# Search and catch up in chat

> Find any message, see your mentions and replies, read what needs you, and let Recall, Pulse and scheduled tasks catch you up on a busy channel.

Source: https://plexiidesk.com/help/chat-search-and-catch-up
Section: Communicate > Chat and calls
Plans: All plans
Updated: 2026-10-15

When you come back to Chat after a meeting, a day off or a busy morning, you do not have to scroll through everything. Search finds a message by its words, **Activity** lists where people mentioned you or replied to you, and **Needs you** gathers what is waiting for your answer across every conversation.

In your organisation's channels, the AI member can do more: **Recall** catches you up or answers a question from the channel's history, **Pulse** lists the decisions and open questions, and **Schedules** posts a summary or a prompt on a timer.

## Before you start

- **Sign in.** See [Create an account and sign in](https://plexiidesk.com/help/account-sign-in).
- **Plans.** Search, **Activity** and **Needs you** are part of every plan.
- **Recall, Pulse, Schedules and thread summaries use the AI member.** They work in your organisation's conversations once an admin has set it up. See [Set up the AI member in chat](https://plexiidesk.com/help/chat-ai-member).

## Search your messages

1. In Chat, click **Search messages** (the magnifying glass) at the top of your conversations.
2. Type a word or a few words in the box marked **Search messages…**.
3. Matching messages replace your list, newest first, each with the name of its conversation. Click one to open that conversation.

Search looks through the text of messages in the conversations you are in, in the workspace you are working in. To close the search, click the magnifying glass again. When nothing matches, the list says **No matches.**

> **Tip:**
> In the stream view, the search box at the top does the same: **Search your conversations…** narrows the cards to matching names and latest messages, and once you type two letters or more it lists the matching messages too. See [PlexiiChat: channels and messages](https://plexiidesk.com/help/chat-overview#the-stream-view).

## See your mentions and replies

1. Click **Activity** (the bell) at the top of your conversations. Its tooltip reads **Activity — mentions & replies to you**.
2. Your list changes to the messages where someone mentioned you, marked with the @ sign, or replied in a thread to a message of yours, marked with a reply arrow.
3. Click one to open its conversation.

Click the bell again to go back to your conversations. Until something arrives, the list says **Nothing yet. Mentions of you and replies to your messages show up here.**

## See what needs you

**Needs you** is one list of the things waiting on you, from every conversation you are in.

1. Click **Needs you** (the flag) at the top of your conversations.
2. Read the list. It has up to four parts:

| Part | What it lists |
| --- | --- |
| **Mentioned you** | Messages you have not read yet that mention you. |
| **Awaiting your decision** | Suggestions from the AI member you have not looked at yet, shown as **Plexii proposed an action**. |
| **Open questions** | Questions **Pulse** found in your channels that are still open. |
| **Action items** | Things to do that **Pulse** found in your channels. |

3. Click an item to go to its conversation and the message it came from.

When there is nothing, it says **Nothing needs you right now. No unread mentions, no proposals waiting, no open questions in your channels.**

In the stream view, the same briefing sits under the search box, and the **Needs you** section lists each mention with **Reply**, each suggestion with **Review** and each open question with **Answer**.

## Catch up on a channel with Recall

Recall reads the conversation for you. What it writes is only for you; nothing is posted to the conversation.

1. Open the conversation and click **Recall** above it. Its tooltip reads **Catch up or ask this channel**.
2. **Since you last read** sums up the messages that are newer than the last time you read the conversation, or says **Nothing new since you last read.**
3. Under **Ask this channel**, type a question, for example "what did we decide about the launch date?", and press `Enter` or click **Ask**.
4. The answer appears with **Sources**: numbered messages it was drawn from. Click a source to go to that message, which is briefly highlighted.

Opening a conversation counts as reading it, so the summary covers what arrived after you last opened it. To understand older messages, ask a question under **Ask this channel**, which reads the conversation's recent history.

Recall is also above a conversation in the Plexii panel's **Message** tab, and on each open card in the stream view.

## See a channel's decisions with Pulse

Pulse keeps a running list of what a channel has decided and what is still open. It is above channels, not direct messages.

