QnA

⚠️ Deprecating: This endpoint is being deprecated.

Hit the Try it button to try this API now in our playground. It’s the best way to check the full request and response in one place, customize your parameters, and generate ready-to-use code snippets.

Examples

API Request
TypeScript
Python (Sync)

curl --request POST \
  --url https://api.usecortex.ai/search/qna \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{
  "question": "What is Cortex AI",
  "session_id": "chat_session_1234",
  "tenant_id": "tenant_1234",
  "sub_tenant_id": "sub_tenant_4567",
  "highlight_chunks": false,
  "stream": false,
  "search_alpha": 0.8,
  "recency_bias": 0.2,
  "ai_generation": true,
  "user_name": "John Doe",
  "user_instructions": "",
  "multi_step_reasoning": true,
  "auto_agent_routing": true
}'

const answer = await client.search.qna({
  question: "What is Cortex AI",
  session_id: "chat_session_1234",
  tenant_id: "tenant_1234",
  sub_tenant_id: "sub_tenant_4567",
  highlight_chunks: false,
  stream: false,
  search_alpha: 0.8,
  recency_bias: 0.2,
  ai_generation: true,
  user_name: "John Doe",
  multi_step_reasoning: true,
  auto_agent_routing: true
});

# Async usage is similar, just use async_client and await
answer = client.search.qna(
    question="What is Cortex AI",
    session_id="chat_session_1234",
    tenant_id="tenant_1234",
    sub_tenant_id="sub_tenant_4567",
    highlight_chunks=False,
    stream=False,
    search_alpha=0.8,
    recency_bias=0.2,
    ai_generation=True,
    user_name="John Doe",
    multi_step_reasoning=True,
    auto_agent_routing=True
)

Ask questions and get AI-generated answers based on your tenant’s knowledge base with conversational responses and citations.

Default Sub-Tenant Behavior: If you don’t specify a sub_tenant_id, the QnA will search within the default sub-tenant created when your tenant was set up. This searches across organization-wide documents and knowledge.

QnA Capabilities

The QnA endpoint provides intelligent question-answering with several powerful features:

AI-Generated Responses

Natural Language Processing: Understands complex questions and context
Citation-Based Answers: Every answer includes source references with exact locations
Conversational Context: Maintains conversation history through session management
Multi-Step Reasoning: Can break down complex questions into logical steps

Advanced Search Integration

Hybrid Search: Combines semantic and keyword search for optimal results
Context-Aware Retrieval: Finds relevant information based on question context
Source Highlighting: Identifies and highlights the most relevant content chunks

Customization Options

User Instructions: Provide custom instructions to guide AI behavior
Metadata Filtering: Filter results by source type, title, or other metadata
Streaming Support: Get real-time responses for better user experience
Auto-Agent Routing: Automatically route queries to specialized agents

Key Parameters

Core Parameters

Question & Session Management

question: The question you want answered (required)
session_id: Unique identifier for maintaining conversation context
user_name: Optional user identifier for personalized responses

Search Configuration

search_alpha: Balance between semantic and keyword search (0.0-1.0)
top_n: Number of relevant chunks to retrieve for context
recency_bias: Prioritize recent content (0.0-1.0)

AI Generation Control

ai_generation: Enable/disable AI response generation
multi_step_reasoning: Enable complex reasoning for difficult questions
user_instructions: Custom instructions to guide AI behavior
auto_agent_routing: Automatically route to specialized agents

Response Formatting

stream: Enable streaming responses for real-time output
highlight_chunks: Include highlighted relevant chunks in response
context_list: Provide additional context for the AI

Advanced Features

Metadata Filtering

Use the metadata object to filter results:

{
  "metadata": {
    "source_title": "Specific Document Title",
    "source_type": "file",
    "custom_field": "value"
  }
}

Session Management

Persistent Context: Maintain conversation history across multiple questions
Context Accumulation: Build understanding over multiple interactions
User Personalization: Adapt responses based on user preferences

Multi-Step Reasoning

When enabled, the AI can:

Break down complex questions into smaller parts
Analyze multiple sources of information
Synthesize information from different documents
Provide step-by-step explanations

