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File Search

Quick Answer: When you upload files to a project, they’re indexed for semantic search. AIs can find and reference specific sections relevant to your questions - even in large documents.

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What You’ll Learn

  • How file search works behind the scenes
  • How to get the best results from uploaded files
  • What types of questions work well
  • How to troubleshoot when the AI misses something

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How It Works

When you upload a file:
  1. Chunking - The file is split into meaningful sections
  2. Embedding - Each section is converted to a vector representation
  3. Indexing - Vectors are stored for fast similarity search
  4. Ready - The file is available for AI reference
When you ask a question:
  1. Your question is converted to a vector
  2. The system finds the most similar file sections
  3. Relevant sections are included in the AI’s context
  4. The AI references specific content in its response
This is called semantic search - it finds content by meaning, not just keywords.

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What This Means in Practice

You don’t need to specify page numbers or sections. Just ask your question naturally:
The system finds the relevant clause, even if it uses different terminology (like “cancellation provisions” instead of “early termination”).
The system locates the market projections section, even in a 100-page document.

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Types of Questions That Work Well

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Specific Fact Retrieval

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Analysis Based on Document Content

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Cross-Document Questions

(Works when both documents are in the same project.)

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Summarization

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Tips for Best Results

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Be specific in your questions

Better: “What does the contract say about liability limits?” Worse: “Tell me about the contract.”

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Reference the file when helpful

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Ask follow-up questions

If the first answer doesn’t cover what you need:

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Upload clean documents

  • PDFs with actual text (not scanned images) work best
  • Well-structured documents with headings are easier to chunk accurately
  • Remove cover pages and appendices that aren’t relevant

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Troubleshooting

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AI doesn’t reference the file

  • Make sure the file uploaded successfully (check the Files section)
  • Be more explicit: “Based on the uploaded [filename]…”
  • The question might not be related enough to trigger file retrieval

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AI references wrong section

  • Ask more specifically: “In the section about [topic]…”
  • Rephrase your question with terms used in the document

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Large documents feel incomplete

  • Very large files have more content than can fit in one context window
  • Ask focused questions about specific sections rather than “summarize everything”
  • Break very large files into smaller, topic-specific uploads if needed

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Still Need Help?

Reach out to us at support@suprmind.ai or use the feedback button in the app.