# Knowledge bases

A knowledge base is a set of records the AI reads before it answers. Your product
catalog, your locations, your FAQs, your policy documents, your brand guidelines.

Open **Knowledge** in the sidebar to work with them, and **Administration → Knowledge
Bases** to configure them.

Knowledge bases have more effect on output quality than anything else in the product. An
agent is only as good as what it can read, and most reports of "the AI got it wrong"
turn out to be "the AI was never told".

## What your workspace starts with

Your workspace starts with a few general ones, such as **About** and **FAQs**, and you can
add more for whatever else your organization keeps. Each knowledge base belongs to a
category, which decides where it appears in the sidebar:

| Category | Appears under |
|---|---|
| `general` | Knowledge |
| `studio` | Studio |
| `brand-identity` | [Brand Identity](/guide/studio/brand-identity) |
| `configuration` | Administration |

## Documents and structured records

**Documents** are files you upload: a policy PDF, a manual, a report. The AI reads
their contents and can cite them.

**Structured records** are rows with fields: products with names, prices and
descriptions, or locations with addresses and hours. These come from a **knowledge
template** that defines the fields. See [knowledge
templates](/guide/ai/knowledge-templates).

Use structured records whenever the information has a consistent shape. "What are your
opening hours in Denver" is answered exactly from a location record, and only
approximately from a PDF that mentions Denver.

## Add content

There are three ways to fill a knowledge base:

**By hand.** The **+** button adds an item. Suitable for a dozen records.

**By import.** Upload a CSV or XLSX file. The importer detects your columns, proposes a
mapping onto the template's fields, and shows it for review before anything is written.
If the workbook has several sheets, it asks which one to use. This is the right route
for anything with more than a handful of rows.

**By connection.** Some knowledge stays in a system you already run. See [external
data](/guide/automation/workflows) for connecting to it rather than copying from it.

## Attach knowledge to an agent

Knowledge does nothing until an agent is allowed to read it. On the agent, **Knowledge
Bases** selects which ones it may use. See [agents](/guide/ai/agents).

Attach what the agent needs and leave the rest off. An agent with everything attached
answers more slowly and is likelier to bring the wrong document into an answer.

<Callout type="caution">
	If the agent is **public-facing**, everything you attach can be extracted by anyone
	who talks to it through a website widget or a phone line. Attach only content you
	would publish.
</Callout>

## Keep answers correct

When an answer is wrong, fix the knowledge rather than rephrasing the question. The
correction applies to every agent, widget, deck and page that reads it, and to everyone
else's questions rather than only yours.

Three habits help:

- **One fact, one place.** If the refund window appears in three knowledge bases, it
  will be three different numbers within a year.
- **Delete rather than caveat.** Out-of-date records that say they are out of date still
  get cited.
- **Watch the widget downvotes.** [Chat widgets](/guide/automation/chat-widgets) collect
  the questions where visitors rated the answer unhelpful. Treat that list as a to-do
  list for your knowledge bases.

## History

Every change is recorded. **Administration → History** shows who changed a record and
what it said before, which matters when an answer changes and nobody knows why.