> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.agent.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Knowledge Base
> Train your knowledge agent with custom knowledge from documents, websites, videos, and more
## What is a Knowledge Base?
A knowledge base is the collection of information your knowledge agent can search and reference when answering questions or making decisions. Think of it as your agent's memory - the more relevant knowledge you add, the more helpful and accurate your agent becomes.
Unlike traditional chatbots that only know what they were trained on, knowledge agents use **Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)** to dynamically search your knowledge and incorporate it into responses.
## How Knowledge Retrieval Works (RAG Simplified)
Here's what happens when someone asks your knowledge agent a question:
```
User asks: "What's our refund policy?"
↓
Agent converts question to a search query
↓
Searches knowledge base for relevant content
↓
Finds: "Refund Policy.pdf" - page 2, section 3
↓
AI reads the relevant section
↓
Generates answer using that specific information
↓
Responds: "According to our refund policy, customers can..."
```
**Key point:** Your agent doesn't memorize everything - it searches and retrieves relevant pieces on-demand. This means:
* You can add lots of knowledge without "retraining"
* Answers come from your actual documents
* You can update knowledge anytime
* Agent cites sources (useful for verification)
## Supported Knowledge Sources
You can train your knowledge agent with six types of content:
| Source Type | What It's For | Processing Time |
| ----------------- | ---------------------------------- | --------------- |
| **Files** | PDFs, Word docs, text files | 10-30 seconds |
| **URLs** | Web pages, articles, documentation | 15-45 seconds |
| **YouTube** | Video transcripts | 20-60 seconds |
| **Google Docs** | Workspace documents | 10-30 seconds |
| **Google Sheets** | Spreadsheet data | 10-30 seconds |
| **Twitter/X** | Tweets and threads | 15-45 seconds |
| **LinkedIn** | Profiles and posts | 20-60 seconds |
All sources are automatically:
* Chunked into searchable segments
* Embedded as vectors for semantic search
* Stored in your agent's vector database
* Instantly available for retrieval
## Adding Knowledge: Step-by-Step
### Files (PDF, DOCX, TXT)
**Best for:** Documentation, reports, guides, research papers
**How to add:**
1. Navigate to your knowledge agent builder
2. Click the **"Training"** tab
3. Click the **"Files"** sub-tab
4. Click **"Upload"** or drag and drop files
5. Wait for processing (progress bar shows status)
6. File appears in the list when ready
**Supported formats:**
* PDF (.pdf)
* Microsoft Word (.doc, .docx)
* Plain text (.txt)
* Markdown (.md)
**Tips:**
* PDFs work best when they contain actual text (not scanned images)
* Remove unnecessary pages to improve relevance
* File names help the agent understand context - use descriptive names
**File size limit:** 25MB per file. For larger documents, consider splitting them or using a URL if the content is available online.
### Web URLs
**Best for:** Websites, blog posts, online documentation, public articles
**How to add:**
1. Go to the **"Training"** tab
2. Click the **"URLs"** sub-tab
3. Paste the full URL (starting with https\://)
4. Click **"Add URL"**
5. Content is scraped and processed automatically
**What gets extracted:**
* Main text content from the page
* Headings and structure
* Some metadata (title, author if available)
* **Not extracted:** Images, videos, interactive elements
**Special handling:**
**Google Docs:**
* Paste the sharing link (make sure it's accessible via link)
* Agent automatically exports to readable format
* Formatting is preserved
**Google Sheets:**
* Paste the sharing link
* Data is exported and indexed
* Useful for product catalogs, pricing, data tables
**Pro tip:** For documentation sites with many pages, add the most important/overview pages. You don't need every single page - the agent will direct users based on what you've added.
