> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.oystack.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Searching Your Library

> How to search across your sources, collections, and cited material in Oystack

# Searching Your Library

Searching in Oystack is more than typing keywords into a box. You can search by asking grounded questions, narrowing down a collection, and opening the source material behind an answer.

## Search through chat

Chat is often the fastest way to search when you are looking for an answer, not just a filename.

1. Ask a focused question in chat.
2. Oystack can use your available source material to answer with grounded context.
3. If the response cites a source, open the source reference to inspect the original passage.

## Search inside a collection

Collections help when you want to narrow the search to one project or source set.

* Use a collection when you want fewer, more relevant materials in view.
* Search collection resources by title, author, venue, or file name.
* Use notes inside the same collection to keep findings close to the source set you searched.

## Verify what you find

Searching is most useful when you can inspect the evidence behind the answer.

* Open a source reference to review the original document in context.
* Move into the reading workflow if a source needs a closer look.
* Pull the result into notes if it belongs in a draft or literature summary.

<Tip>
  If a newly uploaded file is not showing up in the places you expect, give it a
  moment to become ready for use first.
</Tip>

## Explore next

* [Uploading documents](/documents/uploading)
* [Source references](/documents/source-references)
* [Reading and analyzing a paper](/documents/reading-and-analyzing-a-paper)