Skip to content

Filtering Events

ChronoScope's filtering system helps you focus on specific subsets of your timeline. Filters work across all six views simultaneously, making it easy to drill down into particular time periods, priorities, tags, or people.

Where Filters Live

All filters are located in the left sidebar, always visible while you work. Changes to filters update all views instantly without needing to click "Apply" or "Submit."

Filter Organization:

The sidebar is divided into two sections: 1. Main Filters - Always visible (Date Range, Priority, Tags, People) 2. Advanced Settings - Hidden by default (click "Toggle Advanced Options")

The Four Main Filters

1. Date Range Filter

What it does: Limits events to those starting within a specific date range.

How to use it:

  1. Click the "Date Range" date picker in the sidebar
  2. A calendar popup appears with two fields:
  3. Start date - Earliest event to show
  4. End date - Latest event to show
  5. Click dates to set the range
  6. Click outside the calendar to apply

Default behavior: - Initially set to show all events (min to max date in your timeline) - Only filters by start_date (events starting in range are shown)

Use cases: - Focus on a specific year or period (e.g., "2020-2023 career phase") - Review recent events only ("Last 12 months") - Exclude current/future events ("Historical timeline only")

Tips: - To see a single year: Set both dates to Jan 1 and Dec 31 of that year - To reset: Close and reopen the calendar, select original min/max dates - Events without end dates still appear if their start date is in range

2. Minimum Priority Filter

What it does: Hides events below a certain importance level.

How to use it:

  1. Find the "Minimum Priority" slider in the sidebar
  2. Drag the slider from 1 (show all) to 10 (show only highest priority)
  3. Events update instantly as you drag

Priority Levels: - 1-3 - Low priority (minor events, routine activities) - 4-6 - Medium priority (standard work/education entries) - 7-9 - High priority (major achievements, milestones) - 10 - Critical (life-changing events, top accomplishments)

Default behavior: - Set to 1 (shows all events regardless of priority)

Use cases: - Job applications - Set to 7+ to show only major achievements - Resume review - Set to 5+ to hide routine/filler events - Life highlights - Set to 8+ for a "greatest hits" timeline

Tips: - Events extracted by AI typically start at priority 5 - Manually adjust priorities in the Data Table view - Higher filter values = fewer but more important events shown

3. Filter by Tags

What it does: Shows only events with selected tags.

How to use it:

  1. Find the "Filter by Tags" multiselect dropdown
  2. Click the dropdown to see all available tags
  3. Check one or more tags to filter
  4. Leave empty to show all events (no tag filtering)

Tag Sources: - Auto-extracted from documents by AI (e.g., "career", "education") - Manually added in Data Table or via document metadata - Case-sensitive and deduplicated

Matching behavior: - Events must have at least one selected tag to appear - If you select ["career", "tech"], events with either tag show up - This is an OR filter, not AND

Common tags you might see: - Document-based: resume, cover_letter, personal_statement - Category-based: education, career, achievement, certification - Domain-based: tech, healthcare, research, consulting

Use cases: - Career-only timeline - Select ["career", "work"] - Education journey - Select ["education", "degree", "course"] - Achievements - Select ["achievement", "award", "publication"]

Tips: - The dropdown shows tags in alphabetical order - Tag count appears next to each tag name - To clear: Click the 'x' next to each selected tag

4. Filter by People

What it does: Shows only events mentioning specific people.

How to use it:

  1. Find the "Filter by People" multiselect dropdown
  2. Click to see all people extracted from your timeline
  3. Select one or more names
  4. Leave empty for no people filtering

How people are extracted: - From document text (co-authors, supervisors, team members) - Mentioned in event descriptions - Listed in certifications or collaborations

Matching behavior: - Events must mention at least one selected person - OR logic (like tags)

Use cases: - Collaboration timeline - Filter by a specific colleague or mentor - Co-authorship - See all work with a research partner - Team projects - Filter by team member names

Tips: - People are case-sensitive ("John Doe" ≠ "john doe") - Nicknames/variations are treated as different people - Empty list means no people were extracted (add manually via Data Table)

How Filters Combine

When you use multiple filters together, they work with AND logic:

Example: - Date Range: 2020-01-01 to 2022-12-31 - Min Priority: 6 - Tags: ["career", "tech"] - People: ["Jane Smith"]

Result: Shows events that meet ALL these criteria: - Start date between 2020-2022 AND - Priority ≥ 6 AND - Has tag "career" OR "tech" AND - Mentions "Jane Smith"

Filter Persistence

Across Views: - Filters apply to all six tabs (Timeline, Table, Analytics, Validation, Export, Graph) - Switch tabs freely; filters remain active - Each view respects the current filter state