Use Cases

Customer Support

FAQ Automation: Answer common customer questions automatically
Product Information: Provide detailed product specifications and features
Troubleshooting: Guide users through problem-solving steps

Knowledge Management

Document Q&A: Ask questions about uploaded documents and manuals
Research Assistance: Find and synthesize information from multiple sources
Training Support: Answer questions about company policies and procedures

Content Discovery

Information Retrieval: Find specific information within large document collections
Contextual Search: Get answers that understand the broader context
Citation Tracking: See exactly where information comes from

Best Practices

Question Formulation

Be Specific: Ask clear, specific questions for better results
Provide Context: Include relevant background information when needed
Use Natural Language: Ask questions as you would to a human expert

Session Management

Maintain Context: Use consistent session IDs for related questions
Build Understanding: Ask follow-up questions to deepen the conversation
Reset When Needed: Start new sessions for unrelated topics

Response Optimization

Enable Highlighting: Use highlight_chunks to see source relevance
Adjust Search Alpha: Experiment with different values for your content type
Use Metadata Filtering: Narrow results to specific document types when needed

Response

Returns a JSON object containing the AI-generated answer and supporting source chunks with layout information for creating bounding boxes around cited sources.

{
  "answer": "Based on the uploaded knowledge, here is the answer to your question...",
  "session_id": "session_123",
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "source_123",
      "url": "https://example.com/document.pdf",
      "title": "Document Title",
      "timestamp": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
      "context": "This is the relevant text chunk from the document...",
      "source": "document",
      "layout": {
        "page": 1,
        "coordinates": {
          "x": 100,
          "y": 200,
          "width": 200,
          "height": 50
        }
      },
      "hybrid_score": 0.85
    }
  ],
  "highlight_chunks": [
    {
      "source_id": "CortexDoc1234",
      "subject": "Document Title",
      "timestamp": "1750697263.2323804",
      "context": "Highlighted text chunk...",
      "source": "document",
      "hybrid_score": 0.85,
      "layout": {
        "page": 1,
        "coordinates": {
          "x": 100,
          "y": 200,
          "width": 200,
          "height": 50
        }
      }
    }
  ],
  "source_id_map": {
    "s0": {
      "chunk_uuid": "05631d4e-4d24-4a9c-9e7a-e61a3100cafb",
      "source_id": "CortexDoc8156c6834c304451ab569d264da5f38a1750697087"
    },
    "s1": {
      "chunk_uuid": "f7c98cae-566b-4bf1-8d66-9bb556c090b0",
      "source_id": "CortexDoc8156c6834c304451ab569d264da5f38a1750697087"
    },
    "s2": {
      "chunk_uuid": "47a30767-0a79-4960-bb16-e817833f42e8",
      "source_id": "CortexDoc1c8e2cdc1b924cd0951b940ae8f511c91750697218"
    },
    "s3": {
      "chunk_uuid": "419b52e2-65c7-43d1-a4ed-109662c0d130",
      "source_id": "CortexDoc1c8e2cdc1b924cd0951b940ae8f511c91750697218"
    },
    "s4": {
      "chunk_uuid": "7af5563f-04c0-4c3a-b633-815945f5cc2e",
      "source_id": "CortexDocc77864b3aba34e40afcced8b0257f26b1750697112"
    }
  }
}

📍 Layout Field

The layout field provides coordinates for creating bounding boxes around cited sources:

Note: For PowerPoint (PPT) and Excel (XLSX) files, the page field will be returned as an empty string since these file formats don’t use traditional page numbering.

page (number): The page number where the content appears
coordinates (object): Alternative coordinate format with:
- x (number): Left position
- y (number): Top position
- width (number): Width of the bounding box
- height (number): Height of the bounding box

This layout information enables you to highlight or create visual indicators around the exact location of cited content within documents.

Important Note: Cortex internally uses Cortex Metadata Agent which is an expert at performing metadata-specific search. Using the metadata field as a filter should only be reserved when you want to deterministically fetch results from specific documents based on their metadata.

Error Responses

All endpoints return consistent error responses following the standard format. For detailed error information, see our Error Responses documentation.

