Search meetings
search_meetings_semanticRead-only
Search OpenPublica meeting metadata by meaning, analyzed words, or both.
The best default tool for "what has been said/decided about X" questions.
Results carry a `relevance_score` (semantic, 0-1) and/or `keyword_score` (BM25)
plus `highlights`, so you can triage matches by confidence. If the response sets
`degraded_to_vector`, the hybrid keyword query failed and results are
semantic-only. Keyword query failures return an error. Narrow with
`category_tag`/`topic` (get valid values from `discover_meeting_vocabulary`), a
date range, or one or more governments. Returns a summary preview; call
`get_meeting` with a returned `meeting_id` for the full summary or transcript.
Input Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| limit | No | Max meetings to return (1-25). | |
| query | Yes | What to search for in plain language, e.g. 'short-term rental regulations' or 'police budget overtime'. | |
| topic | No | Optional topic filter — a topic name from discover_meeting_vocabulary, e.g. 'Affordable Housing'. Restricts to meetings that discussed it. | |
| end_date | No | Optional latest meeting date, MM-DD-YYYY. | |
| min_score | No | Optional semantic relevance floor 0-1 (default 0.4). Raise to return only strong matches; lower to widen recall. Applies to semantic matching only — keyword (BM25) hits are not filtered by it. | |
| match_type | No | How to match: 'semantic' (default, by meaning — best for concepts/paraphrases), 'keyword' (analyzed words in titles, summaries and topics), or 'hybrid' (both, rank-fused). Neither searches literal transcript phrases. | |
| start_date | No | Optional earliest meeting date, MM-DD-YYYY. | |
| category_tag | No | Optional meeting-type filter — an opaque category_tag from discover_meeting_vocabulary (not a guessable slug). | |
| government_id | No | Optional account_id (from find_local_governments) to restrict the search to one government. | |
| government_ids | No | Optional list of account_ids to search across several governments at once (e.g. to compare cities). Overrides government_id. |
Output Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
No arguments | |||