Across Sessions: - Filters do not persist when you close/reopen the app - Each session starts with default filter values (all events visible)

Viewing Filter Results

Visual Indicators:

Event Count: - Sidebar header shows total events in database - Each view displays filtered count: "Your Timeline (47 events)" - Compare to see how many events were filtered out

Empty Results: - If no events match filters, you'll see "No events to display" - This often means filters are too restrictive

Advanced Filtering Techniques

Clearing Filters Quickly

To reset all filters: 1. Reload the browser page (fastest method) 2. OR manually reset each filter: - Date Range → Select full range - Min Priority → Drag to 1 - Tags → Click 'x' on all selections - People → Click 'x' on all selections

Note: There's currently no "Clear All Filters" button (but one could be added!)

Combining Filters for Common Use Cases

Use Case 1: Recent High-Priority Work 

Date Range: [Last 2 years]
Min Priority: 7
Tags: ["career", "work"]
People: [empty]

Use Case 2: Education Journey with Mentors 

Date Range: [All]
Min Priority: 1
Tags: ["education"]
People: ["Prof. Smith", "Dr. Johnson"]

Use Case 3: Publications and Presentations 

Date Range: [2018-2024]
Min Priority: 6
Tags: ["publication", "presentation", "research"]
People: [empty]

Filtering in Data Table View

The Data Table view has additional filtering capabilities beyond the sidebar:

Search Box: - Located above the table - Searches across titles, descriptions, tags, locations, people - Works in addition to sidebar filters - Real-time text matching

Column Sorting: - Click any column header to sort - Sorting + filtering work together - Example: Filter by tag "career", then sort by priority (highest first)

How they combine: 1. Sidebar filters apply first (narrow to relevant events) 2. Table search applies second (text matching within filtered events) 3. Column sorting applies last (order within filtered, searched results)

Performance Tips

For Large Timelines (500+ events):

  1. Filter before visualizing - Use Date Range or Priority to reduce events before switching to Interactive Timeline
  2. Use specific tags - Don't select 5+ tags; be more selective
  3. Combine filters strategically - Narrow by date first, then add tag/people filters

For Slow Filter Updates:

If filters feel sluggish: - Reduce the total number of events by deleting irrelevant entries - Use Advanced Settings → "Clear Filter Caches" button (resets tag/people caches) - Reload the browser page to reset session state

Understanding Filter Limitations

What filters DON'T do:

❌ Text search across all fields - Use Data Table's search box instead ❌ Filter by location - Not currently supported (future feature) ❌ Filter by document type - Can use Source column sorting in table ❌ Filter by confidence score - Not in sidebar (check Validation tab) ❌ Complex boolean logic - Only AND across filter types, OR within tags/people ❌ Save filter presets - Cannot save commonly-used filter combinations

Troubleshooting

"No events after filtering"

Problem: All events disappear when you apply filters.

Solutions: 1. Check if date range is too narrow - Widen the range 2. Lower minimum priority to 1 3. Clear tag/people selections 4. Verify you have events in Data Table view (check without filters)

"Tags/people dropdown is empty"

Problem: Filter dropdowns show no options.

Cause: No tags or people were extracted from documents, or events have empty fields.

Solutions: 1. Check Data Table - Are tags/people columns empty? 2. Re-extract documents with better LLM extraction (not fallback mode) 3. Manually add tags/people in Data Table view

"Filters don't seem to work"

Problem: Selecting filters doesn't change visible events.

Diagnosis: 1. Check event count in view header - Does it change? 2. Verify filters are actually selected (check sidebar) 3. Try clearing browser cache and reloading

Solution: - Use Advanced Settings → "Clear Filter Caches" - Reload the page - If issue persists, check backend logs (Advanced Settings → System Health)

Best Practices

When to Filter

✅ Good times to filter: - Creating a resume/CV (show only career + high priority) - Reviewing a specific life phase (date range + tags) - Finding events with a collaborator (people filter) - Presenting to others (hide low priority, focus on achievements)

❌ Don't filter when: - First uploading documents (review all extractions unfiltered first) - Validating data quality (need to see all events, including low-confidence) - Exploring relationships (Knowledge Graph works best unfiltered)

Filter Workflow

Recommended approach:

  1. Start broad - View entire timeline first (no filters)
  2. Identify goals - What subset do you need? (career only, recent only, etc.)
  3. Apply filters incrementally - Add one filter at a time, check results
  4. Refine - Adjust ranges/selections until you have the right subset
  5. Switch views - Use filtered data across Timeline, Table, Analytics

Next Steps

Now that you understand filtering:

Back to Documentation Home