Assets: AI Natural Language Search

Assets: AI Natural Language Search

Tired of stacking filters to find a handful of devices? AI Natural Language Search lets you type what you’re looking for in plain English, and K12Panel figures out the query for you.

Where to Find It

AI Search appears on the Assets screen, and on the Cross Org Search screen if you administer multiple organizations. Look for the AI Search tab next to the Quick Search tab in the search bar.

How to Use It

• Click the AI Search tab.
• Type your question or description, for example:
  • show me Chromebooks with less than 4GB of RAM
  • Windows 10 devices not seen in the last 30 days
  • MacBooks checked out to a student
  • Dell laptops with more than 256GB storage
  • devices with active threats
• Press Enter or click Search.
• A blue bar appears below the box showing how the system interpreted your query — review it to confirm it matched your intent.
• Results load in the table below.

Click Clear Search in the interpreted-query bar to remove the AI filter and return to the full view.

Tips for Better Results

• Be specific. “Chromebooks with less than 4GB RAM assigned to Lincoln Elementary” beats “old chromebooks.”
• Use common device names. The system understands Chromebook, Windows 10, Windows 11, and Mac.
• Ask about last-seen / inactive devices, e.g. “assets not seen in 60 days.”
• Ask about security, updates, and antivirus, e.g. “windows devices that need a reboot,” “assets with pending critical updates,” “machines running Defender as real-time,” or “devices with active threats.”
• Combine conditions, e.g. “Dell Windows 11 laptops with more than 8GB RAM at the Main Campus site.”

Rate Limit

To keep the service responsive for everyone, there’s a short-term limit on how many AI searches one user can run in a brief window. If you hit it, you’ll be asked to wait a moment before trying again.

What AI Search Cannot Do

• It searches asset hardware and inventory fields — not activity logs, audit records, or financial data.
• Results are limited to assets your account can access; AI Search doesn’t expand your permissions.
• If it can’t interpret your query, it will say so — rephrase, or use Quick Search for a simple keyword search.

For the complete list of everything AI Search understands, see “AI Search: What You Can Search For.”

A Note on Privacy and AI

AI Search uses a large language model to interpret your plain-English queries. By default, no personally identifiable information (PII) is sent to the model — only your search terms, which are used to structure the query that then runs entirely inside K12Panel. If you include a person’s name in a search (such as “Chromebook checked out to John Smith”), that name is passed to the model as part of the query, so keep that in mind.

The model runs on Google Cloud’s Vertex AI on a paid (Pay-As-You-Go) tier, which means Google does not use your data to train its models, and may log query data for a limited period for abuse detection. Usage is governed by the applicable Gemini API terms.

Common Questions

Where is AI Search?
On the Assets screen (and Cross Org Search), as the AI Search tab next to Quick Search.

How do I know it understood me?
Check the blue interpreted-query bar that appears below the search box.

Why did I get a rate-limit message?
There’s a short-term cap on searches per user; wait briefly and retry.

Is my data used to train AI?
No. The paid Vertex AI tier does not use your data for training; PII isn’t sent unless you type a name into the query.

Can it search logs or financial data?
No. It searches asset hardware and inventory fields only.