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Creating Your First Knowledge Base

A knowledge base gives your AI agent access to your business information. You can upload documents, paste text, scrape one web page, or crawl a public website to build a repository of information that your agent retrieves during conversations. This guide covers creating a knowledge base, uploading content, monitoring processing status, and assigning knowledge to agents.
Plan your knowledge structure before you start. A well-organized knowledge base is easier to maintain and produces better agent responses.

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Step 1: Create a Knowledge Base

1

Open Knowledge Bases

Log into your itellicoAI dashboard and click Knowledge Bases in the left navigation menu.
2

Create a new knowledge base

Click the + Create Knowledge Base button.

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Fill in Basic Information

1

Enter Knowledge Base Name

Choose a clear, descriptive name that reflects the content category.Naming rules:
  • Letters, numbers, spaces, hyphens, and underscores only
  • No special characters (@, #, $, etc.)
  • Maximum 100 characters
Good examples:
  • “Customer Support FAQ”
  • “Product Documentation”
  • “Company Policies”
Avoid:
  • “KB_001” (not descriptive)
  • “Misc Docs” (too vague)
2

Add Description (Optional)

Provide context about what this knowledge base contains and when to use it.Example descriptions:
  • “Customer-facing support documentation including FAQs, policies, and troubleshooting guides”
  • “Internal product specifications, feature documentation, and technical details”
3

Click Create

Your knowledge base is created and ready for content.

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The Knowledge Base Editor

After creating a knowledge base, you’re taken to the editor — a two-column layout:
  • Left panel — Your folders (collections). Search, create, and select folders.
  • Right panel — Items in the selected folder. Search, add, edit, and manage items.

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Items Table

When you select a folder, the right panel shows all items in a table:

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Step 2: Upload Documents and Content

Once your knowledge base has at least one folder, add content using any of the four supported methods.

Upload Files (PDF, text, and more)

Best for: User manuals, product specs, legal documents, training materialsSupported formats: PDF, Word (.doc, .docx), Excel (.xlsx), Text (.txt, .log), Markdown (.md), CSV/TSV, JSON, YAML (.yaml, .yml), XMLMaximum file size: 10MB per file
1

Click 'Add Item'

In your knowledge base, click Add Item.
2

Select 'Upload File'

Choose Upload File for document uploads.
3

Enter a descriptive title

Give your file a clear title (e.g., “Return Policy for Digital Products”).
4

Upload your file

Drag and drop or click to browse. The system accepts PDF, Word (.doc, .docx), Excel (.xlsx), Text (.txt, .log), Markdown (.md), CSV/TSV, JSON, YAML (.yaml, .yml), and XML files up to 10MB.
5

Click 'Create'

The system uploads and begins processing. The status light turns green when it is ready to use.
Best for: FAQs, policies, procedures, quick reference information
1

Click 'Add Item'

In your knowledge base, click Add Item.
2

Select 'Text Content'

Choose Text Content to enter content directly.
3

Enter a descriptive title

Use a clear title like “Password Reset Instructions” or “Pricing Tiers Explained”.
4

Write or paste your content

Enter the information you want your agent to know. Be clear, specific, and comprehensive.
5

Click 'Create'

The system saves and processes text items immediately.
Best for: Documentation pages, blog posts, help articles, external resources
1

Click 'Add Item'

In your knowledge base, click Add Item.
2

Select 'Web Page'

Choose Web Page to scrape one page.
3

Enter a descriptive title

Give the content a clear title.
4

Enter the source URL

Paste the complete URL including https://
5

Click 'Create'

The system fetches and processes the web page content.
URL scraping works best with simple, text-based web pages. Pages requiring authentication or heavy JavaScript may not scrape successfully.
Best for: Public help centers, docs sites, pricing pages, and other multi-page sources
1

Click 'Add Item'

In your knowledge base, click Add Item.
2

Select 'Website Crawl'

Choose Website Crawl to discover pages from one site.
3

Enter the website URL

Paste the website URL, then use Discover URLs.
4

Choose pages and settings

Select the pages to import. Open Advanced options if you need to change discovery scope or refresh behavior.
5

Import selected pages

Click Import Selected. The crawl root appears as a Website item, and imported pages are processed as child pages.
Advanced options
Discover new pages on refresh does not automatically add new pages to your agent knowledge. It stages newly found pages in View pages so you can review and include them.

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Step 3: Managing Knowledge Base Items

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Viewing Items

Open your knowledge base to see all items listed with their title, type (Text, File, URL, Website), processing status, and last updated time.

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Editing Items

Click on any non-website item to view or edit its content. Website crawl roots open the crawl pages view instead.

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Deleting Items

Click the delete icon on any item to remove it. This removes the item from both the knowledge base and the vector index.

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Understanding Status Indicators

Orange means the item is still processing. Green means it is ready to use.

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Troubleshooting Errors

Common causes:
  • File is corrupted or password-protected
  • URL or website page requires authentication or uses complex JavaScript
  • File exceeds 10MB limit
Solutions:
  • Try uploading the content as TEXT instead
  • Remove password protection from the file
  • Split large files into smaller documents
Solutions:
  • Click the Reindex button to retry
  • If reindexing fails, delete and re-create the item
  • Ensure the content is not too short (needs at least a few sentences)
If issues persist, contact support at support@itellico.ai with the knowledge item title, file type or URL, and any error messages shown.

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Step 4: Assign Knowledge Base to Agents

Once your knowledge base has content showing green (ready to use), link it to your agents.
1

Open agent editor

Navigate to the agent you want to configure.
2

Go to Knowledge tab

Open Knowledge tab in the agent editor.
3

Click Connect Knowledge

Use Connect Knowledge to open the knowledge browser.
4

Choose access method

Connect an entire knowledge base, a folder, or selected items. Expert Mode lets you choose Context (full content injected into prompt) or RAG (semantic search retrieval); Simple mode uses RAG by default. See context vs RAG to decide which is right for you.

Context vs RAG

Learn when to use full context injection versus RAG-based retrieval for your knowledge bases.

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Content Quality Guidelines

Instead of: “Customers can return items within our standard window.”Write: “Customers can return items within 30 days of purchase. Items must be unused and in original packaging with all tags attached.”
Avoid jargon unless it is industry-standard and your audience knows it. Write as if explaining to a knowledgeable colleague.
Each item should cover one topic thoroughly. Split large topics into multiple items rather than creating one massive document.
Examples make abstract concepts concrete and help the agent give better answers.

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Next Steps

Assign to Agents

Connect your knowledge base to agents

Context vs RAG

Choose how agents access knowledge

Architecture

Learn how to structure knowledge bases effectively