### YouTube Videos
**Best for:** Tutorials, presentations, interviews, educational content
**How to add:**
1. Go to the **"Training"** tab
2. Click the **"YouTube Videos"** sub-tab
3. Paste the YouTube video URL
4. Click **"Add Video"**
5. Agent automatically extracts the transcript
**What gets indexed:**
* Full transcript of spoken words
* Video title and description
* Channel information
* Key moments/chapters (if available)
**Important notes:**
* Video must have captions/subtitles (auto-generated works)
* Videos without transcripts cannot be processed
* Transcript language is auto-detected
**Use cases:**
* Index your tutorial videos so agent can answer "how-to" questions
* Add conference talks or presentations
* Include product demos or walkthroughs
* Reference expert interviews or talks
### Twitter/X Posts
**Best for:** Twitter threads, announcements, thought leadership content
**How to add:**
1. Go to the **"Training"** tab
2. Click the **"Twitter"** sub-tab
3. Enter a Twitter username (without @) or paste a tweet URL
4. Click **"Add"**
**What gets indexed:**
* Tweet text content
* Thread structure (if it's a thread)
* Author information
* Timestamps
**Use cases:**
* Add your own tweets to train agent on your thinking
* Include industry expert threads
* Reference announcement tweets
* Capture Twitter-based discussions
### LinkedIn Content
**Best for:** Professional profiles, thought leadership posts, company updates
**How to add:**
1. Go to the **"Training"** tab
2. Click the **"LinkedIn"** sub-tab
3. Enter a LinkedIn profile URL or post URL
4. Click **"Add"**
**What gets indexed:**
* Profile headline and about section
* Recent posts and articles
* Experience and background (for profiles)
* Post content and engagement
**Use cases:**
* Add your LinkedIn profile to train agent on your expertise
* Include company LinkedIn posts
* Reference industry leader profiles
* Capture professional insights and articles
## Managing Your Knowledge Base
### Viewing Your Knowledge
In the **Training** tab, you'll see all your knowledge sources listed with:
* Source name/title
* Type (file, URL, video, etc.)
* Upload date
* Processing status
* File size or length
### Refreshing Content
For URLs, YouTube videos, and social media sources, you can refresh the content to get updates:
1. Find the source in the list
2. Click the **refresh icon** next to it
3. Agent re-fetches and re-processes the content
4. Updated content replaces the old version
**When to refresh:**
* Documentation has been updated
* YouTube video captions were improved
* Twitter thread was extended
* Website content changed
**Files can't be refreshed** - you'll need to delete and re-upload if you have a newer version.
### Deleting Knowledge
To remove a knowledge source:
1. Find it in the Training tab list
2. Click the **delete icon** (trash can)
3. Confirm deletion
4. Source is removed immediately from knowledge base
**Important:** Deleting knowledge affects all future conversations. Past conversations won't change, but new chats won't have access to that information anymore.
### Organizing Your Knowledge
While there's no folder structure, you can organize by:
* Using clear, descriptive file names
* Adding related content in batches
* Keeping a separate document tracking what you've added
* Deleting outdated content regularly
## Knowledge Base Best Practices
### Quality Over Quantity
**Don't do this:**
* Upload hundreds of barely relevant documents
* Add your entire website including footer text and navigation
* Include duplicate or very similar content
* Add content "just in case"
**Do this instead:**
* Curate high-quality, relevant sources
* Include core documentation and key resources
* Remove or don't include boilerplate/duplicate content
* Think "What do users actually need to know?"
**Why:** Too much irrelevant content can actually hurt performance. The agent might retrieve less relevant chunks if there's too much noise.
### Keep Content Fresh
* **Review quarterly:** Check if knowledge is still accurate
* **Update when things change:** New product features, policy changes, etc.
* **Remove outdated info:** Delete deprecated content
* **Refresh URLs:** Re-fetch content from living documents
### Structure Matters
**Good knowledge sources:**
* Well-organized with clear headings
* Use bullet points and lists
* Have logical flow
* Include examples and specifics
**Poor knowledge sources:**
* Wall of text with no structure
* Overly vague or general
* Lots of irrelevant tangents
* Poorly formatted (weird spacing, encoding issues)
### Match Your Use Case
**For Q\&A agents:**
* Add FAQs, help docs, policies
* Include troubleshooting guides
* Add product documentation
**For research agents:**
* Add research papers and reports
* Include industry analysis
* Add expert content and thought leadership
**For task-oriented agents:**
* Add process documentation
* Include how-to guides
* Add standard operating procedures
### Test Your Knowledge
After adding knowledge, test if the agent can retrieve it:
1. Ask direct questions from the content
2. Ask questions that require combining multiple sources
3. Try edge cases or less obvious questions
4. Check if sources are cited correctly
**If retrieval isn't working:**
* Question may not match terminology in knowledge
* Content may be too scattered or vague
* May need more (or different) context
* Try rephrasing the question
## Troubleshooting Knowledge Issues
**Symptoms:** Agent gives generic answers instead of using uploaded content
**Possible causes:**
1. Knowledge still processing (check for status indicator)
2. Question doesn't semantically match content
3. System prompt doesn't encourage knowledge use
4. Content is too vague or poorly structured
**Solutions:**
* Wait for all files to finish processing
* Ask questions more directly related to your content
* Update system prompt: "Always search your knowledge base first"
* Restructure content with clear headings and sections
* Try asking: "What do you know about \[topic from your knowledge]?"
