Skip to content
Tamsaek Docs

Natural Language Search with AI

Stop thinking like a search engine. Instead of guessing keywords like report_Q3_2024_final_v2.pdf, just ask for what you want: “find the quarterly report I worked on last fall.” Tamsaek’s AI understands natural language.

Section titled “What is Natural Language Search?”

Traditional search requires you to think like a computer:

  • Guess exact keywords
  • Remember file names
  • Construct filter syntax

AI-powered search lets you describe what you’re looking for naturally:

the presentation I made for the client meeting last month
find John's resume that he sent me
show me all receipts from restaurants
Section titled “Enabling AI Search”

First-Time Setup

Section titled “First-Time Setup”
  1. Open Settings (gear icon or Cmd+,)
  2. Go to the AI tab
  3. Enable AI Search Mode
  4. Wait for model download (~3GB, one-time)

Using AI Mode

Section titled “Using AI Mode”

Toggle AI mode with:

  • Press Tab in the search bar
  • Click the AI icon (✨)
  • The search bar shows “Ask anything…” when AI is active

What AI Understands

Section titled “What AI Understands”

Time References

Section titled “Time References”
Natural LanguageAI Understands
”last week”Past 7 days
”last month”Past 30 days
”in March”March of current/recent year
”yesterday”Previous day
”last quarter”Q-1 from current
”in 2023”Full year 2023
”this morning”Today before noon

Context Clues

Section titled “Context Clues”

AI understands relationships and context:

the contract I signed with Acme Corp

→ Searches for PDFs containing “contract” and “Acme”

John's presentation about marketing

→ Looks for presentations by/about John with marketing content

the spreadsheet my accountant sent

→ Searches for .xlsx files in email attachments or shared folders

Intent Phrases

Section titled “Intent Phrases”
PhraseAI Behavior
”find” / “search for”Standard search
”show me all”Comprehensive results
”where is”Single file location
”open”Search + open top result
”the latest”Most recent matching file

Example Queries

Section titled “Example Queries”

Basic Queries

Section titled “Basic Queries”
find the quarterly report
show me my tax documents
where is the project proposal

With Time

Section titled “With Time”
invoices from last month
photos from my vacation in July
the document I was editing yesterday

With Context

Section titled “With Context”
the PDF from the lawyer about the lease
John's resume he sent last week
meeting notes from the product team

Complex Queries

Section titled “Complex Queries”
find all contracts signed in 2024 that mention payment terms
presentations I shared with clients this quarter
the spreadsheet with the budget projections for next year
Section titled “AI vs Regular Search”
Regular SearchAI Search
report Q3 2024 type:pdfthe Q3 report from 2024
invoice date:last-monthinvoices from last month
contract in:Documentscontracts in my Documents folder
meeting notes Johnmeeting notes John shared with me

Use regular search when:

  • You know exact keywords
  • You want precise filter control
  • Faster for simple queries

Use AI search when:

  • You remember vague details
  • Natural description is easier
  • Complex contextual queries

How It Works

Section titled “How It Works”
  1. Query Parsing: AI interprets your natural language
  2. Intent Extraction: Determines what you’re looking for
  3. Filter Generation: Converts to search filters (date, type, location)
  4. Semantic Search: Matches meaning, not just keywords
  5. Result Ranking: Orders by relevance to your intent

All Processing is Local

Section titled “All Processing is Local”
  • Model runs on your device
  • No data sent to cloud
  • Works offline after setup
  • ~3GB model download once

Tips for Better Results

Section titled “Tips for Better Results”

Be Specific

Section titled “Be Specific”

❌ find the document

✅ find the contract I signed with Acme last month

Mention File Types When Relevant

Section titled “Mention File Types When Relevant”

❌ the budget

✅ the budget spreadsheet or the budget Excel file

Include Time When You Remember

Section titled “Include Time When You Remember”

❌ the meeting notes

✅ the meeting notes from last Tuesday

Use Relationship Context

Section titled “Use Relationship Context”

❌ presentation

✅ the presentation Sarah shared for the marketing review

Troubleshooting

Section titled “Troubleshooting”

”AI search is slow”

Section titled “”AI search is slow””
  • First search after launch loads the model (~10 seconds)
  • Subsequent searches are fast
  • Regular search is always instant

”AI doesn’t understand my query”

Section titled “”AI doesn’t understand my query””
  • Rephrase with more context
  • Break complex queries into simpler ones
  • Fall back to regular search with filters

”Model download failed”

Section titled “”Model download failed””
  1. Check internet connection
  2. Ensure ~3GB free disk space
  3. Retry from Settings → AI → Download Model

”AI search uses too much memory”

Section titled “”AI search uses too much memory””
  • AI model uses ~2-4GB RAM when active
  • Close and reopen Tamsaek to release memory
  • Consider disabling AI if system resources are limited
Section titled “Related Guides”