Sandbox release disclaimer: Some content in this article outlines how to use functionalities that will be publicly released to all clients at the end of January 2026. If you see differences between this article and your platform, check back at that time. Learn more about the release cycle.

Introduction

Harmony search is a feature for searching or asking questions about platform content that can be enabled from the Artificial Intelligence panel of your platform. It entirely replaces the legacy global search, adding conversational AI capabilities as well as a redesigned keyword search experience. 

If a user types a question in natural language, Harmony AI analyzes their query and provides an answer by searching and summarizing relevant content within the learning platform. The user can further engage with Harmony to ask follow-up questions and specify from which content answers should be sourced.

A fully featured chat window includes a history panel to refer back to and resume previous conversations.

Users can also still perform conventional keyword searches, to receive a list of relevant results that can be richly filtered–for example by content type, language, or date–to more easily locate the desired items.

Prerequisites

Doceboai.cloud domains

For the Harmony search page to load correctly, your firewall or network infrastructure must not be blocking the *.doceboai.cloud domains. Check with your IT department to ensure that *.doceboai.cloud domains are placed on the allow list.

Enable Harmony search (Updated!)

To enable Harmony search, select Admin menu > Artificial Intelligence > Manage to open the Artificial intelligence setup page and locate the Harmony search card. This will indicate whether the functionality is currently: 

• Disabled: the platform has only the legacy global search
• Enabled for all users: the new experience is active for all users of the platform
• Preview mode: enabled only for you, but not visible to other users of the platform 

To enable the feature, on the card click Configure. Then in the Harmony search configuration page, select the check box Enable Harmony search. Then select whether you want to Enable only for me (to test the feature first, before making it available to everyone) or Enable for all users.

When enabled, under General knowledge: 

• Select the check box Allow general AI knowledge in responses to allow Harmony to fall back to its built-in generic knowledge (based on its training data) when it cannot find a relevant answer from the platform’s indexed content
• Deselect this check box to restrict Harmony responses to the indexed platform content only. 

Next, under Catalog content: 

• Select the check box Allow catalog content in responses to let AI answers also draw from free courses and learning plans available to the user for self-enrollment, even if the user is not yet enrolled. 
• Deselect this check box to restrict Harmony responses only to courses or learning plans in which the user is actively enrolled. 

For more information see the chapter User-visible content for AI chat.

When you are ready, click Save changes. A dialog box will open, warning you that the platform needs to reload to apply the changes. Click Confirm and reload to proceed.  

Switch between Preview and All users mode

If you later want to switch from Preview to All users mode or vice versa:

• In the Artificial Intelligence settings page click Configure on the Harmony search card again.
• Leave the Enable Harmony search check box selected and set the desired option (Enable only for me or Enable for all users) 

Click Save changes and, in the dialog box that opens, click Confirm and reload. 

Disable Harmony search

To disable Harmony search altogether:

• In the Artificial Intelligence settings page click Disable on the Harmony search card.
• In the dialog box that opens, click Confirm and reload. 

Please note: Disabling Harmony search will revert the platform to the legacy global search. Both the Harmony AI chat and the new search results experience will be removed. 

Harmony search on extended enterprise 

On extended enterprise platforms, you have the option of enabling or disabling Harmony search selectively, only on specified domains. 

To access the configuration:

1. Select Admin menu > Extended enterprise > Manage
2. In the list, locate the extended enterprise client of interest and click the gear icon on its row. This will open the settings page for that client.
3. In the vertical navigation, select Artificial intelligence and locate the Custom settings option.

Client without custom settings:

If a client has the Custom settings check box de-selected, then the settings of the main platform will apply. Accordingly, these clients will inherit the same Harmony search enablement (Enabled for all users, Disabled, or Preview mode) and options (Allow general AI knowledge, Allow catalog content in responses) that you have configured on the main platform.

