads the missing part again rather than showing the history with a hole in it.
Does chat search look inside files too?
No. Chat search looks through the messages of your chats. When Oda searches the contents of files during a task, that is a step in the chat, covered in Searching your files.