> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.itellico.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Create Knowledge Bases

> Step-by-step guide to creating, populating, and managing knowledge bases for your AI agents

export const Screenshot = ({lightSrc, darkSrc, alt, caption, maxWidth = "880px"}) => {
  return <div style={{
    margin: "1rem auto",
    maxWidth,
    width: "100%"
  }}>
      <Frame>
        <img className="block dark:hidden" src={lightSrc} alt={alt} />
        <img className="hidden dark:block" src={darkSrc} alt={alt} />
      </Frame>
      {caption ? <p style={{
    marginTop: "0.5rem",
    fontSize: "0.875rem",
    color: "inherit",
    opacity: 0.8
  }}>
          {caption}
        </p> : null}
    </div>;
};

## Creating Your First Knowledge Base

A [knowledge base](/build/knowledge/architecture) 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.

<Tip>
  Plan your knowledge structure before you start. A well-organized knowledge base is easier to maintain and produces better agent responses.
</Tip>

***

## Step 1: Create a Knowledge Base

### Navigate to Knowledge Bases

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open Knowledge Bases">
    Log into your [itellicoAI dashboard](https://app.itellico.ai) and click **Knowledge Bases** in the left navigation menu.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create a new knowledge base">
    Click the **+ Create Knowledge Base** button.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Screenshot lightSrc="/images/knowledge__knowledge-list-light.png" darkSrc="/images/knowledge__knowledge-list-dark.png" alt="Knowledge Bases list page showing existing knowledge bases with name, status, and document count" caption="Open the knowledge base list first. This is where you create new bases and return later to manage them." />

### Fill in Basic Information

<Screenshot lightSrc="/images/knowledgebase__create-kb-form-light.png" darkSrc="/images/knowledgebase__create-kb-form-dark.png" alt="Create Knowledge Base form with name and description fields" caption="The create form only asks for a name and an optional description, so it should be quick to complete." maxWidth="720px" />

<Steps>
  <Step title="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)
  </Step>

  <Step title="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"
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Create">
    Your knowledge base is created and ready for content.
  </Step>
</Steps>

***

## 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.

<Screenshot lightSrc="/images/knowledgebase__kb-editor-light.png" darkSrc="/images/knowledgebase__kb-editor-dark.png" alt="Knowledge base editor showing folders panel on the left and items table on the right" caption="Think of the editor as folders on the left and knowledge items on the right." />

### Items Table

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

| Column      | Description                                                      |
| ----------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Title**   | Item title with type-specific icon                               |
| **Type**    | Text, File, URL, or Website badge                                |
| **Status**  | Processing dot with Ready, Processing, Pending, or Error tooltip |
| **Actions** | Copy reference, Edit, Reindex, Delete                            |

***

## Step 2: Upload Documents and Content

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

<Screenshot lightSrc="/images/knowledgebase__document-upload-light.png" darkSrc="/images/knowledgebase__document-upload-dark.png" alt="Document upload interface showing Text Content, Upload File, Web Page, and Website Crawl options" caption="Text, file upload, single-page URL, and website crawl ingestion all start from the same add-item flow." />

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Upload Files (PDF, text, and more)" icon="file-arrow-up" defaultOpen>
    **Best for:** User manuals, product specs, legal documents, training materials

    **Supported formats:** PDF, Word (.doc, .docx), Excel (.xlsx), Text (.txt, .log), Markdown (.md), CSV/TSV, JSON, YAML (.yaml, .yml), XML

    **Maximum file size:** 10MB per file

    <Steps>
      <Step title="Click 'Add Item'">
        In your knowledge base, click **Add Item**.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Select 'Upload File'">
        Choose **Upload File** for document uploads.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Enter a descriptive title">
        Give your file a clear title (e.g., "Return Policy for Digital Products").
      </Step>

      <Step title="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.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Click 'Create'">
        The system uploads and begins processing. The status light turns green when it is ready to use.
      </Step>
    </Steps>
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Text Entry - Write content directly" icon="text">
    **Best for:** FAQs, policies, procedures, quick reference information

    <Steps>
      <Step title="Click 'Add Item'">
        In your knowledge base, click **Add Item**.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Select 'Text Content'">
        Choose **Text Content** to enter content directly.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Enter a descriptive title">
        Use a clear title like "Password Reset Instructions" or "Pricing Tiers Explained".
      </Step>

