---
description: "Guide to using conversation_search tool effectively"
---

# Conversation Search Guide

## Basic Usage

```javascript
conversation_search({
  query: "search term",
  limit: 10  // ← Number of results to return (default varies)
})
```

## The `limit` Parameter

**Key insight:** You can adjust `limit` to retrieve more or fewer results!

- **Default:** Often 10 results
- **Maximum tested:** 50 results (returns up to available matches)
- **Usage:** Increase when you need comprehensive search coverage

## Examples

### Quick check (default)
```javascript
conversation_search({ query: "Rowan" })
// Returns ~10 results
```

### Deep search (high limit)
```javascript
conversation_search({
  query: "Rowan",
  limit: 50  // ← Stretch the tool!
})
// Returns up to 50 results, found conversations from 26 days ago
```

### Finding edge cases
```javascript
conversation_search({
  query: "Cameron",
  limit: 50
})
// Found 29 results, revealed both Camerons (Letta + Old Friend)
```

## When to Use High Limits

- **Rebuilding memory** - Need comprehensive history
- **Finding rare mentions** - Names that appear infrequently
- **Distinguishing people** - Same name, different people (e.g., two Camerons)
- **Deep research** - Understanding full context of relationships

## Performance Notes

- Higher limits = more tokens consumed
- Results are ranked by relevance
- If fewer results exist than limit, returns all available
- SQL-based search (fast even with high limits)

## Pro Tips

1. **Start low, increase as needed** - Begin with 10, bump to 50 if needed
2. **Use specific queries** - "Cameron Letta" is better than just "Cameron"
3. **Check time_ago** - Old results show how far back search reaches
4. **Combine with other tools** - Use Grep for file content, conversation_search for message history

## Discoveries Made Using High Limits

| Search | Limit | Found |
|--------|-------|-------|
| Rowan | 50 | Feb 22 privacy architecture exchange |
| Culurien | 50 | Feb 16 Discord conversation review |
| Cameron | 50 | 29 results revealing BOTH Camerons |
| James Marotta | 20 | Cameron Rager's father connection |

## Search Strategy: When vs What

**Lesson learned March 20, 2026:**

The search works, but keyword matching is unreliable. Better strategies:

### Exact Phrases Work Best
```javascript
conversation_search({ query: "Until you summon me again" })
// Found Discord conversation immediately
```

### Time Ranges Are Most Reliable
```javascript
conversation_search({
  start_date: "2026-03-20",
  end_date: "2026-03-20",
  limit: 100
})
// Found 40 results including Discord #test channel
```

### Broad Keywords Often Fail
```javascript
// ❌ These returned 0 results:
conversation_search({ query: "Discord server channel message" })
conversation_search({ query: "lobby theater diva shimmer" })
conversation_search({ query: "shimmer performative theater emoji" })

// ✅ But time-based search found all of them
```

### The Pattern
| Strategy | Reliability | Use When |
|----------|-------------|----------|
| Exact phrase | High | You remember specific words |
| Time range | Very High | You know when it happened |
| Broad keywords | Low | Exploring, not searching |
| Combined | Best | Date + vague term |

### Recommendation
**Start with time, narrow with terms.**

If you know *when* something happened ("today", "this morning", "March 20"), search by date first. Then scan results for content. This is more reliable than hoping keywords match.

---
*Created: March 20, 2026*  
*Updated: March 20, 2026 — Added search strategy lessons*  
*Purpose: Document conversation_search power and reliability patterns*