Source Management

# Source Management

> If you see unfamiliar placeholders or need to check which tools are connected, see [CONNECTORS.md](../../CONNECTORS.md).

Knows what sources are available, helps connect new ones, and manages how sources are queried.

## Checking Available Sources

Determine which MCP sources are connected by checking available tools. Each source corresponds to a set of MCP tools:

| Source | Key capabilities | |--------|-----------------| | **~~chat** | Search messages, read channels and threads | | **~~email** | Search messages, read individual emails | | **~~cloud storage** | Search files, fetch document contents | | **~~project tracker** | Search tasks, typeahead search | | **~~CRM** | Query records (accounts, contacts, opportunities) | | **~~knowledge base** | Semantic search, keyword search |

If a tool prefix is available, the source is connected and searchable.

## Guiding Users to Connect Sources

When a user searches but has few or no sources connected:

``` You currently have [N] source(s) connected: [list].

To expand your search, you can connect additional sources in your MCP settings: - ~~chat — messages, threads, channels - ~~email — emails, conversations, attachments - ~~cloud storage — docs, sheets, slides - ~~project tracker — tasks, projects, milestones - ~~CRM — accounts, contacts, opportunities - ~~knowledge base — wiki pages, knowledge base articles

The more sources you connect, the more complete your search results. ```

When a user asks about a specific tool that is not connected:

``` [Tool name] isn't currently connected. To add it: 1. Open your MCP settings 2. Add the [tool] MCP server configuration 3. Authenticate when prompted

Once connected, it will be automatically included in future searches. ```

## Source Priority Ordering

Different query types benefit from searching certain sources first. Use these priorities to weight results, not to skip sources:

### By Query Type

**Decision queries** ("What did we decide..."): ``` 1. ~~chat (conversations where decisions happen) 2. ~~email (decision confirmations, announcements) 3. ~~cloud storage (meeting notes, decision logs) 4. Wiki (if decisions are documented) 5. Task tracker (if decisions are captured in tasks) ```

**Status queries** ("What's the status of..."): ``` 1. Task tracker (~~project tracker — authoritative status) 2. ~~chat (real-time discussion) 3. ~~cloud storage (status docs, reports) 4. ~~email (status update emails) 5. Wiki (project pages) ```

**Document queries** ("Where's the doc for..."): ``` 1. ~~cloud storage (primary doc storage) 2. Wiki / ~~knowledge base (knowledge base) 3. ~~email (docs shared via email) 4. ~~chat (docs shared in channels) 5. Task tracker (docs linked to tasks) ```

**People queries** ("Who works on..." / "Who knows about..."): ``` 1. ~~chat (message authors, channel members) 2. Task tracker (task assignees) 3. ~~cloud storage (doc authors, collaborators) 4. ~~CRM (account owners, contacts) 5. ~~email (email participants) ```

**Factual/Policy queries** ("What's our policy on..."): ``` 1. Wiki / ~~knowledge base (official documentation) 2. ~~cloud storage (policy docs, handbooks) 3. ~~email (policy announcements) 4. ~~chat (policy discussions) ```

### Default Priority (General Queries)

When query type is unclear: ``` 1. ~~chat (highest volume, most real-time) 2. ~~email (formal communications) 3. ~~cloud storage (documents and files) 4. Wiki / ~~knowledge base (structured knowledge) 5. Task tracker (work items) 6. CRM (customer data) ```

## Rate Limiting Awareness

MCP sources may have rate limits. Handle them gracefully:

### Detection

Rate limit responses typically appear as: - HTTP 429 responses - Error messages mentioning "rate limit", "too many requests", or "quota exceeded" - Throttled or delayed responses

### Handling

When a source is rate limited:

1. **Do not retry immediately** — respect the limit 2. **Continue with other sources** — do not block the entire search 3. **Inform the user**: ``` Note: [Source] is temporarily rate limited. Results below are from [other sources]. You can retry in a few minutes to include [source]. ``` 4. **For digests** — if rate limited mid-scan, note which time range was covered before the limit hit

### Prevention

- Avoid unnecessary API calls — check if the source is likely to have relevant results before querying - Use targeted queries over broad scans when possible - For digests, batch requests where the API supports it - Cache awareness: if a search was just run, avoid re-running the same query immediately

## Source Health

Track source availability during a session:

``` Source Status: ~~chat: ✓ Available ~~email: ✓ Available ~~cloud storage: ✓ Available ~~project tracker: ✗ Not connected ~~CRM: ✗ Not connected ~~knowledge base: ⚠ Rate limited (retry in 2 min) ```

When reporting search results, include which sources were searched so the user knows the scope of the answer.

## Adding