Renaming [Saved Search] to [Discover Session]

[stratoula]

Describe the feature:

Currently, the term Saved Searches is used to represent the Discover SO, which allows users to save their Discover configuration, share it, or use it in dashboards and visualizations. Over time, this has expanded to include much more than just “saved searches,” making the term outdated. With upcoming enhancements (#167887 and #167635), it will store even more details about the user’s Discover configuration. In the future, Discover Session will store new features, and we expect users to save Discover Session elements to e.g. Cases and Dashboards.

Proposed change: Rename “Saved Searches” to “Discover Session” to better reflect its role as a saved representation of the Discover app state.

Why This Is Important

•	Improves clarity and aligns terminology with the expanded functionality of the Discover app.
•	Helps users better understand the role of saved objects in Discover.

Implementation Details

•	Update all UI references from “Saved Searches” to “Discover Session.”
•	Retain the existing SO type for technical continuity (no changes to storage).
•	Communicate the change to users via release notes and documentation

[elasticmachine]

Pinging @elastic/kibana-visualizations (Team:Visualizations)

[elasticmachine]

Pinging @elastic/kibana-data-discovery (Team:DataDiscovery)

[stratoula]

cc @amyjtechwriter @ninoslavmiskovic @timductive

[thomasneirynck]

@stratoula is this just a rename in the UX?

I would caution against renaming. It breaks discontinuity with marginal benefit. E.g. the rename index-pattern -> data-view added more confusion than it resolved. Until we can rename SO-types, we then also have to maintain a new mental model which maps the visible-naming to the internal-naming.

Good docs and guides within the product should already go a long way of making these distinct concepts more understandable.

[stratoula]

@thomasneirynck yes. I understand the point you are raising but I am afraid that the confusion will be much bigger if we keep it as it is. We really need to take action imho. Unless the renaming is something we are expecting to be possible soonish. Is it? We can always mask the SO type on the saved objects management page and display the new name on the dropdown and keep the old name only inside the SO.

[teresaalvarezsoler]

I just removed the Visualizations team from this issue since this seems to be an ESQL/Discover team issue.

[jughosta]

Communicate the change to users via ... in-app messaging.

Should we add a notice to UI? In what form?

cc @ninoslavmiskovic

[ninoslavmiskovic]

We could add a small info badge perhaps ? @jughosta

[jughosta]

Okay, would be great to have some visual guidelines then cc @l-suarez @kertal

[davismcphee]

Adding it to the release notes and documentation would definitely be a good first step. Some sort of in-app messaging could also be good, although I agree with @jughosta that we should do a quick design pass on this before adding anything. Also if we intend to make this a 9.0 change (tbh I can't remember what we agreed here), then possibly a warning in the Upgrade Assistant could be helpful. This may be a misuse of the UA though, so I'd check with Core first.

[ninoslavmiskovic]

I was just thinking something simple. We can also just add it to the release notes and not in-app. I don't want to out this on risk.

[kertal]

+1 for release notes + documentation, and since we will backport this (right @ninoslavmiskovic) I don't think Upgrade Assistant needs to be involved. in my point of view, no in app message is required

[ninoslavmiskovic]

Changed the description to only have release notes and documentation - @jughosta

[jughosta]

Alright, thanks!