**Symptoms:** Agent cites sources but they're not relevant to the question
**Possible causes:**
1. Knowledge base has too much content
2. Multiple sources with similar but different info
3. Content lacks clear topic markers
4. Semantic search matching wrong chunks
**Solutions:**
* Remove less relevant sources
* Add more specific/targeted knowledge
* Use clearer headings in source documents
* Be more specific in questions
* Consider splitting large documents into focused pieces
**Symptoms:** File upload never completes or shows error
**Possible causes:**
1. File too large (>25MB limit)
2. File format not supported
3. File is corrupted or password-protected
4. Network connection issue
**Solutions:**
* Check file size (compress or split if too large)
* Convert to supported format (PDF, DOCX, TXT)
* Remove password protection
* Try uploading again with stable connection
* For large documents, try URL if available online
**Symptoms:** Error when adding YouTube video
**Possible causes:**
1. Video doesn't have captions/transcripts
2. Video is private or age-restricted
3. Captions are disabled by creator
4. Invalid YouTube URL
**Solutions:**
* Check if video has captions (watch on YouTube first)
* Use public, unrestricted videos
* Ensure URL is correct YouTube format
* Try a different video if captions unavailable
**Symptoms:** Can't add Google Workspace content
**Possible causes:**
1. Sharing settings not set to "Anyone with the link"
2. Document is private
3. Requires authentication to access
4. Invalid share link
**Solutions:**
* Change sharing to "Anyone with the link can view"
* Copy the full sharing URL (should have /edit or /view)
* Make sure document isn't restricted to your organization
* Test link in incognito browser to verify public access
**Answer:** As a builder, when you test your knowledge agent, you can see knowledge retrieval:
* Look for **\[file search]** indicator in responses
* Agent may cite sources in its answer
* Some responses show which documents were referenced
For end users, citations depend on how you've prompted the agent. You can encourage citations in system instructions: "Always cite which document you used."
## Knowledge Base Limits
**Per agent:**
* No hard limit on number of sources
* Recommended: 50-100 high-quality sources for best performance
* Each file limited to 25MB
**Processing:**
* Files process individually (can upload multiple at once)
* URLs are processed on-demand
* Large knowledge bases may have slightly slower retrieval
**Storage:**
* Knowledge is stored in vector database
* Counts toward your plan's storage limits
* Deleted knowledge is removed from storage
## Advanced Tips
**Create a "master FAQ" document**
Instead of uploading 20 separate PDFs, create one well-structured FAQ document with all common questions. Use clear headings like "## Pricing Questions" and "## Feature Questions". This helps retrieval accuracy.
**Use knowledge categories**
Name your files descriptively and consider prefixes:
* "\[POLICY] Refund Policy.pdf"
* "\[GUIDE] Getting Started Guide.pdf"
* "\[FAQ] Common Questions.pdf"
This helps both you and the agent understand context.
**Test with "knowledge audit" questions**
After adding knowledge, ask: "What do you know about \[topic]?" or "What information do you have about \[subject]?" This shows you what the agent can access.
**Combine sources for depth**
For comprehensive topics, add multiple source types:
* Documentation (files)
* Tutorial video (YouTube)
* FAQ page (URL)
* Expert thread (Twitter)
This gives the agent multiple perspectives and formats.
**Keep a knowledge changelog**
Track what you've added and when. This helps you:
* Remember what's in the knowledge base
* Know when content was last updated
* Identify gaps in coverage
* Plan future additions
## Next Steps
Now that you understand the knowledge base system:
Write system prompts that encourage knowledge use
Combine knowledge with action-taking capabilities
Learn optimization strategies for knowledge bases
Solve common knowledge retrieval issues
**Remember:** Your knowledge base is living and evolving. Start with core content, test with real questions, and continuously refine based on what works. Quality, relevance, and organization matter more than quantity.