Ask IREX

Ask IREX brings natural-language queries and investigation agents to the platform. An investigation is described in ordinary words; the agent interprets the intent, cross-references the relevant watchlists, runs the multi-step search through the platform API, and returns the results in context.

What changes for an operator

A conventional event search asks the operator to translate an intention into filters: pick the cameras, set the time window, choose the object class, set the attribute values. Then repeat the whole sequence when the first attempt returns too much or too little. The knowledge of which filter combination answers which question sits with the few people who use the system daily.

Ask IREX removes that translation step. The request is stated as an investigator would state it, and the agent assembles the query. Two consequences matter operationally: an occasional user becomes productive without training on filter semantics, and a multi-step investigation that would take a sequence of manual searches runs as one request.

Where it runs

Surface	How it is used
Main IREX interface	An analyst at a workstation describes the investigation in the platform and receives results in the workspace, with the search filters already applied for further refinement.
Sover secure messenger	A field officer sends a message, or a photo, to Ask IREX from any device and receives a short summary plus a link that opens the same results in the workspace. See Find events with Ask IREX for the procedure.

Both surfaces reach the same agents and the same API, so results do not differ between them.

What can be asked

• An event described in plain words. For example, red trucks near the Central crossroads yesterday afternoon.
• A photo. Send an image to search for a similar person or vehicle.
• A summary or a count of the events matching the request, rather than the full result set.
• A multi-step investigation, where the agent cross-references a name against the relevant watchlists and then searches within the stated area and time window.

How a request is handled

1. The request arrives as text or as an image, from the IREX interface or from Sover.

2. The agent interprets the intent and plans the steps: which archives to query, which watchlists to cross-reference, which cameras and which time window apply.

3. Each step executes through the platform API, under the requesting operator's identity and permissions.

4. The reply carries a brief result and, where relevant, a short analysis. It includes a link that opens the results in the workspace with the filters pre-set for review, playback, and follow-up.

Guardrails

An agent that can search a national camera network is a high-risk capability. It is governed by the same controls as any operator action, not by a separate set of rules. Ask IREX runs inside the IREX core infrastructure precisely so that authentication, audit logging, and policy enforcement stay centralized.

Control	How it applies to Ask IREX
Permission boundary	The agent reads only data the requesting operator is already authorized to view, and cannot escalate its own access. A request for something outside those permissions returns nothing, not a broader result. See Manage users and user groups.
Case ID	Where the underlying action requires a Case ID, the requirement holds when the action is initiated by an agent. Natural language is a different way to ask, not an exemption. See Case ID and accountability.
Audit log	Searches initiated through Ask IREX are captured in the audit log, attributed to the operator who initiated them and to the authorizing Case ID. See View the Logbook.
Narrow constraints	The agent cannot ask the platform for something the platform will not do. Recognition remains limited to pre-registered persons and vehicles. See Engineered for ethics.

Limits to expect

• Interpretation is best-effort. When a result looks wrong, refine the wording or fall back to the on-screen event search, which remains fully available.
• Results are bounded by what the archive holds. An agent cannot recover video already deleted under the retention policy configured in Manage cameras.
• The agent proposes, the operator decides. Ask IREX returns findings and links. Acting on them stays a human decision, and no consequential action is taken by the agent alone.

Related topics

• Find events with Ask IREX: the step-by-step procedure.
• Investigate a case: the Searchveillance™ search the agent runs underneath.
• StreamVLM: defining a new detector with a prompt, which is the detection-side counterpart to asking a question in plain language.
• Collaborate: Sover, and how alerts and evidence reach the field.