Introduction
The Explore Mode system is designed to help users search canonical texts in a way that feels fluid, adaptive, and highly relevant to research needs. From a user's perspective, you ask a question—whether precise or vague—and the system guides you through clarifying and refining your inquiry so you get the most meaningful results possible.
What Users Experience
- When you enter a query, the system checks if your question is clear or ambiguous.
- If your query could mean several things ("What is karma?"), the system will ask a brief follow-up to clarify what you meant, but it won't get stuck in endless questioning—just one turn per clarification stage.
- Next, if your direction isn't specific, you'll get 2–3 tailored options—never an overwhelming list, just the most relevant dimensions to guide your search.
- At every step, you can reply in a general way or simply select your preferred direction, and the system does the rest, combining your responses to optimize the search.
How Your Search Gets Better
- The system transforms your input (plus any quick clarifications) into a precise, context-aware query that reflects your intent. For example, if you ask "What is Dharma?" and indicate you mean "the Buddha himself," the system frames the search as "Find passages where Dharma is taught by the historical Buddha, focusing on his own explanations rather than later interpretations".
- It then runs powerful searches simultaneously across canonical passages, glossaries, introductions, and text titles, making sure your results reflect the scope and focus you wanted.
- Finally, the system presents the answer in a structured, scholarly way: an overview, definitions, relevant texts, key passages with context and citations, patterns about where the term appears, and related concepts—all prioritized so foundational material appears first unless you ask otherwise.
User-Centric Design Highlights
- You're not forced into a rigid workflow; the system adapts to how much you know and what you want to find out, making reasonable inferences when your answers aren't precise.
- It's efficient—no endless clarifications, just a couple quick turns.
- You see exactly how your query was interpreted and why you're seeing the results you do, giving you transparency and control.
- The system is tailored for scholars and more advanced students, practitioners and translators, but works for anyone exploring Buddhist texts in depth.
In short, Explore Mode guides you from any starting question to highly relevant, well-organized answers, even if your initial query is uncertain or complex. It's a conversation—not just a search box—that helps you explore canonical sources efficiently and clearly.