Client with custom settings:

On the other hand, for an extended enterprise client that has Custom settings enabled, you can enable or disable Harmony search independently of the root platform. Specifically, in the Harmony search options you can choose: 

• Enable Harmony search for all users: Select this check box to enable the feature for all users on this client, even if it is disabled or in Preview mode on the main platform. 
  When enabled you can also set whether to Allow general AI knowledge in responses  and Allow catalog content in responses on this client.
• Deselect the check box Enable Harmony search for all users to disable the feature for all users on this client, even if it is enabled on the main platform. 
  →Note, however, that if you enabled Preview mode on the main platform, Harmony search will continue to be visible, only to you, also on this client.  For more information see the chapter Preview mode and extended enterprise.

Preview mode and extended enterprise: 

Preview mode of Harmony search can only be enabled on the main platform. When you enable it there, the Harmony search will be visible only to you in: 

• The main platform
• Extended enterprise clients without Custom settings for Artificial intelligence
• Extended enterprise with Custom settings for Artificial intelligence, and Harmony search disabled

→ However,  on extended enterprise clients with Custom settings for Artificial intelligence, and Harmony search enabled, Harmony search will be visible to everyone, even if it is in Preview mode on the main platform. 

Note on Harmony search modes: 
Preview mode—where Harmony search is enabled only for you—is a client-side setting stored in your browser. If you clear cache/cookies, open an incognito window, switch browsers, or sign in from a different device, the preview flag is removed. In those cases, the platform reverts to the legacy search bar, and the Harmony search option in Artificial Intelligence settings will be reset to Disabled.  
→ When Harmony search is enabled for all users, however, the setting is persistent and does not depend on your browser.

The Harmony search experience 

When Harmony search is enabled, in place of the legacy search field with magnifying glass, users will see the new Harmony Search or ask a question field in the platform header. Here they can: 

• Enter conventional search keywords
• Ask a question in natural language
• Click the Harmony button to directly go to the AI chat

Note that if you are operating in Preview mode (the Harmony search is visible only to you), you will see this indicated in the search field.  

Conversational or keyword search 

Starting from the Harmony search field, you can do both conversational and traditional searches. In the search field, just type either some keywords or a question in natural language, then click Submit. 

The system will automatically determine whether your whether your request was in question form or keyword-based. Depending on this, you will either receive a direct answer in an AI chat window, or  see a search results page. 

Harmony chat window	Search results page
The response you see in the AI chat window will include links to the platform content from which the answer was sourced. You can click these to consult them directly. You can also ask a follow-up question  and use the Knowledge sources filter to narrow down which sources the AI should reference. → For more information see the chapter Harmony chat window	The search results page will directly list links to the platform content relevant to your query. You can use the filters on the right to narrow down what types of content (for example, only content in which you are enrolled, only informal assets, or only Q&A and discussions) should be displayed in the results. → For more information see the chapter Search results page

You can also manually direct the system–irrespective of your query type–to go to an AI response or the Search results page. To do this, enter your search query into the field and, before clicking Submit: 

• Click the Ask Harmony bar to go directly to an AI chat response
• Under the suggested content, Click View all results to go directly to  the Search results page. 

Harmony chat window

The Harmony chat window is where you can ask conversational questions and get answers sourced from platform content. Instead of clicking on and looking through different search results, the Harmony AI will summarize the relevant information, also providing reference links to relevant platform content.  

Please note: Harmony chat provides answers referencing only the supported platform content that is also visible to the user. For more information see the chapter Content used for Harmony responses.

Open Harmony chat

You can access Harmony chat in various ways: 

• To directly open the Harmony chat, just click the Harmony button in the search field
• When you start typing a search query, click Ask Harmony to jump directly to the Harmony chat window
• When you start typing a query, click Ask next to any suggested content, to jump to a chat about that item.
• From the search results page, you can similarly click Ask next to any content item, to jump to a chat about that item.
• When you type a question-form request into the Harmony search field and click Submit, you will automatically receive an answer in the Harmony chat window.

