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

# Discovery

> Your agent finds every tool your team uses — including the ones IT doesn't know about.

# Your agent finds everything

Porcia discovers your full software stack automatically — from email, SSO, and browser usage. Including shadow IT.

## Discovery Sources

Porcia currently uses three complementary discovery methods:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Email Intelligence" icon="envelope">
    Discovers vendors from invoices, renewals, and vendor communications
  </Card>

  <Card title="SSO Integration" icon="key">
    Finds all applications accessed via your identity provider
  </Card>

  <Card title="Browser Extension" icon="puzzle-piece">
    Detects logins to business applications via the browser
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<Info>
  Porcia is actively adding financial integrations (Brex, Ramp, QuickBooks, Xero) for even more granular spend data capture.
</Info>

## How Discovery Works

### Multi-Source Correlation

When Porcia discovers an application, it correlates data from all connected sources:

```mermaid theme={null}
graph TB
    A[Email: Slack invoice] --> E[Vendor Matching]
    B[SSO: Slack login] --> E
    C[Browser: slack.com login detected] --> E
    E --> F[Unified Slack Profile]
    F --> G[Complete Vendor View]
```

**Example: Discovering Slack**

1. **Email** - Invoice from [billing@slack.com](mailto:billing@slack.com) detected
2. **SSO** - Slack app found in Google Workspace
3. **Browser** - Team spending time on slack.com

All three sources are correlated into a single Slack vendor profile with:

* Pricing from email invoice
* User count from SSO
* Actual login activity from browser extension

<Info>
  Financial integration (coming soon) will add payment history and transaction data for even more complete vendor profiles.
</Info>

### Vendor Matching Algorithm

Porcia uses a sophisticated matching process to identify vendors:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Domain Matching">
    Check if the domain matches a known vendor in our database

    Example: `salesforce.com` → Salesforce
  </Step>

  <Step title="Alias Resolution">
    Match common aliases and abbreviations

    Example: `SFDC` → Salesforce, `G Suite` → Google Workspace
  </Step>

  <Step title="Fuzzy Matching">
    Handle variations in vendor names

    Example: `Salesforce.com` = `Salesforce` = `Sales Force`
  </Step>

  <Step title="AI Categorization">
    Use AI to identify unknown vendors and categorize them

    Example: New SaaS tool → Categorized as "Project Management"
  </Step>

  <Step title="Manual Confirmation">
    Flag uncertain matches for user review

    You can confirm or correct vendor identification
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Info>
  Porcia's vendor database contains thousands of SaaS vendors with domain aliases, parent companies, and product relationships.
</Info>

## Discovery Dashboard

### Vendor List

View all discovered vendors in one place:

* **Vendor name and logo** - Visual identification
* **Discovery source** - How the vendor was found (email, SSO, browser, finance)
* **Status** - Active, inactive, or trial
* **Spend** - Estimated or actual spending
* **Users** - Number of team members with access
* **Last activity** - Most recent usage or communication

### Filters and Search

Find specific vendors quickly:

* **Search** - By vendor name, domain, or category
* **Filter by source** - Email, SSO, browser, or finance
* **Filter by status** - Active, inactive, trial, or expired
* **Filter by category** - Communication, productivity, development, etc.
* **Sort** - By spend, users, last activity, or name

### Vendor Details

Click any vendor to see complete information:

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Overview">
    * Vendor profile (name, logo, website, description)
    * Discovery timeline (when and how discovered)
    * Current status and subscription details
    * Key contacts and account information
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Spending">
    * Current pricing and plan
    * Historical spending
    * Upcoming renewals
    * Payment history
    * Cost per user
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Usage">
    * Active users and access patterns
    * Login frequency
    * Feature usage (if available)
    * Usage trends over time
    * Underutilized licenses
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Documents">
    * Contracts and agreements
    * Invoices and receipts
    * Vendor emails
    * Negotiation history
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Intelligence">
    * Pricing benchmarks vs peers
    * Negotiation opportunities
    * Alternative vendors
    * Market insights
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

## Shadow IT Detection

Porcia automatically identifies shadow IT - applications used by your team without IT approval:

### What is Shadow IT?

Shadow IT refers to SaaS applications that are:

