People Lookup via Glean

When users ask about people in the organization, use Glean's employee search and activity signals to find the right person.

Tool Naming

See the glean-tools-guide skill for Glean MCP tool naming conventions. Tools follow the pattern mcp__glean_[server-name]__[tool] where the server name is dynamic. Use whatever Glean server is available in your tool list.

When This Applies

Use this approach when users ask:

• "Who works on [system/project]?"

• "Who is [name]?" or "What team is [name] on?"

• "Who should I talk to about [topic]?"

• "Who owns [component/service]?"

• "Who reports to [manager]?"

• "Find someone who knows about [technology]"

BE SKEPTICAL

Not everyone who appears in search results is a good recommendation.

Expertise Evidence Test

• Is there real evidence of expertise?

• ✅ STRONG: Multiple signals (code + docs + involvement)

• ⚠️ MODERATE: Single signal but significant

• ❌ WEAK: Just mentioned once, attended a meeting

Recency Test

• Are they actively involved?

• ✅ ACTIVE: Activity in past 6 months

• ⚠️ HISTORICAL: 6-12 months ago

• ❌ STALE: 12+ months - likely outdated

Availability Test

• Are they still in a relevant position?

• ✅ CURRENT: Same team/role

• ⚠️ MOVED: Changed teams but retains knowledge

• ❌ GONE: Left company or completely different role

Filter Out:

• Single mentions without other evidence

• People who just attended meetings on a topic

• Former employees

• People whose involvement is tangential

Quality over quantity: Better to recommend 2 right people than 10 weak matches.

Tool Selection

User Intent Glean Tool

Find by name, role, team employee_search

Find by code contributions code_search

Find by document authorship search with owner: filter

Complex expertise analysis chat

Critical: Use employee_search for People Queries

Never use regular search for people lookups. The employee_search tool is specifically designed for:

• Name lookups

• Role/title searches

• Team/department queries

• Org chart navigation

• Reporting relationships

Query Examples

Find by name

employee_search "John Smith"

Find by team

employee_search "payments team"

Find direct reports

employee_search "reportsto:"Jane Doe""

Find by role type

employee_search "engineering managers"

Find recent hires

employee_search "startafter:2024-01-01"

Finding Expertise (Not Just Role)

For "who actually knows about X" questions, combine signals:

• Official role: employee_search "[topic]"

• Code activity: code_search "[topic] owner:"name""

• Doc authorship: search "[topic] RFC owner:"name""

People with multiple signals are true experts. Single-signal matches should be noted with lower confidence.

If No Good Matches Found

Don't pad with weak recommendations:

No strong expertise matches found for [topic].

What was checked:

• Employee search: [results]
• Code contributions: [results]
• Doc authorship: [results]

Suggestions:

• Ask in [relevant channel]
• Check with [related team] leadership

Relationship to Commands

For comprehensive expertise discovery, suggest:

• /glean-people:find-expert <topic>

• Multi-signal expertise analysis

• /glean-people:stakeholders <change>

• Find who needs to be involved

• /glean-docs:onboarding <team>

• Get to know a new team