> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.findtempo.co/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Observations

> What an observation is, the role observations play across Tempo, where they appear, and what happens when their artifact is retracted.

An observation is a cited claim Tempo derived from one artifact: a pain the buyer named, a risk, a pricing detail, a stakeholder, a commitment. Observations are the foundation of the intelligence layer. Deal state, [Themes](https://docs.findtempo.co/themes.md), [Signals](https://docs.findtempo.co/signals.md), and the answers your AI tools give are all built from them.

Observations arrive continuously. As connected sources deliver new [artifacts](https://docs.findtempo.co/context-layer/artifacts.md), Tempo can extract observations and group related observations into Themes. That helps you find questions, pains, and requests across accounts, see what is growing in Themes, and count a subject by account with a Signal.

Every observation cites the artifact it came from. Open an observation anywhere in Tempo and you can preview the source. An observation is a paraphrase, not a verbatim quote.

![Diagram: an observation from a call or email shows its account, date, type, and cited source; on the right, each dot is an observation and the new one appears near related observations.](https://mintcdn.com/temposystemsinc/azrf-83INoDn650L/images/context-layer/observation.svg?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=azrf-83INoDn650L\&q=85\&s=ab6ae9d28864d77fc34d1aa561d8528f)

Tempo can extract cited observations from a call or email and group related observations.

## What an observation carries

Each observation has a type that says what kind of claim it is, such as a pain or an objection, so you can filter to one kind in Themes, in a Signal, or in a search. It also carries its source artifact and a date for the source evidence. An observation from a deal also carries that deal. An observation from an artifact kept on an account carries the account instead. Over MCP, its `deal_id` is `null` and it has an `account_id`. The types Tempo uses appear in the app wherever you filter observations.

## Where observations appear

* **Deal pages.** The **State of Deal** view on an opportunity cites observations for each point it makes. Open an artifact preview to read what was extracted from it.
* **Themes.** A theme is a group of observations about one subject. The **What people say** section and the **Observations** tab list them with a **Preview source** link. See [Explore themes](https://docs.findtempo.co/themes/explorer.md).
* **Signals.** A signal records existing observations that match its definition. The **Observations** table on a signal page shows each one with its match distance. See [Signals](https://docs.findtempo.co/signals.md).
* **Your AI tools.** `search_observations` returns cited observation rows across the deals you can access, with the observation and artifact IDs, and can expand an observation into the surrounding source text. `search_deal_context` returns a synthesized answer with citations. See the [MCP tool catalog](https://docs.findtempo.co/developers/mcp-tools.md).

## Retraction follows the artifact

Observations are never edited or deleted on their own. When an artifact is retracted, every observation derived from it is removed and is never cited again, and pending CRM updates built on those observations are removed. See [Retract an artifact](https://docs.findtempo.co/context-layer/artifacts.md#retract-an-artifact).


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