Function search

One natural-language query returns the API reference of only the relevant functions, grouped by worker — so the next step is calling them directly, without engine::functions::list/info round-trips.

When to Use

• directory::search_functions: pass a query naming everything the task needs (multi-intent queries are ranked per clause — commas and "and" separate capabilities). Returns at most three workers and twelve contracts, never a whole worker's surface. Repeat queries in one session omit contracts already delivered; after two empty answers the next one widens to single-term matches. The result's guidance OVERRIDES the general discovery requirement for the listed functions and points at a more specific re-query for anything unlisted.
• The response may also carry an installable section: workers from the public registry (verified authors only) whose functions match but are NOT installed. Those functions are not callable yet — confirm with the user, install with worker::add ({ "source": { "kind": "registry", "name": "" }, "wait": false }, then poll worker::status), and only then call them. The registry_search configuration knob turns the section off.
• The pre-generate hint is automatic (configurable: inject_hint in the iii-directory configuration entry binds/unbinds the hook hot): at most once per session, and only when discovery is plausibly needed — it skips when search_functions is not in the surface, a search result is already in the window, the surface spans fewer than hint_min_workers workers, the current task is already calling real functions, or it already names a callable function id.

directory::pre-generate, directory::on-functions-change, and directory::hint-preview are internal handlers, not direct tools.

Safety and privacy

A search result adds documentation only; it neither executes a function nor grants new authority — normal policy and approval still apply. Suggested installable workers are vetted only by registry author verification; installing remains a stack mutation that deserves explicit confirmation. The hook's transcript rows carry only coarse outcome/reason and counts: no prompts, messages, tool contracts, arguments, session ids, or timings.