1. Open the channel and click **Pulse**.
2. Click **Refresh**. The button reads **Reading…** while the AI member reads the channel's recent messages, then a note says what it found, such as **Found 3 new items.** or **Nothing new to surface.**
3. The list is grouped under **Decisions**, **Open questions** and **Desks to create**.

For each item:

- **source** goes to the message it came from.
- **Create a task** (only under **Desks to create**) makes a new desk from it, and the note says **Desk created.**
- **Resolve** (the tick) marks it done, so it leaves the list and **Needs you**.
- **Dismiss** (the cross) removes it.

Pulse only changes when someone clicks **Refresh**, so the list stays as it was until then. Until the first refresh, it says **No pulse yet. Refresh to surface the decisions, open questions, and action items from this channel.**

## Post a summary on a schedule

A scheduled task asks the AI member to do something in a channel every day, week or month, such as a standup prompt or a summary of yesterday. It posts the result in the channel, even when nobody is online.

1. Open the channel and click **Schedules**. The **Scheduled AI tasks** window opens.
2. Type what you want, for example "Post a short standup prompt and summarise yesterday's messages".
3. Choose **Daily**, **Weekly** or **Monthly**.
4. Click **Add task**.

Each task shows how often it runs and when it runs next. Click **Pause** to stop it for now and **Resume** to start it again, or **Delete** to remove it. Anyone in the channel can add, pause and delete its tasks.

Scheduled tasks post only while the AI member is set up, as the note at the top of the window reminds you. See [Set up the AI member in chat](https://plexiidesk.com/help/chat-ai-member).

## Summarise a long thread

In a thread with three replies or more, click **Summarise** at the top of the **Thread** column. A short summary appears, with numbered links to the replies it came from. See [Write, react and manage messages](https://plexiidesk.com/help/chat-writing-messages#reply-in-a-thread).

## When the AI member is not set up

Recall, Pulse, Schedules and thread summaries say so instead of answering:

| The window says | What to do |
| --- | --- |
| **Recall needs the workspace AI key. An admin can add it under Channels, AI member.** | Ask an owner or admin of your organisation to set up the AI member. See [Set up the AI member in chat](https://plexiidesk.com/help/chat-ai-member). |
| **Pulse needs the workspace AI key (Channels, AI member).** | The same. |
| **Summaries need the workspace AI key (Channels, AI member).** | The same. |
| **Recall works in organisation channels, not personal DMs.** | Recall reads conversations in an organisation. Personal conversations have no AI member. |
| **Pulse works in organisation channels.** | The same for Pulse. |

## Tips

- **Start the day with Needs you.** It is shorter than your unread counts, and every item takes you to the message.
- **Refresh Pulse after a long discussion.** Resolve what is done and turn the rest into desks with **Create a task**.
- **Ask, do not scroll.** Recall's **Ask this channel** answers with links to the messages, so you can check the answer at its source.

## Common questions

**Search does not find a message I know exists.** Search reads the conversations of the workspace you are working in. Switch workspace at the top of the side menu and search again. It also reads the text of messages, not the contents of attached files.

**A mention disappeared from Needs you.** **Mentioned you** lists mentions you have not read. Once you open the conversation, they are read.

**Does Recall post anything to the channel?** No. Recall's summary and answers are only for you.

**Who sees Pulse?** Pulse belongs to the channel, so everyone in it sees the same items, and resolving or dismissing one does so for everyone.

**Does a scheduled task run when my computer is off?** Yes. Scheduled tasks run for the channel, not on your computer.

## Related tasks

- [PlexiiChat: channels and messages](https://plexiidesk.com/help/chat-overview)
- [Set up the AI member in chat](https://plexiidesk.com/help/chat-ai-member)
- [Write, react and manage messages](https://plexiidesk.com/help/chat-writing-messages)
- [Direct messages and channels](https://plexiidesk.com/help/chat-conversations-and-channels)
- [Capture something into Attention](https://plexiidesk.com/help/attention-capture)
- [Inbox: your notifications](https://plexiidesk.com/help/plexii-inbox)