Repeatable Search Recipes
Turning a good query into a reusable saved view
You'll be able to
- Capture a refined query as a named, reusable recipe
- Document a recipe so a teammate can run it and get the same result set
Read first
Day 4 Lab
- Take a refined, operator-stacked query you trust from earlier this week.
- Write it down exactly — every operator, in order — as a single reusable string.
- Give it a name that describes the *job*, not the keywords (e.g. "open Sev-1 postmortems").
- Note what it's for and when to re-run it, so future-you doesn't re-derive it.
- Hand it to a teammate; confirm they get the same result set from the recipe alone.
Working Example: A Named, Reusable Recipe
A recipe is the operator string plus the context to run it correctly. Capture all of it and the search becomes a team asset, not a one-off. Verified against search_filters.
Recipe: "Open Sev-1 postmortems — last 90 days"
Query: postmortem type:document app:gdrive owner:sre-team after:2026-03-28
Purpose: weekly reliability review — surfaces docs that still need follow-up
Re-run: every Monday; bump the after: date to keep the 90-day window
Why each part is load-bearing:
postmortem ............. the topic
type:document .......... excludes Slack chatter and tickets
app:gdrive ............. the canonical source of truth
owner:sre-team ......... the team that authors them
after:2026-03-28 ....... the 90-day window (this is what you update)Check for understanding
What three things must a written recipe include so a colleague reproduces your exact result set?
Check yourself
1. When stacking operators on a 500-result query, how do you know which constraint did the real work?
2. You're exploring an unfamiliar result set and don't yet know which apps have hits. What's the better tool?
3. A trusted document ranks at #8. What's the honest way to investigate the ranking?
4. What three things must a written search recipe include so a teammate reproduces your exact result set?
5. Which question best justifies Glean's multi-step thinking mode over a quick answer?
In 10 seconds
“A search you nailed once is worth saving. Capture the operator string, name it for the job it does, and a recipe you tuned for ten minutes pays back every week.”
Cross-App Investigation