Katalyst: Limitations when searching experiments by text description or comments

Description

• Users try to find experiments by free‑text search using description, comments, or notes.
• Search results sometimes:
  • Miss relevant experiments.
  • Return only matches on titles or IDs, not comments.
• Users expect “full‑text” search across all note fields.

Solution

• Clarify search scope:
  • Check which fields are indexed for search in your Katalyst version: titles, IDs, certain metadata fields, possibly not all comments.
• Workarounds:
  • Use structured fields (tags, project names, categories) for key concepts you need to retrieve reliably.
  • Encourage users to put important keywords in the title or designated metadata fields.
• Configuration and enhancements:
  • If supported, enable or extend full‑text indexing for description and comments.
  • For large installations, consider a separate search/indexing solution (e.g., a search engine tied to Katalyst data).