Knowledge bases
A knowledge base is a shared collection of your documents that chats and agents can search. Answers cite the exact file each claim came from.
A model knows a lot about the world and nothing about your refund policy. A knowledge base fixes that. Upload your policies, guides, price lists and exports once, and any chat or agent that uses the knowledge base answers from them - with inline citations that show exactly which file each statement came from. When the policy changes, you update one document and every answer follows.
Create a knowledge base
- Open Knowledge Bases and choose New knowledge base
Go to Knowledge Bases in the left sidebar and select New knowledge base.
- Name it and describe what is in it
Pick a name that says what the collection is for, such as Northwind Help Center, and a short description: Policies, onboarding, pricing and brand voice. The source of truth for support and sales. The card shows the description, the number of documents and your role.
- Upload your documents
Open the knowledge base and select Upload files. Use New folder first if you want to keep things organised by topic or team.
Supported file types
| Kind | Formats |
|---|---|
| Documents | PDF, DOCX, TXT, Markdown |
| Spreadsheets and data | XLSX, CSV |
| EML | |
| Images | JPG, PNG, WEBP |
The three tabs
| Tab | What you do there |
|---|---|
| Documents | Browse files and folders, with name, size and upload date. Upload, add folders and tidy up. |
| Members | Decide who can use the knowledge base alongside you. |
| Settings | The knowledge base’s own settings. |
Use a knowledge base
In a chat
In the composer, select the book icon (the knowledge base picker) and choose the knowledge bases to use. The answer is then built from your documents, with citations.
In an agent
Open the agent, go to its Knowledge tab and tick the knowledge bases it should search. Every conversation with that agent can then draw on them. You can also let the agent use every knowledge base you can access with Use all knowledge bases, and decide whether it may add general knowledge with World-Wide Knowledge. See Agents.
From a document
A document created in the Document editor can be sent straight to a knowledge base with Upload to Knowledge Base. It stays linked, so the knowledge base always has the latest version.
Read the citations
When an answer uses your documents, the file names appear highlighted right after the sentences they support. That lets anyone check the source in seconds - and spot quickly when an answer is not backed by a document at all.
Tips for good source documents
- One topic per file. Northwind Refund Policy.md and Northwind Pricing 2026.md are easier to cite, and to keep current, than one long “everything” document.
- Name files the way people ask. The file name shows up in every citation, so make it self-explanatory.
- Write facts plainly. Short headings, clear statements and numbered steps retrieve better than slides full of fragments.
- Put the date or version in the name when it matters: Pricing 2026, Store Performance Q3 2026.
- Use Markdown or DOCX for text you control. Use CSV or XLSX for tables, so rows and columns survive intact.
- Say what is out of scope. A line like “Refunds are approved by a human, never by the assistant” helps agents decline correctly.