Tuning the threshold

Three numbers decide what you see and what you hear about. They answer different questions, so raising one never moves another.

Number	Where	What it decides
Search threshold (0–10, default 7)	each search’s form	What that search’s matches need to score to appear on Matches and the Board
Matches score floor	Settings → Notifications	Your own floor for every search at once — set it and it outranks each search’s threshold; leave it on the default and each search decides
Email alert level (default 8)	Settings → Notifications	Which of the matches that appear also get emailed to you

Matches that score below the floor are never deleted — they’re set aside. The Matches page tells you how many are hidden (“N matches scored below your search’s score threshold”) with a Show them link that reveals every one in place, badged so you can tell them apart. The Board’s Matched column shows the same count and points back to Matches.

Raise it (8–9) when the dashboard is noisy: you’ll only see postings the scorer can defend strongly. Good during an employed, selective search.

Lower it (5–6) when volume is low — early in a search, in a niche market, or when the scan health shows plenty fetched but few surfacing. The rationale text tells you why things score 5–6; if the reasons look wrong, fix the questionnaire rather than the threshold.

One floor for everything. If you keep changing the same number on several searches, set the Matches score floor once in Settings instead. It applies to every search; the per-search thresholds stay as they were and take over again the moment you clear it.

Signals you’re tuned wrong:

• Everything scores 8+ → your floor is set below your actual bar; raise the seniority floor or add dealbreakers.
• Good roles score 4–5 with “below seniority floor” → your floor is set above what you actually want.
• Zero results → usually the query, not the threshold — check how it was understood in scan health.