In the top right corner you can click Expand view / Collapse view to resize the window, or click Close to exit the chat and return to the platform page. 

Provide feedback for answers

After the Harmony search completes a reply, use the thumb-up and thumb-down buttons to provide your feedback on the answer you received. 

When you select thumbs down, a panel will open to provide more details on why you are not satisfied with the answer. 

Please note: Feedback provided through the thumbs up and thumbs down buttons is collected anonymously and used internally by Docebo to improve the Harmony search experience. It is not shared with other administrators or used to provide customer support.

Ask follow-up questions

When you get a response from Harmony, it will include links to the relevant platform content on which this answer was based. You can click any link to consult the source material directly. 

You can also continue the chat, and ask further questions to clarify the original answer. 

Ask about a specific piece of content

Instead of clicking on and examining a particular piece of content, you can just ask questions about it in the Harmony chat. You can do this from a new chat window or from an ongoing chat. 

• In the input field, click Knowledge sources and  select the piece of platform content you would like to chat about. 
  → You can use the search field to help you find a particular item
• You can repeat this action to select up to 10 pieces of content
• Then type your question and click the Send button

Harmony will give you an answer referencing only the content that you specified.  

Start a new conversation 

At any time, you can initiate a new harmony chat by clicking the + (New chat) button in the left panel. You may want to do this to clear the context of your preceding conversation when switching to a new topic. 

Resume previous chats 

To review or resume a previous conversation, click the Expand history button in the top left corner to open the History panel. Here you can see your previous chats in reverse chronological order. 

• Click on any chat to view or continue it

You can also organize your chat history by renaming specific chats or deleting the ones that are no longer needed:

• Click the ellipsis icon alongside a chat and then select the desired action: Delete to remove the conversation from your history, or Rename to give it a different title in the panel for ease of reference.

Please note: Your conversation history is visible only to you (or to administrators who can log in with your account), and is retained for a maximum of 90 days. Chats that you do not interact with for more than 90 days will be automatically deleted from the system.

Content used for Harmony responses (Updated!)

To ensure that Harmony chat operates only on recent, relevant and fully supported content, avoiding incomplete or inaccurate responses, AI answers are based on a controlled and curated set of data. 

AI answers will be based on the platform content that: 
- is one of the supported content types 
- has a good-quality transcript available
- is relatively recent, see the date requirements for referenced content 
- and that is also accessible to the user according to the criteria set out in User-visible content for AI chat. 
→ Note that the content eligibility and user visibility rules for AI chat are more stringent than those that apply for traditional keyword search.

Please note: In addition to using eligible platform content, some Harmony responses may include general AI knowledge not directly drawn from platform content. 

Supported content types for AI processing

The supported content types are set out in the following table.

✴Private content (content requiring authentication to be accessed) is not supported

Please note: Other content types not listed in this table are not supported for AI answers. These include: Assignment, Docebo Learning Impact (DLI), LTI, Observation checklist, Survey, Test, Elucidat, archive, Playlist, shape, AICC and TinCan (xAPI).

Transcript available 

In addition to being a supported content type, the content must also have an actual generated transcript. For example, if a video is a supported type but contains only background music and no speech, no transcript will be generated, and therefore it will not contribute to AI-generated answers.

In addition: 

• The transcript must be clear and complete enough to be processed effectively
• The transcript must contain at least 30 words. If it is shorter than this threshold, it will not be usable in AI answers.
• Transcripts are not generated for private content (requiring authentication to access)
• It may be difficult to generate transcripts from certain SCORM content created with authoring tools that embed text directly into programming files or compress images to a degree that prevents accurate Optical Character Recognition (OCR).

Date requirements for referenced content

To avoid referencing outdated or obsolete content, AI answers will reference only training materials or assets (of supported type with transcript) that also meet at least one of the following timeliness criteria:  

• Added to the platform in the year 2025 or later
• Accessed at least once since January 1, 2024
• (only for training materials) Belongs to a course or learning plan that was completed in 2025 or later

These rules now apply to all supported content types, including SCORM packages and Creator lessons. 