* Used by employees without IT knowledge
* Purchased with personal or team credit cards
* Not managed by IT department
* Potentially creating security or compliance risks

### How Porcia Detects Shadow IT

<Steps>
  <Step title="Browser detection">
    Extension detects logins to apps not in your official catalog
  </Step>

  <Step title="Email analysis">
    Finds vendor communications IT isn't aware of
  </Step>

  <Step title="SSO comparison">
    Identifies apps added to SSO without IT approval
  </Step>

  <Step title="Alert generation">
    Notifies admins of newly discovered shadow IT
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Shadow IT Dashboard

View all shadow IT applications:

* **Risk score** - Security and compliance risk (low, medium, high)
* **Users** - Who's using the application
* **Usage frequency** - How often logins are detected
* **Data access** - What permissions the app has
* **Recommended action** - Approve, replace, or block

<Warning>
  Shadow IT isn't always bad! Many shadow IT apps are legitimate tools that should be officially adopted. Porcia helps you evaluate and manage them.
</Warning>

## Vendor Categories

Porcia automatically categorizes vendors:

* **Communication** - Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom
* **Productivity** - Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Notion
* **Development** - GitHub, GitLab, Jira, Linear
* **Design** - Figma, Adobe Creative Cloud, Canva
* **Marketing** - HubSpot, Mailchimp, Google Ads
* **Sales** - Salesforce, HubSpot CRM, Pipedrive
* **Finance** - QuickBooks, Xero, Stripe
* **HR** - BambooHR, Gusto, Workday
* **Security** - 1Password, Okta, Cloudflare
* **Analytics** - Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Amplitude
* **Infrastructure** - AWS, Google Cloud, Heroku
* **Other** - Uncategorized or custom tools

<Tip>
  You can recategorize vendors or create custom categories in vendor settings.
</Tip>

## Discovery Insights

### Duplicate Tools

Porcia identifies multiple tools serving the same purpose:

**Example:**

* Slack (company-wide)
* Microsoft Teams (engineering team)
* Discord (design team)

**Recommendation:** Consolidate to one communication platform

### Underutilized Licenses

Find applications with low usage:

**Example (illustrative):**

* 50 Figma licenses purchased
* Only 12 users active in last 30 days
* 38 unused licenses = significant monthly waste

**Recommendation:** Right-size to active user count and save on unused seats

### Consolidation Opportunities

Identify vendors offering bundled pricing:

**Example (illustrative):**

* Using Mailchimp + Calendly + SurveyMonkey separately
* A bundled tool like HubSpot may cover all three features at a lower combined cost
* Potential savings + simplified vendor management

## Discovery Settings

### Auto-Discovery

Control automatic discovery behavior:

* **Email discovery** - Enable/disable email-based discovery
* **SSO discovery** - Enable/disable SSO-based discovery
* **Browser discovery** - Enable/disable browser extension discovery
* **Financial discovery** - Enable/disable transaction-based discovery

### Discovery Rules

Create custom rules for automatic actions:

**Example rules:**

* Auto-approve vendors from specific domains
* Auto-categorize vendors by domain pattern
* Auto-assign vendors to specific team members
* Auto-tag vendors with custom labels

### Exclusions

Exclude specific domains or vendors from discovery:

* **Personal tools** - Exclude personal email, calendar, etc.
* **Internal tools** - Exclude company-built applications
* **Non-SaaS** - Exclude hardware vendors, consultants, etc.

<Info>
  Excluded vendors won't appear in your dashboard but can be manually added if needed.
</Info>

## Discovery API

For advanced users, Porcia offers an API to:

* Manually add vendors
* Update vendor information
* Trigger discovery scans
* Export discovery data

<Card title="API Documentation" icon="code">
  View complete API documentation (coming soon)
</Card>

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Manage Vendors" icon="building" href="/features/vendor-management">
    Organize and track vendors
  </Card>

  <Card title="View Analytics" icon="chart-line" href="/features/spend-analytics">
    Analyze your spending
  </Card>

  <Card title="Start Negotiations" icon="handshake" href="/features/negotiations">
    Negotiate better deals
  </Card>

  <Card title="Connect Integrations" icon="plug" href="/integrations/email/overview">
    Add more discovery sources
  </Card>
</CardGroup>