Claude : Enhanced Ask Operation - User Perspective

Date: 2025-08-23
Activity: User experience documentation
Status: Current functionality

Asking Questions in Semem

The Ask operation is your main tool for querying stored knowledge in your semantic memory. Simply type your question in natural language and get answers drawn from your stored documents, notes, and concepts.

Using the Workbench Interface

In the Semantic Memory Workbench, navigate to the Ask section where you'll find a clean question input area. Type your question and click "🔍 Search Knowledge" to get contextual responses based on everything you've stored.

For MCP host users (Claude Desktop, etc.), you can suggest: "Use the ask tool to query my semantic memory with enhanced options for better results"

Answer Quality Options

Control how thoroughly the system analyzes your question:

• Basic: Quick responses for simple factual questions
• Standard: Balanced approach that works well for most queries (default)
• Comprehensive: Deep analysis with multiple refinement passes for complex research topics

In the workbench, look for quality mode options in the Ask panel. MCP users can suggest: "Set the ask mode to comprehensive for detailed analysis"

Knowledge Enhancement Features

HyDE Enhancement

This feature generates hypothetical documents that might contain your answer, improving search accuracy when your question uses different terminology than your stored content. Particularly useful for technical topics or when you're not sure how something was originally described in your documents.

Wikipedia Integration

Expands your answers by incorporating relevant Wikipedia content, giving you broader context beyond your personal knowledge base. Excellent for research topics, historical questions, or when you need authoritative background information.

Wikidata Integration

Provides structured, factual information from the Wikidata knowledge graph. Perfect for questions about people, organizations, dates, and relationships. Adds verified factual details that complement your stored content.

Using the Enhancements

In the workbench interface, you'll find checkboxes or toggles for each enhancement option in the Ask panel. Enable the ones that suit your question type.

For MCP host users, try suggestions like:

• "Ask with HyDE enhancement for better retrieval"
• "Query my knowledge using Wikipedia integration"
• "Search with Wikidata enhancement for factual details"
• "Use comprehensive mode with all enhancements enabled"

Context-Aware Responses

Your questions automatically consider your current navigation context. If you've been exploring a particular topic area using Zoom, Pan, or Tilt operations, your Ask results will be filtered and prioritized based on that context.

When to Use Each Feature

Quick daily questions: Use basic mode without enhancements
Research projects: Enable comprehensive mode with Wikipedia
Technical documentation: Use HyDE when terminology might not match exactly
Fact-checking: Enable Wikidata for verified information
Academic work: Combine all enhancements with comprehensive mode

The enhanced Ask operation turns your stored knowledge into a powerful research assistant, seamlessly blending your personal content with external authoritative sources.