Tip: Remember that, in addition to the content requirements discussed so far, any individual AI response to a user will use only the subset of supported content that is visible to that particular user, according to the rules set out in the chapter User-visible content for AI chat.

User-visible platform content for AI chat

To ensure that AI responses reference only content which the user can readily consult, the AI chat (and source citations) will use only the subset of eligible platform content (of supported type, with transcript, and recent) that is also accessible to the user according to the following rules: 

Learners:

• Courses and learning plans: By default, AI answers are based on content of published courses in which the user is actively enrolled (not in Expired, Archived, or Waiting list status).The content must not be Locked or have any unmet prerequisites.
  → You can enable Allow catalog content in responses to let AI answers also reference free catalog content that is available for self-enrollment to the user, even if the user is not yet enrolled.
• Assets and channels: AI answers are based exclusively on assets belonging to channels which the user can access, or on assets which the user has shared. 

Tip: The specific requirements for referencing non-enrolled content are as follows: 

• The course is free (or the e-commerce app is not active)
• The course belongs to at least one catalog that the user can access

The catalog options of the course are set so that the course is visible and available for direct self-enrollment without any intervention by an administrator: 
Course visibility in catalogs: “Show the course in internal and external catalogs” or “Show the course in internal catalogs only”
Course self-enrollment: “Self-enrollments are available”, or “Self-enrollments are available during a specific time period” and we are currently within that period
Course enrollment policy: “Self-enrollment”

Power Users:

• For Power Users, the same rules apply as for learners. 

Superadmins:  

• Superadmins will receive AI answers from all content on the platform, unless the content is part of an Unpublished course. 

Search results page

The search results page is where you can view the links to the content found when you perform a keyword type search. 

It operates with the same logic as the legacy global search. In particular: 

• The content areas displayed in the search results page are controlled by the platform advanced settings for global search.  For details see the chapter Search result content areas.
• Compared to AI answers, the keyword search can return a wider array of results. For example, if the Courses and learning plans content area is enabled, results can include content in which users are not enrolled, provided it would be visible to them in the platform’s Course catalogs page. 
  → For more information see the chapter Visibility rules for keyword search results

In all cases, the search is carried out only on Published courses and does not take into account courses Under Maintenance, or the content inside them. 

• For information about what content fields are searched see the legacy global search article > Which search criteria should I use?
• For information about how the results are sorted see the legacy global search article > How are search results sorted?

Access the search results page 

The search results page can be accessed in the following ways: 

• You will automatically reach the conventional search results page when you enter a keyword-type query and click Submit.
• You can also manually go to the search results page–irrespective of query type–by clicking the View all results link at the bottom of the suggested content. 

→ The View all results link is always visible, irrespective of the type of query you are typing. If you click it after having typed a conversational query, you will go to the search results page but it will also show you an AI overview at the top of the results list. 

View search results by content area  

On the right hand side of the search results page, you can click one of the navigation items to narrow down which results are displayed. These let you browse the results grouped by content area. 

• For example, click My enrollments to see only results from courses or learning plans in which you are enrolled.
• You can only select one content area at a time. 

→ The content areas available in the search results depend on the global search advanced settings configured on the platform. If a particular content area has been disabled in those settings, its content will be entirely excluded from the search results.

Search result content areas

The content areas that are included in the search results are configured in Admin menu > Advanced settings > Global search. There, you can select the check-box next to each content area that should be displayed on this page, and also set their ordering. These are the same settings that control the tabs in legacy global search. 

• If you disable a particular content area (for example, Assets) then results from that area will be entirely excluded from the search results page. This means that, even on clicking All results, results from that area will not be displayed.
• For example, if you want users to see only search results from their enrolled courses, you can disable Courses and learning plans and Lessons, and leave the My enrollments content area.

Please note: These content area settings apply only to the search results page. They do not affect AI chat answers which follow different visibility rules.