      <Step title="Write or paste your content">
        Enter the information you want your agent to know. Be clear, specific, and comprehensive.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Click 'Create'">
        The system saves and processes text items immediately.
      </Step>
    </Steps>
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="URL Scraping - Pull content from web pages" icon="link">
    **Best for:** Documentation pages, blog posts, help articles, external resources

    <Steps>
      <Step title="Click 'Add Item'">
        In your knowledge base, click **Add Item**.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Select 'Web Page'">
        Choose **Web Page** to scrape one page.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Enter a descriptive title">
        Give the content a clear title.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Enter the source URL">
        Paste the complete URL including `https://`
      </Step>

      <Step title="Click 'Create'">
        The system fetches and processes the web page content.
      </Step>
    </Steps>

    <Note>
      URL scraping works best with simple, text-based web pages. Pages requiring authentication or heavy JavaScript may not scrape successfully.
    </Note>
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Website Crawl - Import multiple pages from a site" icon="globe">
    **Best for:** Public help centers, docs sites, pricing pages, and other multi-page sources

    <Steps>
      <Step title="Click 'Add Item'">
        In your knowledge base, click **Add Item**.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Select 'Website Crawl'">
        Choose **Website Crawl** to discover pages from one site.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Enter the website URL">
        Paste the website URL, then use **Discover URLs**.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Choose pages and settings">
        Select the pages to import. Open **Advanced options** if you need to change discovery scope or refresh behavior.
      </Step>

      <Step title="Import selected pages">
        Click **Import Selected**. The crawl root appears as a Website item, and imported pages are processed as child pages.
      </Step>
    </Steps>

    **Advanced options**

    | UI setting                        | Default                                   | Use when                                                                                              |
    | --------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
    | **Max pages to discover**         | `100`                                     | You want to cap discovery at `25`, `50`, `100`, `250`, or `500` pages before choosing what to import. |
    | **Auto-refresh interval**         | `Never`                                   | You want imported pages to resync every 24 hours, 7 days, or 30 days.                                 |
    | **Include subdomains**            | Off                                       | The pages you need live under subdomains of the starting host.                                        |
    | **Discover new pages on refresh** | Off, hidden while auto-refresh is `Never` | Refresh is enabled and you want new pages staged for review later.                                    |

    <Note>
      **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.
    </Note>
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

## Step 3: Managing Knowledge Base Items

### 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.

### Editing Items

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

### 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.

***

## Understanding Status Indicators

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

### Troubleshooting Errors

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Content processing error" icon="xmark">
    **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
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Vector indexing error" icon="xmark">
    **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)
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<Warning>
  If issues persist, contact support at **[support@itellico.ai](mailto:support@itellico.ai)** with the knowledge item title, file type or URL, and any error messages shown.
</Warning>

***

## Step 4: Assign Knowledge Base to Agents

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

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open agent editor">
    Navigate to the agent you want to configure.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Go to Knowledge tab">
    Open **Knowledge** tab in the agent editor.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Click Connect Knowledge">
    Use **Connect Knowledge** to open the knowledge browser.
  </Step>

  <Step title="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](/build/knowledge/context-vs-rag) to decide which is right for you.
  </Step>
</Steps>

<Card title="Context vs RAG" icon="brain" href="/build/knowledge/context-vs-rag">
  Learn when to use full context injection versus RAG-based retrieval for your knowledge bases.
</Card>

***

## Content Quality Guidelines

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Be specific and detailed" icon="magnifying-glass">
    **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."
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Use plain language" icon="comment">
    Avoid jargon unless it is industry-standard and your audience knows it. Write as if explaining to a knowledgeable colleague.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Keep content focused" icon="bullseye">
    Each item should cover one topic thoroughly. Split large topics into multiple items rather than creating one massive document.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Include examples" icon="list-check">
    Examples make abstract concepts concrete and help the agent give better answers.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Assign to Agents" icon="link" href="/build/knowledge/assign-knowledge">
    Connect your knowledge base to agents
  </Card>

  <Card title="Context vs RAG" icon="brain" href="/build/knowledge/context-vs-rag">
    Choose how agents access knowledge
  </Card>

  <Card title="Architecture" icon="sitemap" href="/build/knowledge/architecture">
    Learn how to structure knowledge bases effectively
  </Card>
</CardGroup>