Building
Knowledge Base
A knowledge base is a labelled group of material and the rule for who may use it. It is the layer that decides which agent knows what, so getting its scope right matters more than how many you create.
Creating one
| Field | Required | Limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Yes | 1 to 200 characters | Internal label. Visitors never see it, so name it after the content, not the audience |
| Description | No | Up to 1000 characters | Useful once you have several and need to remember what belongs where |
| Scope | Yes | All agents, or specific agents | Choosing specific agents requires selecting at least one |
Create and manage them on the Knowledge Base(sign in required) page.
Scope decides who knows what
Scope is the reason to maintain more than one knowledge base. It is the difference between one assistant that knows everything and several that each stay within a defined subject.
- All agents. Every agent on the account may use this material, which suits company-wide facts such as shipping, pricing or opening hours.
- Specific agents. Only the agents you name may use it, which suits material intended for one audience, such as internal staff answers a public assistant should not repeat.
You can change scope later. Widening it takes effect immediately; narrowing it removes the material from agents you dropped, so check they are not relying on it first.
An agent can use several knowledge bases at once. When a question arrives, the material available to that agent is searched as a whole, so you do not have to guess which one holds the answer.
Maintaining your material
Material becomes outdated faster than most teams expect, and an outdated answer is worse than no answer. Two actions cover the lifecycle.
| Action | What happens |
|---|---|
| Archive | The knowledge base stops being used in answers, and its material is kept. Reversible at any time |
| Restore | Brings an archived knowledge base back into use with its scope intact |
| Duplicate | Creates a new, empty knowledge base carrying the name and scope of the original. Sources are not copied |
| Delete | Removes the knowledge base and everything inside it |
Archive is the safe choice when you are unsure. Deleting takes the sources with it, and there is no undo.
A practical structure
Most accounts need less structure than they think. Start with one knowledge base scoped to all agents, and split only when a real reason appears.
- One knowledge base per audience, not per document. Ten documents about shipping belong together.
- Split when the material must not be shared, not when it is merely different.
- Archive rather than delete when a policy changes, so you can compare what the assistant used to say.
- Give each one a name that says what it holds, so the scope decision is obvious a month later.
Next, put content in it. See Sources for the three ways to add material and the limits on each.
Capacity and scope checks
| Plan | Knowledge bases |
|---|---|
| Starter | 1 |
| Lite | 3 |
| Pro | 10 |
| Business | 30 |
| Enterprise | By contract |
Specific-agent scope needs at least one selected agent. The scope input accepts up to 50 agent ids. When you create or duplicate a base, verify its scope before adding material, particularly if the content belongs to a restricted audience.
Duplication copies the base's metadata and scope into an empty base. It does not copy sources, so add or import the material the new base should contain.
Renaming a knowledge base costs nothing and breaks nothing. Changing its scope is the decision that warrants review, because it changes what several assistants know.
Narrowing a scope takes effect immediately. An agent you drop stops being able to answer from that material on its very next question, with no warning to your visitors, so confirm nothing depends on it first.