Content area	Results shown	Corresponding Global search advanced setting
	No filter applied. The page displays results from all the enabled content areas	All results
	Courses and learning plans in which you are enrolled. This is the same content that is visible to you in the My courses and learning plans page.	My courses and learning plans
	Courses or learning plans belonging to catalogs that are visible to you as a learner, even if you are not enrolled. This is the same content that is visible to you in the Course catalogs page.	Course catalogs
	Lessons belonging to any course that is visible to you as a learner, even if you are not enrolled. The search is carried out also on the training material tags and on its transcript.	Training materials
	Informal user-contributed learning assets (such as PDFs, images or videos) that are visible to you, either because uploaded by you, or because published in a channel that is visible to you.	Assets
	Any results that are questions & answers for which you have visibility, meaning the question was asked in a channel that you can view or a course in which you’re enrolled.	Questions and answers
	Any results from Communities in the platform	Communities

Search only within (content areas)

When you type a query into the search field, before clicking Submit you also have the option to click one of the Search only within buttons, to focus your search on a particular content area.  

When you do this, the suggested content list will be automatically filtered to show only content from the selected area.

And when you click submit the search results page will open already navigated to the selected content area.
→However you can still click other navigation items to view results from other content areas.

Note: The content areas you can choose to search within are the same ones shown in the right-hand navigation of the search results page. See the chapter View search results by content area.

Filter and sort your results within a content area

When viewing search results within a particular content area, you can apply specific filters to further narrow down your results, and set how you want the results to be sorted. 

→ The available filters and sort options are specific to each content area, and are the same ones that exist in the corresponding tabs of the legacy global search.

Note that filters and sort options are not available when you select to view All results.

AI overview in search results page 

In some situations, the search results page may also include an AI overview at the top of the page. For example, this will happen if you type a question-form query into the keyword search field on this page. 

Under the AI overview, you can ask follow up questions and if you do so you will jump to the Harmony chat window to continue the conversation.

Ask about a specific search result 

From the search results page, instead of clicking on a link to examine that content, you can opt to directly ask questions about that material in a Harmony chat. 

To do this, hover over the result link that interests you and click the Ask button that appears alongside. This will take you to a Harmony chat window with that content already selected as a knowledge source. 

Note: The Ask button will only be available for content that can be used in a Harmony chat. See the chapter Content used for Harmony responses. For example, conventional search results may include courses in which you are not enrolled, but these cannot be used as a knowledge source for your AI answers. 

User visibility rules for keyword search results

The results returned by keyword search are limited to the content areas that are enabled in the global search settings.  And this applies platform-wide. 

In addition to this, the results returned to any individual user will be further restricted by visibility, meaning users only get links to content they are allowed to see.  
→ For example, in the Courses and learning plans content area, a learner will see only the content that would anyhow be visible to them in the platform’s Course catalog page.

The specific visibility rules that apply for search results depend on the user’s level: 

• Superadmins: Visibility of all platform content, within the enabled content areas. If a content area is excluded from global search, results from it will not be returned, even to Superadmins.
• Normal users: Within the enabled content areas, normal users can see all the content of which they have visibility as learners. For example, courses in which they are enrolled, assets in channels visible to them, content of catalogs that they are assigned to see, etc.
• Power Users: Within the enabled content areas, Power Users can view any content assigned to them as a resource and manage it as a Superadmin. For instance, if a learning plan completion flow includes prerequisites, the Power User will bypass them and access any course from the global search. In addition, Power Users also have the same visibility as normal users.
• Instructors: Within the enabled content areas, Instructors can view all content in the courses that they are assigned as instructors. In addition, Instructors also have the same visibility as normal users.

Other visibility notes:

• After a user enrolls in a course or learning plan from the Course catalogs tab, due to platform caching it may take a few minutes for that content to appear on the My courses and learning plans page, and hence in the My enrollments search results.
• When filtering search results for skills, users will only see the skills they have visibility on.