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Why you can't see some documents

Sometimes the assistant won’t use a document you know exists — or a colleague gets an answer you don’t. That’s access control working as intended. Zahen decides what you can see before it searches, so an answer can only ever be built from documents you’re allowed to read.

Every document has an access level that controls who can read it:

Access levelWho can read it
PublicAnyone signed in.
EmployeeAll employees (the usual default).
DepartmentOnly people in that document’s department.
RestrictedAdministrators only.

On top of access levels, most documents belong to a department. As a regular user you see organisation-wide documents plus those for your own department — not other departments’. Administrators can see more broadly.

  • You’ll get answers only from documents your role and department permit.
  • A question that finds nothing you’re allowed to see returns “I don’t have a policy that answers this” — even if a document exists at a level you can’t access.
  • The same question can legitimately give different people different answers.

If you believe you’re missing access to something you need, contact your administrator. They set document access levels and departments — see Managing knowledge and What your role lets you do.