AI Search - User Guide

AI Search replaces the standard Enterprise Search entry point in Aras Innovator®.
Typing a query into the search field in the Aras Innovator header opens AI Search as a tab within the Aras Innovator interface.

Type a query into the search field in the Aras Innovator header to open the AI Search tab. The tab opens in Aras Innovator’s standard tab interface. If an AI Search tab is already open for the same query, Aras Innovator navigates to it rather than opening a new one.
Once the tab is open, you can also run searches directly from the search bar within the tab. Both the header field and the in-tab search bar accept the same natural language queries and return the same results.

Administrators see a gear icon in the top-right corner of the AI Search tab. Selecting it opens the AI Search Admin panel, where indexing scope and search presentation settings are configured. This button is visible only to users with administrator access. For full Admin panel documentation, see the separate AI Search Admin guide.

When you first open the dedicated AI Search page and have not run a search yet, the results area shows Ready to Search with a short description and example query chips, such as:

• “123 module description”
• “Body parts with Preliminary state”
• “Cylinder head manual”
• “Latest modified CAD documents”

Select any example chip to run that search immediately.

Type a plain language query into the search bar in the AI Search tab and select Search. You can also type into the Aras Innovator header search field to start a new search from outside the tab. Describe what you are looking for in everyday language: a concept, a material, a function, or a design intent. AI Search matches by meaning rather than by exact keyword.
You can also press Enter in the search box to run the search.
While a search is in progress, the Search button is disabled until the current request completes or is stopped.
The X icon inside the search box clears the text you typed. It does not clear existing results or reset the page. To reset after a failed or empty search, use Clear search and try again in the results area.
Queries must be at least 3 characters long. Submitting a shorter query shows the following message:

Search query too short
Please enter at least 3 characters to search. Try a longer keyword or phrase.

Select Clear search and try again to reset the search field and enter a new query.

If a search takes longer than a few seconds, an information banner appears:

Your search is still running
Results will appear as soon as they're ready.

Select Stop to cancel the in-progress search. Partial results are not kept after you stop.

Search results are returned in pages. When more results are available, a Load More button appears at the bottom of the result list.
Select Load More to fetch the next page using the same search query and applied filters as the current result set. Load More does not apply staged filter changes. If you have edited filters but not yet selected Apply Filters, pagination continues with the previously applied filter set.
While additional results are loading, the button shows Loading... and is disabled.

Use filters to narrow semantic search results after you enter a search query. Filters are built in the filter panel below the search bar; active filters appear as chips above the panel.

The search page keeps two filter states:

Search results always reflect applied filters. Changes you make in the filter builder are staged until you apply them or run a new search.

1. Enter a search query and run the search.
2. Select Add Filter to open the filter builder.
3. Select a property (field).
4. Choose a value. The control depends on the property type (see Available Filter Properties below).
5. Select Add Filter in the builder to save the filter to the staged list.

The filter appears as a chip above the filter panel. It does not change results until you apply it.

When all available filter properties are in use, Add Filter is disabled.

• Duplicate filters (same property and value) are rejected with a warning notification.
• Select Cancel to close the builder without saving.
• If the Item Type list fails to load, an inline error is shown with a Retry option.

The Item Type list is loaded from your instance’s index configuration.

Staged filters are shown as chips in a row below the search bar (up to 8 visible; select …N More Filters to expand or Hide N Filters to collapse).

Each chip displays: Property = Value (for example, Item Type = Part or Is Current = True).

After you add, edit, or remove a filter, affected chips turn gray until you apply changes.

Removing or editing a chip does not immediately update results. You must select Apply Filters or run the search again.

• The Apply Filters button appears when staged filters differ from applied filters, for example, after adding a filter, editing one, removing one, or selecting Clear All.
• Select Apply Filters to copy staged filters to applied filters and re-run the search with the current query and filters.
• Apply Filters is disabled while a search is already in progress.
• Staged filters are also applied automatically when you press Enter in the search box or select the Search button. In those cases, the latest staged filters are sent with the search request.

• Remove one filter: Select the X on a chip. The filter is removed from the staged list. If it was previously applied, results stay unchanged until you select Apply Filters or search again.
• Clear all filters: Select Clear All to remove all staged filters and close any open filter builder. Clear All does not run a search by itself. If applied filters were active, Apply Filters appears so you can refresh results without those filters.

There is no Sort by control. Results are always ordered by relevance, the semantic search score, and this order cannot be changed.

1. Search for a term such as battery housing.
2. Select Add Filter > Item Type > choose a type > Add Filter.
3. The chip appears in gray (staged).
4. Select Apply Filters.
5. The chip turns blue; results show only matching items.

1. Select the pencil icon on a filter chip.
2. Change the value and click Update Filter.
3. The chip turns gray (staged).
4. Select Apply Filters to refresh results.

1. Select Clear All.
2. Select Apply Filters to search again without filters.

Each result is presented as a card. The card title is derived from the title template an administrator has configured for that ItemType, or from the item’s keyed_name if no template is set. The card subtitle follows the same pattern. Each card shows an item type icon and a relevance indicator, a colored bar that reflects how closely the result matches the query:

When a search matches content at the file chunk level, the relevant chunk appears as its own result entry. Each chunk result shows a reference link back to the file it belongs to.

Select the expand control on a card to see additional detail.
Expanded cards show the text excerpts from indexed files that made the item relevant, grouped by source and annotated with the file name.
Expanded cards also show indexed property snippets that matched your query. For example, a Content field for matched file text. Property labels are shown using administrator-configured names where available.
Selecting the card title or the expanded card header opens the item record directly in Aras Innovator, where you can view, edit, and navigate the item using all standard Aras Innovator functions.

When a result is a file item type, expanding the card may also show a Related items: section listing parent items linked to that file (for example, the CAD document or part the file belongs to). Each related item shows its item type icon and name. Select a related item to open it in Aras Innovator.
If related items cannot be loaded, a warning message Could not load related items. is shown inside the expanded card.

Selecting the detail control on a result card opens a side drawer. The drawer shows the item header, item type, keyed name, and identifier, along with matched excerpts grouped by file source. The results list remains visible and in position behind the drawer.
The drawer closes on the Escape key or the close button at the top of the panel. The scroll position in the results list is preserved when the drawer closes.
Keyboard navigation is available throughout search results. Arrow keys move through the results list. Tab and Shift+Tab move between interactive elements on a card. Enter opens the detail drawer for the currently selected result.

The table below lists the main messages shown in the results area, with the action available on each screen.

AI Search results never exceed your existing Aras Innovator permissions. You only see items and files you are already authorized to see in standard Aras Innovator search. AI Search does not grant any new access.
Customer data is not used to train AI models. Content indexed by AI Search and queries submitted to it are not used to train, retrain, or improve any general purpose or shared AI model. See the Aras InnovatorEdge Product Specific Terms for full details.

The following behaviors are present in version 1.1.0 and are expected to be addressed in a future release.
The Is Current filter is accepted by the UI but is not applied to search results. Adding an Is Current filter and selecting Apply Filters does not restrict results to current or non-current items. Do not rely on this filter to limit results by version status in this release.

AI Search results can also be consumed through Edge API’s Query-on-the-fly capability, allowing search to be combined with other governed Edge API data access in the same request flow. See the Edge API Query-on-the-fly documentation for details.