Search takes longer than expected
A Tender Navigator search across the whole tender database can take several seconds on a cold query, and the first open of a notice generates its AI summary, which adds a few seconds more. The tool shows what it is doing while you wait, tells you when a request is unusually slow, and shows an error with Retry when the service could not be reached.
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What is normal
- A search: several seconds on a query the database has not seen recently; a repeat of the same query is much faster.
- Opening a notice for the first time: a few seconds, because the AI summary is generated on that first open. Opening the same notice again is fast.
While a request runs, the tool shows the stage it is on ("Searching published tenders", "Retrieving the tender notice") and a skeleton of the content that is coming. A re-search keeps the previous results on screen and interactive while the new one runs.
When it is unusually slow
After a while the status adds "This is taking longer than usual. Tender Navigator is still working - the request has not timed out." The request is still running; wait for it. Do not press Search repeatedly: each press starts a new search.
When it has failed
- "The search service could not be reached. Please try again." with a Retry button: the search did not complete. Retry re-runs the same query.
- "Tender Navigator could not load this notice. The service may be busy." with a retry: the notice could not be fetched.
Both are usually transient. If they persist for several minutes, the service is having trouble; try later, and if it continues, tell the team from the Support page with the time and the query.
Things that do not help
- Reloading the page mid-search cancels the search and clears the form.
- Opening many notices at once queues several summary generations.
A quick check
Run one of the suggested queries ("construction") with no other criteria. If that also fails, the problem is on the service side rather than with your criteria.
Related articles
- Using the Pre-search tool in Tender NavigatorThe Pre-search tool runs a live search across the Tender Navigator tender database by keywords, countries, classification codes and budget. Where it lives, what it returns, and how it becomes a filter.
- The AI summary on tender noticesWhat the AI summary on a Tender Navigator tender notice is, how it is generated on first open, why it can appear a few seconds after the rest of the notice, and how it differs from AI evaluation.
- AI summary is still generatingWhat the message 'The overview for this notice is still being generated' means in Tender Navigator, how long to wait, why a notice may have no AI overview, and how to retry.
- Reading Pre-search resultsWhat a Pre-search result row shows in Tender Navigator, what Not evaluated means, the five-result preview for visitors, paging in the dashboard, and the relevance indicator on the homepage.