Web search providers

DataMind Oda reaches the web through providers: the services that answer a search or read a page. Two of them are the paths you will meet: your company's own web access and an anonymous reader for public pages. This page covers both, how Oda chooses between them, and the messages a wrong setup shows. The calls themselves and their results are on Searching and reading the web.

The providers behind the web tools

Provider	What it does
Company path (`datamind`)	Searches and reads pages through your company's DataMind server.
Anonymous fetch path (`http`)	Reads public pages from this computer and sends no credentials. It reads pages only; it does not search.

One provider per side. Search and page reading each resolve their own provider, so the two sides can use different ones.
Ids name providers. A provider is known by a short id, and the settings and the messages below refer to providers by that id.
The set belongs to your deployment. The two above ship with the app; your company's web setup decides what is registered in your deployment. Set up company web search covers the company path's own setup, and Anonymous web fetch safety covers the rules the anonymous path keeps.

How Oda chooses a provider

A pinned provider wins. When the provider settings name an id for a side, that provider answers whenever it is registered and usable.
With nothing pinned, exactly one usable provider must be registered. When a side is left open and only one usable provider is registered for it, Oda uses that one. With none or several, the call fails instead of guessing.
Registration order never decides. The order in which providers were registered does not change the choice.
Unusable providers are ignored. When Oda chooses on its own, a provider that is registered but not usable does not count.

The choice lives in two settings, one for search and one for page reading. Both are unset by default, so Oda chooses at call time. If a setting is left unset, a value from the environment Oda starts in fills the same setting; there is no separate order of precedence between the two.

When no provider can answer

The web tools stay in place when the provider layer cannot answer a call, so a wrong setup shows up as a failed step, not as a missing tool. These are the provider layer's messages:

Message	What it means
`a web provider with id "<id>" is already registered`	A provider was registered under an id that side already uses; the second registration was refused, and the provider already using the id stays.
`configured web provider "<id>" is not registered`	The pinned id is not registered on this deployment.
`configured web provider "<id>" is registered but unavailable`	The pinned provider is registered but not usable, for example the company path without a usable key.
`no usable web provider is registered`	Nothing is pinned and no usable provider is registered for that side.
`multiple usable web providers are registered (<ids>); configure one explicitly`	Nothing is pinned and more than one usable provider is registered; the message lists their ids. Pin one.

No status page. Asking whether a provider is usable is a local check that makes no network call, and nothing in the app reports a provider's health on its own; a call that runs is what shows whether a provider truly works.
On the step. When a call fails, its message stays with the step in the chat, and Troubleshooting collects the messages you may see.

Questions, answered

Which providers can Oda use for web search and page reading?

Two ship with the app. The company path (datamind) searches and reads pages through your company's DataMind server, and the anonymous fetch path (http) reads public pages from this computer and sends no credentials.

How does Oda choose which provider to use?

A pinned id wins whenever that provider is registered and usable. With nothing pinned, exactly one usable provider must be registered for the side: Oda uses it, and when none or several are usable the call fails instead. The order in which providers were registered never changes the outcome.

Do search and page reading have to use the same provider?

No. Each side resolves its own provider, and each side has its own setting, so a deployment can use one provider for search and another for page reading.

What does `no usable web provider is registered` mean?

Nothing is pinned for that side and no usable provider is registered for it, so the call cannot run. If your deployment expects a provider here, keep the message for the person who set it up; a pin that names a missing id fails with the configured web provider message instead.

What does `multiple usable web providers are registered (<ids>); configure one explicitly` mean?

Nothing is pinned and more than one usable provider is registered, so Oda cannot choose between them; the message lists their ids. Pin one provider for the side, and the call can use it.

What do the `configured web provider` messages mean?

They are the two sides of a pin that cannot be honoured. configured web provider "<id>" is not registered means the pinned id is not registered on this deployment; configured web provider "<id>" is registered but unavailable means the provider is there but not usable. Fix the pin or the provider's own setup; Set up company web search covers the company path's side.

Why is a web tool still available when no provider is configured?

The web tools follow the product's configuration, not provider availability: a missing or misconfigured provider does not remove a tool. The failure arrives when a call runs, with one of the messages above.

Can I see whether a provider is working before I search?

No. Oda's check for whether a provider is usable is a local one that makes no network call, and nothing in the app reports a provider's health on its own. Whether a provider truly works shows when a call runs: if it fails, the message on the step says why.

What does `a web provider with id "<id>" is already registered` mean?

A provider was registered under an id that side already uses, and the second registration was refused; the provider already using the id stays. A new provider needs a different id. This is a setup message; a search or a page read does not produce it.