Portal Search & Quick Actions
The Client Portal has one search box that does three things at once: it finds things your client can do, things that are theirs, and help articles. It is the fastest route to anything in the portal, and it works the same way in a web browser and in the iOS Client Portal app.
Opening search
| Where | How |
|---|---|
| Web browser | Press Cmd+K (Mac) or Ctrl+K |
| Web browser | Or select the search button in the portal header |
| iOS Client Portal | Tap the search icon on the dashboard |
Typing fewer than two characters shows a short list of suggestions instead of results — booking an appointment, paying an invoice, messaging the practice, and getting help.
What clients see
Results are grouped, and the groups always appear in the same order.
Actions
Things the client can do right now, drawn from the same set of portal features their account has access to. Selecting one runs it without leaving the search box.
Some actions need a few details first — the date for a reschedule, for example. The portal asks for those one field at a time, checks them, and only then runs the action.
My records
The client's own appointments, tasks, homework, documents, invoices, forms, questionnaires, message threads, and learning modules. Selecting a result opens the screen that owns it.
This search is scoped to the signed-in client on the server. There is no setting to widen it, and no way for a client to search another client's information — a client cannot reach anything through search that they could not already open from the portal menu.
Help
Articles from the Praxi help centre. Selecting one opens the article.
Each group shows up to five results, so a more specific search term gives a more useful list.
Actions that need your approval
Some actions take effect immediately. Others are a request that comes to your practice first.
Anything that needs approval is marked in the search results, and the portal says so again before the client commits:
Your practice will review this request (Practitioner approval) before it takes effect.
When the client confirms, they see Sent for approval rather than a completion message, and the request appears in your practice's approvals queue. This wording is identical in the browser and in the iOS app, so a client who uses both is never told an action ran when it is actually waiting on you.
Differences between web and iOS
The two surfaces search the same records and the same help centre, and both show the approval marker.
The iOS app hides a small number of actions that have no equivalent on a phone — ones that open a desktop dialog or navigate to a screen the app does not have. Those actions remain available to the same client in a browser.
Troubleshooting
| What the client sees | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| Nothing happens while typing | Fewer than two characters have been entered — search starts at two |
| "No results found" | Nothing matched. Record search matches titles, so try the appointment type, invoice number, or document name |
| A record they expect is missing | Only records already shared with the client are searchable. Documents you have not shared, and draft items, do not appear |
| "Showing actions only" notice | The portal could not reach the search service. Actions still work; records and help return once the connection recovers |
| An action they expected is not listed on the app | It may be one of the desktop-only actions above — ask them to try the same search in a browser |
Related
- Client Portal Overview
- Client Documents
- Client Search & Merge — the practitioner-side search, which is a different tool