Add and test business knowledge

A knowledge base gives the assistant business information to retrieve while answering questions. Start with a small, accurate source you can test, such as opening hours and service areas.

Create the knowledge base

Open Knowledge in the intended subaccount.
Click Create knowledge base.
Enter a name that identifies the business or topic.
Create and open the knowledge base.
Click Upload.
Choose Text, FAQ, URL, or File.
Add the source and wait for processing to complete.

Text is useful for a short policy. FAQ is useful for explicit question-and-answer pairs. URL imports content from a page; confirm the page is reachable and contains the information you expect. File uploads accept the formats listed below, up to 50 MiB (shown as 50 MB in the editor). An upload acknowledgement is not the same as a ready source. Check the source’s status and inspect its processed content if the answer is missing or incomplete.

Assign it to an assistant

Open the assistant in the same subaccount.
Open Knowledge Base.
Find the knowledge base and choose Add to assistant.
Confirm it appears as Assigned.
Publish the assistant when you are ready to apply its updated voice configuration.

For voice use, review the knowledge base’s voice setting and your account access. Voice knowledge can involve usage charges; see How Billing Works. Keep the source and assignment tests separate from billing configuration.

Test a sourced answer

Ask a question whose answer is present only in the new source. Compare the response with the original material. Then ask a related question that the source does not answer and check that the assistant does not invent a policy. Repeat in the actual channels you will use, including a voice call if applicable. Retrieval can select relevant passages; it does not insert every source into every response or guarantee identical wording across channels.

Troubleshooting

Pending or processing: wait for completion before judging the answer.
Error: inspect the source error, correct the input, and upload a replacement source.
Source ready but answer missing: confirm assignment, check processed content, and test a precise question.
Wrong answer: remove conflicting information or replace the outdated source, then retest.

See how retrieval works and knowledge optimization.

Source types and fields

Source type	Fields and constraints
Text	Name and Content; both must contain non-whitespace text. Use for short, directly maintained policies.
FAQ	Name, plus Question and Answer pairs. Add/remove pairs; at least one complete pair is required. Incomplete pairs are not submitted.
FAQ CSV import	Two columns in this order: `question,answer`. The header is optional. Quoted CSV values are supported. Rows missing either value are skipped. Imported rows append to current pairs; a blank Name is filled from the filename.
URL	Name and a valid page URL. A URL source imports that input; do not assume it continuously syncs future website changes or crawls every linked page.
File	Name and one file. Name defaults to the filename without its extension. The file must have a supported MIME type and be no larger than 50 MiB (52,428,800 bytes).
Use Unstructured.io API	File-upload option, on by default. The current file-processing path uses this parser regardless of the stored toggle; switching it off does not select a supported alternate parser.

Example FAQ CSV:

question,answer
What are your hours?,Monday to Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM.
"Do you serve Northside?","Yes, including Northside and Riverside."

Accepted file formats

Category	Extensions
PDF	`.pdf`
Word	`.doc`, `.docx`
Excel	`.xls`, `.xlsx`
PowerPoint	`.ppt`, `.pptx`
Plain text / Markdown	`.txt`, `.md`
CSV	`.csv`
Images	`.png`, `.jpg`, `.jpeg`

The browser-reported file type must also match an accepted type. If a correctly named file is rejected, export it in one of these formats instead of only changing its extension. Image/OCR and complex-document extraction still need a content check after processing.

Source status and management

Status	Meaning	Next step
Pending	Source accepted; processing has not completed.	Wait for a terminal status before testing retrieval.
Processing	Content extraction and indexing are in progress.	Check again; do not repeatedly upload the same source.
Complete	Processing recorded usable data points.	Inspect the extracted data and test an answer.
Error	Source processing failed or extracted no content.	Correct the input and upload a replacement; ask support to investigate if valid input repeatedly fails.

Use the All, Complete, and Error source tabs to filter the list. Open a source’s edit action to rename it or choose Toggle Data / Hide Data to inspect extracted chunks. Renaming changes the source label, not its content. To update facts, upload a corrected source, confirm completion, and remove the outdated one. Delete removes the source from the active collection; check answers again afterward. At the knowledge-base list, the actions are Manage sources, Move to folder, Enable voice / Disable voice, Copy knowledge base ID, and Delete knowledge base. Voice activation requires the account’s permitted role/features and can change usage charges. Assignment is separate: Add to assistant links the base; Remove from assistant unlinks it without deleting its sources.

Start here

Build assistants

Connect channels

Manage & troubleshoot

Create the knowledge base

Assign it to an assistant

Test a sourced answer

Troubleshooting

Source types and fields

Accepted file formats

Source status and management

​Create the knowledge base

​Assign it to an assistant

​Test a sourced answer

​Troubleshooting

​Source types and fields

​Accepted file formats

​Source status and management

Create the knowledge base

Assign it to an assistant

Test a sourced answer

Troubleshooting

Source types and fields

Accepted file formats

Source status and management