Report which forum features this server can actually use: reachability, authentication, full-text search, the Q&A plugin (accepted answers), and the Shotef triage plugin. Call this first when a result looks thin or a tool reports a feature as unavailable — it explains what is missing and what would enable it.

Full-text search across topic titles and post bodies. Returns ranked matches with a snippet showing why each matched. Requires a search plugin on the forum (NodeBB core has none); when one is absent this falls back to scanning recent topics by title and says so. For answering a question, prefer find_answers, which also extracts the answers.

Read a topic in full: the original post, replies in order, and — when the relevant plugins are installed — which reply is the accepted answer and where the topic sits on the triage board. This is the tool for understanding a reported issue in the reporter's own words.

Read one post by its id, with the topic it belongs to. Use when a search result or a link points at a specific reply and you only need that reply.

List the forum's category tree with ids, descriptions and topic counts. Use it to find the category id to pass to search_forum, list_recent_topics, or investigate_issue.

Browse topic listings — recent, popular, top, or unread — optionally inside one category. Useful for getting a feel for what is being reported lately, and as the way to explore a forum that has no search plugin.

Find topics that already answer a question, and extract the answer from each. Prefers author-accepted answers when the Q&A plugin is installed, and falls back to the strongest reply otherwise — always labelling which it used, so an unconfirmed reply is never presented as a confirmed answer. This is the first tool to reach for when someone asks a question the forum may have seen before.

Get the answer to one specific topic. With the Q&A plugin this is the accepted answer, and an open question is reported as genuinely unanswered rather than guessed at. Without it, returns the most-upvoted reply, labelled as unconfirmed.

List questions nobody has answered yet — the queue for someone who wants to help. With the Q&A plugin this is the forum's real unsolved list; without it, recent topics that have no replies, which approximates it but cannot tell a question from a discussion. Shows triage status per item when the Shotef plugin is installed.

The full sweep for a reported problem: find every related topic, extract the answers that already exist, separate them from the reports still open, fold in triage status, and end with concrete next steps. Use this when someone reports a problem and you need to know whether the forum has seen it before, whether it was solved, and whether anyone is already on it. Slower than find_answers because it opens several topics — prefer find_answers for a plain question.

Where a topic stands in the support workflow: received, in progress, awaiting the reporter, or closed — plus which team handles it and whether it is parked. Answers "is anyone working on this, and was it ever resolved?". Requires the Shotef triage plugin; without it, reports that cleanly and suggests reading the topic instead.

The team's triage board: every open ticket by workflow column, with priority, owner and age. Use it to see the current support workload, or to find which issues are stalled. Requires the Shotef plugin and a token belonging to a team member — a non-member gets an explanation rather than an error.