When users ask about internal company information that lives in enterprise systems (not the local codebase), use Glean tools to find it.
Tool Naming
See the glean-tools-guide skill for Glean MCP tool naming conventions. Tools follow the pattern mcp__glean_[server-name]__[tool] where the server name is dynamic. Use whatever Glean server is available in your tool list.
When This Applies
Use Glean search when users ask about:
- Company policies, guidelines, or procedures
- Design documents, RFCs, or specifications
- Internal wikis or knowledge base articles
- Project documentation or roadmaps
- Slack discussions or announcements
- Any "where is the doc about X" questions
BE SKEPTICAL
Not every search result is relevant or current. Before presenting results, evaluate:
Relevance Test
- Does this actually answer the question, or just contain keywords?
- ✅ INCLUDE: Directly addresses the query
- ❌ EXCLUDE: Keyword coincidence, different context
Freshness Test
- Is this information current?
- ✅ CURRENT: Updated in past 6 months
- ⚠️ AGING: 6-12 months - note the age
- ❌ STALE: 12+ months - include only with strong warning, or exclude
Authority Test
- How reliable is this source?
- 📗 OFFICIAL: Approved policies, signed-off specs
- 📙 SEMI-OFFICIAL: Team wikis, shared docs
- 📕 INFORMAL: Slack discussions, personal notes
Filter Out:
- Superseded or deprecated documents
- Draft documents presented as final
- Keyword matches in unrelated contexts
See confidence-signals skill for how to communicate reliability.
Tool Selection
| User Intent | Glean Tool |
|---|---|
| Find documents, policies, specs | search |
| Complex analysis across sources | chat |
| Read full document content | read_document |
Query Optimization
Glean understands natural language. Enhance queries with filters when helpful:
# Recent documents
"API documentation updated:past_week"
# By author
"design doc owner:\"Sarah Chen\""
# Date range
"quarterly planning after:2024-01-01"
# Specific app
"authentication RFC app:confluence"
Workflow
- Search first: Use
searchto find relevant documents - Vet results: Apply vetting criteria before presenting
- Read for details: Use
read_documentwith URLs from vetted results - Synthesize if complex: Use
chatfor multi-source analysis
Always Include Quality Signals
When presenting information from Glean, always include:
- Document title and URL
- Last updated date (with freshness indicator: ✅/<6mo, ⚠️ 6-12mo, ❌ >12mo)
- Author (if relevant)
- Confidence level (see
confidence-signalsskill)
This allows users to assess reliability and explore further.
If Nothing Relevant Found
Don't pad with weak results:
No relevant results found for [query].
**What was searched:**
- [Search terms used]
**Suggestions:**
- Try alternative terms: [suggestions]
- Ask in [relevant channel]
- This may not be documented
Relationship to Commands
For comprehensive, structured workflows, suggest the relevant slash command:
/glean-search:search <query>- Quick search with formatted results/glean-docs:verify-rfc- Compare spec to implementation/glean-meetings:catch-up- Systematic catch-up after time away