How to Search Internal Docs Faster with Docmost

TL;DR

• Docmost has full-text search, which looks through the text of your pages and not only their titles. And filters let you narrow results by space, type, title, creator, and labels.
• AI Search finds the right pages by understanding what you mean, and AI Answers writes an answer in the words people would normally use, based on your docs. Both only use pages the person is allowed to open.
• The AI features need a paid edition. And on a self-hosted setup, an admin turns them on in AI settings and connects an AI provider for AI Search, AI Answers, and AI Chat.
• MCP (Model Context Protocol) lets outside AI assistants, like Claude or ChatGPT, securely read, search, or update your pages.
• Docmost searches the content in your own Docmost workspace.

Documentation is only useful when people can find the information they need. For software teams, this could be an API reference, an onboarding guide, or a process documented months ago. As projects grow and documentation builds up, finding the right information can become harder.

The problem isn't always a lack of documentation. Sometimes, this information is simply buried across pages. A search for a specific feature or process might return too many results, miss the right page, or bring up an outdated version. This means developers spend more time looking for information.

In this guide, we'll look at how search works in Docmost, including full-text search, filters, AI Search, and AI Answers, and how to organize your workspace so your team can find information more easily.

Quick Facts: Search in Docmost

What Is Workplace Search?

Workplace search is a search tool that helps employees find company information, like policies, how-to pages, and files. When it works, people get answers from the source and don't have to ask a coworker.

You'll also see the terms "intranet search," "internal search engine," and "company search engine." They overlap, and people don't always use them the same way. What mostly differentiates them is how much each one searches, whether that's one tool or many tools at once.

Workplace Search vs Intranet Search vs Company Search Engine

The table below sorts the terms by how much they cover and shows what Docmost does for each.

Why Can't Teams Find Answers in Internal Docs?

Teams can't find answers in internal docs when a page exists but is hard to reach. 

A few reasons this happens:

• The title uses a code name or an internal phrase that people wouldn't normally type.
• An older copy or a duplicate shows up next to the right page.
• Nobody is responsible for the page, so nobody updates it.
• The answer is in a space the person didn't think to check.

How Knowledge Base Search Works in Docmost

Docmost has full-text search, which looks through the text of your pages and not only their titles. It's in every edition, including the free Community edition.

Opening Search

You can open search from three places:

• Click the search bar at the top of the page.
• Press Ctrl/Cmd + K.
• Click Search in the space sidebar. This opens search with AI Answers turned on.

AI Answers has to be set up first (see the AI section below). If no AI provider is connected, it won't return results.

What Results Look Like

Results show up as you type. Each one shows the page title and a preview of the content, with the words that match your search in bold. The preview often tells you whether it's the right page before you open it.

Search Filters in Docmost

Filters narrow down your results. They help when a search brings back a long list and you want to cut it down to the right pages.

By the way, you can combine filters. To find the expense policy, for example, you could limit the search to Pages and turn on Title only.

Note: Searching inside the text of PDF and DOCX files is part of the paid edition.

How AI Search and AI Answers Work in Docmost

Docmost has four AI features related to search. Three of them help people find answers in your docs, and the fourth, MCP, lets outside AI assistants work with your pages.

AI Features in Docmost

How to Ask a Question With AI Answers

You can ask right from the search dialog.

1. Open search with Ctrl/Cmd + K.
2. Turn on the AI Answers toggle.
3. Type your question, such as "How do I file an expense report?"
4. Click Ask or press Enter.
5. Read the answer, which is based on the content in your workspace.

For how AI search and keyword search differ, see AI Search vs Keyword Search for Internal Wikis.

AI Search Respects Page Permissions

• AI Search and AI Answers only use content the person has permission to open.
• Results only come from spaces and pages their account can see.
• AI Chat also respects each person's page and space permissions.
• MCP follows the same permissions as the Docmost web app. An assistant can only reach the spaces and pages the connected user can view or edit. The MCP documentation has the details.
• Regular search works the same way. If a page is restricted, it's filtered out of search results for anyone without access.