Authorizations

Authorization

string

header

required

Bearer authentication header of the form Bearer <token>, where <token> is your auth token.

Body

application/json

Request model for the QnA search API.

tenant_id

string

required

Unique identifier for the tenant/organization

Example:

"tenant_1234"

question

string

required

The question to answer based on indexed sources

Minimum string length: 1

Example:

"What is Cortex AI"

sub_tenant_id

string | null

Optional sub-tenant identifier used to organize data within a tenant. If omitted, the default sub-tenant created during tenant setup will be used.

Example:

"sub_tenant_4567"

max_chunks

integer

default:10

Maximum number of context chunks to retrieve

Required range: 1 <= x <= 50

Example:

1

mode

enum<string>

default:fast

Retrieval mode: 'fast' for single query, 'accurate' for multi-query with reranking

Available options:

fast,

accurate

alpha

number

default:0.8

Hybrid search alpha (0.0 = sparse/keyword, 1.0 = dense/semantic)

Required range: 0 <= x <= 1

Example:

1

search_mode

enum<string>

default:sources

What to search: 'sources' for documents or 'memories' for user memories

Available options:

sources,

memories

include_graph_context

boolean

default:true

Whether to include knowledge graph context for enhanced answers

Example:

true

extra_context

string | null

Additional context to guide retrieval and answer generation

llm_provider

enum<string>

default:groq

LLM provider for answer generation

Available options:

groq,

cerebras,

openai,

anthropic,

gemini

model

string | null

Specific model to use (defaults to provider's default model)

temperature

number

default:0.3

LLM temperature for answer generation (lower = more focused)

Required range: 0 <= x <= 2

Example:

1

max_tokens

integer

default:4096

Maximum tokens for the generated answer

Required range: 100 <= x <= 16000

Example:

1

Response

Successful Response

Response model for the QnA search API.

answer

string

required

The AI-generated answer based on retrieved context

Example:

"<answer>"

success

boolean

default:true

Example:

true

chunks

VectorStoreChunk · object[]

Retrieved context chunks used to generate the answer

Show child attributes

Example:

[]

graph_context

GraphContext · object

Knowledge graph context (entity paths and chunk relations)

Show child attributes

model_used

string | null

The LLM model used for answer generation

timing

Timing · object

Timing information (retrieval_ms, answer_generation_ms, total_ms)

Show child attributes

API Documentation

Tenant Management

Knowledge Ingestion

Query & Retrieval

Knowledge Management

Embeddings

User Memories

Examples

QnA Capabilities

AI-Generated Responses

Advanced Search Integration

Customization Options

Key Parameters

Core Parameters

Question & Session Management

Search Configuration

AI Generation Control

Response Formatting

Advanced Features

Metadata Filtering

Session Management

Multi-Step Reasoning

Use Cases

Customer Support

Knowledge Management

Content Discovery

Best Practices

Question Formulation

Session Management

Response Optimization

Response

📍 Layout Field

Error Responses

Authorizations

Body

Response

API Documentation

Tenant Management

Knowledge Ingestion

Query & Retrieval

Knowledge Management

Embeddings

User Memories

​Examples

​QnA Capabilities

​AI-Generated Responses

​Advanced Search Integration

​Customization Options

​Key Parameters

​Core Parameters

​Question & Session Management

​Search Configuration

​AI Generation Control

​Response Formatting

​Advanced Features

​Metadata Filtering

​Session Management

​Multi-Step Reasoning

​Use Cases

​Customer Support

​Knowledge Management

​Content Discovery

​Best Practices

​Question Formulation

​Session Management

​Response Optimization

​Response

​📍 Layout Field

​Error Responses

Authorizations

Body

Response

Examples

QnA Capabilities

AI-Generated Responses

Advanced Search Integration

Customization Options

Key Parameters

Core Parameters

Question & Session Management

Search Configuration

AI Generation Control

Response Formatting

Advanced Features

Metadata Filtering

Session Management

Multi-Step Reasoning

Use Cases

Customer Support

Knowledge Management

Content Discovery

Best Practices

Question Formulation

Session Management

Response Optimization

Response

📍 Layout Field

Error Responses