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A knowledge base is a document the agent looks answers up in during the call: an FAQ, a policy, a product guide, a job description. Upload a PDF, DOCX, TXT or MD file, or paste text. Each knowledge base is a function the agent can call, like a tool. When a caller asks something on its topic, the agent calls it with the question, and gets back the answer from the document’s text. The document isn’t part of the prompt, so it doesn’t count toward the prompt’s 20,000 characters.

Your library

Knowledge bases belong to your account, not to one agent. Click Knowledge bases in the sidebar to see them all, with their size, the agents using each one, and when each was last changed.
  • Add a knowledge base once, and attach it to any number of agents.
  • Edit it, and every agent using it answers from the new text from its next call. Calls in progress carry on with what they started with.
  • Delete it, and the agents using it stop using it from their next call. This can’t be undone.

Add a knowledge base

1

Click Add knowledge base

On the Knowledge bases page, or on an agent’s Knowledge base tab.
2

Upload a file, or paste text

Drag and drop a PDF, DOCX, TXT or MD file, or click Write or paste text. Files are read in your browser: only their text is saved, never the file.
3

Review the name and instruction

We suggest a Function name and an Instruction from the text (marked AI generated). Edit them if they’re off.
4

Click Add knowledge base

It’s added to your library. Added from an agent, it’s attached to that agent too: click Save changes (Create agent for a new one) to keep it.
A knowledge base that shares its name with one of an agent’s tools is left out of that agent’s calls. Rename one of them.

Attach to an agent

On the agent’s Knowledge base tab, click Add knowledge base:
  • From your library: tick the ones to use, then click Attach.
  • Or add a new one: upload a file or paste text, as above.
Then click Save changes. The × next to a knowledge base detaches it from the agent; it stays in your library. Shared shows when other agents use it too.

Limits

A longer document can be split across several knowledge bases, one topic each.

How the agent answers

  • The agent decides from each Instruction when to look something up, and asks with the caller’s question.
  • The answer comes from the document only, not from general knowledge.
  • If the knowledge base it asked doesn’t have the answer, the agent’s other knowledge bases are checked too. The agent tells the caller it doesn’t know only when none of them has it.

Tips

  • One topic per knowledge base. A refund policy and a product catalog work better as two, each with its own instruction.
  • Write a clear instruction. Name what the document covers, so the agent knows when to call it.
  • Mention it in the prompt, such as Answer questions about our plans from pricing_faq.
  • Scanned PDFs have no text. Their pages are pictures, so nothing can be read. Paste the text instead, or export a PDF with selectable text.

Prompt, knowledge base or tool?