Note: Restricting individual pages needs a paid license.

What AI Search Needs

These requirements are for a self-hosted Docmost.

The AI Search setup guide has the full steps. If you're comparing platforms with this in mind, see which self-hosted wikis come with AI search built in.

How to Set Up Your Docmost Workspace So People Find Answers

Write Titles the Way People Search

Use plain wording that matches what someone would type, such as "Expense Policy" instead of an internal code name. 

Title only searches page titles and attachment filenames, so someone who types "expense" with that filter on won't find a page called "Finance Ops Process v2." Give attachments plain filenames too.

Use Labels to Connect Related Pages

A label is a tag you add to a page, like onboarding or expenses. Pages in different spaces can share the same label, so you can filter by it and see everything on that topic in one list.

• You need edit access to the page to add or remove labels.
• Open the page, click the info icon to open the Details panel, then add a label under Labels.
• Label names are lowercase with hyphens, so "Meeting Notes" becomes meeting-notes.
• In search, choose Filter, then Labels, to find pages with any of the labels you select.

The Page Labels documentation walks through each step.

Organize Spaces by Team or Topic

The space filter usually starts on the space you're viewing, and that can hide an answer. Say a new hire opens search from inside the "People" space and looks for the expense policy, which lives in "Finance." Their results will come from "People" until they switch the filter to "All spaces." 

Note: A space for each team or topic keeps results focused, and it helps to tell new hires about the All spaces option early.

Give Every Important Page an Owner

Search can find a page, but it can't tell you whether the page is correct. On the Enterprise edition, Docmost's page verification lets you assign verifiers to a page and set a review date. 

On other editions, your team needs to track owners and review dates itself. The guide to assigning page owners and review dates in a wiki explains how.

What Docmost Search Covers

• It searches pages and attachments in your Docmost workspace.
• With MCP, outside AI assistants like Claude or ChatGPT can read, search, or update pages in Docmost.

If you need one search across your chat, email, and other apps, that's a different kind of tool. 

Docmost search is for the content in your workspace, and the Search documentation lists everything the search dialog can do.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What Is Workplace Search?

Workplace search is a search tool that helps employees find company information in one place. In Docmost, it means searching the pages and attachments in your workspace.

2. What's the Difference Between Intranet Search and a Company Search Engine?

Mostly how many places each one searches. Intranet search covers your internal portal and what's on it, while a company search engine looks across many tools at once.

3. Can You Search Attachments in an Internal Wiki?

In Docmost, yes. The Type filter lets you look for attachments, and Title only matches attachment filenames. Searching inside the text of PDF and DOCX files is part of the paid edition.

4. Can People See Results From Pages They Can't Access?

No. Restricted pages are filtered out of search results for people without access, and AI Search only uses pages the person can open.

5. What's the Difference Between AI Search and AI Answers?

AI Search uses semantic search, which matches on meaning instead of exact words, to understand what someone is looking for and find the relevant information in your workspace. AI Answers writes an answer in the words people would normally use, based directly on your workspace documentation.

6. Does AI Search Need Extra Setup?

Yes. It needs a paid edition. On a self-hosted Docmost, an admin connects an AI provider and turns on AI-powered search (AI Answers) in AI settings. Your database also needs the pgvector add-on.

7. Can AI Search Run on a Local Model?

Yes. Self-hosted Docmost supports local models through Ollama, along with OpenAI, OpenAI-compatible providers, and Google Gemini.

8. Can I Use Claude or ChatGPT With My Internal Wiki?

In Docmost, yes. It works through MCP, on a paid edition, and lets outside AI assistants securely read, search, or update pages. An admin enables it in AI settings, and it follows the same permissions as the Docmost web app.

Help Your Team Find Answers in Internal Docs With Docmost

With Docmost, people can find answers in your internal docs on their own. Full-text search is included in every edition, and filters narrow results down to the right pages. 

On a paid edition, AI Search finds relevant pages based on what someone means, and AI Answers writes an answer from your docs. Restricted pages stay hidden from anyone without access.

Get a free trial license or contact sales to see it working with your own docs.