Gives an agent hybrid search over files users upload: they are parsed, split into 800-token chunks and embedded in a vector store. For an already curated index, use a different tool.
Also called file_search.
Read more: Microsoft Learn
In the Ultra Transcenders books
Each book explains File search tool in context, with comparison tables and the common traps.
Terms in this definition
- Agent
A specialised form of Microsoft Copilot set up for one particular job, pairing instructions with knowledge and skills. You can create one in Copilot Studio, SharePoint or Agent Builder, and administrators control them from the Microsoft 365 admin center.
- Hybrid search
One Azure AI Search request that performs vector and full-text search side by side and combines the results through Reciprocal Rank Fusion. Adding the semantic ranker yields the best relevance overall.
- OVER
Gives a T-SQL window function its window: PARTITION BY, ORDER BY and, if wanted, a ROWS or RANGE frame. Rankings and running totals can then be worked out while every row is kept.
- Vector store
What the file search tool in Agent Service looks through: a container of file content that has been chunked and embedded. Capacity is 10,000 files, with one allowed per agent and one per conversation.
- Index
Speeds up queries that filter on certain columns by keeping those columns sorted, with pointers back to each row; the price is more storage and slower writes.
- Chat message roles
Labels on chat messages: instructions go under system, the person's input under user, the model's previous answers under assistant, and results returned by a called tool under tool (or function).
Related terms
- tool_resources
The field on an agent or conversation holding the data tools need, for example files for code interpreter or vector store IDs for file search. Tool definitions belong in tools instead.