How does search work in Canto?

Search in Canto is semantic: it matches meaning, not exact words. As the app puts it — "Search understands meaning — describe the moment, not the exact words." Searching "when we argued about the price" finds the passage even if nobody in the recording ever said "argue" or "price".

How do I search?

Open search from the home screen (Search recordings… on the apps, Search your conversations… on the web) and describe what you're looking for. Results are passages from your transcripts, ranked by how closely their meaning matches your query; opening a result takes you to that recording at the matching moment. Recent queries are kept under Recent searches so you can rerun them.

What does search cover?

Your own recordings and recordings shared with you — a Space a teammate shared or a recording you opened from a link is as searchable as your own. Titles, summaries, and notes are covered along with the transcripts themselves.

What it doesn't cover: recordings that haven't finished transcribing and indexing yet, and audio that never produced a transcript.

Semantic search vs. keyword search

Set your expectations accordingly:

• Whole phrases beat single words. "The moment we decided to postpone the launch" gives the ranking more meaning to work with than "launch".
• Exact-string lookups are the weak spot. Searching an invoice number or a rare proper noun works when the transcript spelled it the same way, but semantic ranking may surface related passages instead of the literal string. If you know which recording it's in, open its transcript and use your browser's find instead.
• No search operators. Quotes, AND/OR, and filters aren't part of the query language — write a plain description.
• Language doesn't have to match. Meaning-based matching works across phrasing, so you don't need to remember the exact wording — that's the point.

Search vs. Ask

Search returns passages; Ask returns an answer synthesized from passages, with source cards. Use search when you want to find and hear a moment, and Ask when you want a conclusion ("what did we decide?") — see Ask questions across all your recordings.

What does search cost?

Searches are metered on the free plan — 1,000 / mo — and unlimited on Pro. See What are the free plan's limits?

Troubleshooting

No matches, but I know it was said

The app suggests: "Try different words — search understands meaning, not just keywords." Rephrase as a description of the moment. If that still fails, check that the recording's transcript is ready and actually contains the passage — a mistranscription can't be found by any query. See Edit a transcript.

A shared recording doesn't show up

Shared content is only searchable while it's shared with you and after its AI indexing finished. If the owner stopped sharing, it drops out of your results.