← Glean-ia-acs · Day 5 of 56
The type: Filter
Narrowing by document type
You'll be able to
- Use the type: filter to restrict results to one kind of document
- Combine type: with a keyword to cut a broad result set
Read first
Day 5 Lab
- Run a broad query that mixes docs, messages, and tickets.
- Add
type:to keep just one kind. - Compare the counts before and after.
- Note when
type:helped more than another keyword would have.
Working Example: type: in Action
The type: filter restricts results to a single document kind. Verified against search_filters.
onboarding → 400+ results: docs, Slack messages, tickets, all mixed
type:document onboarding → just the onboarding documents
type:message onboarding → just the chat messages about onboarding
Use type: when the noise is the wrong KIND of thing, not the wrong topic.Check for understanding
When does type: help more than adding another keyword?
Check yourself
1. What does Glean's Enterprise Graph primarily connect?
The graph models high-value entities and the network of signals — docs, tickets, messages — around each.
2. When is a natural-language question better than keywords?
Questions let Glean assemble and cite an answer; keywords are faster when you just need to open a known doc.
3. Your top result is the wrong TYPE of thing entirely. That is a...
Wrong type means the query expressed the wrong intent; fix it by reframing, not by tuning ranking.
4. What does a result's snippet tell you?
The snippet shows the matched text — why this result surfaced. Position signals rank confidence; metadata shows owner.
5. What does `type:document onboarding` do?
type: narrows by document kind; here, only documents (not messages or tickets) about onboarding.
6. `app:slack quarterly roadmap` returns...
app: scopes the query to one connected system — here, Slack.
7. In one sentence, what does `from:me` do?
from: finds documents associated with a person; from:me is the special case for yourself.
In 10 seconds
“Too many results of the wrong kind? Add type: to keep only one — a doc, a message, a ticket. type:document onboarding strips out the chatter and leaves the pages you actually meant.”
The app: Filter