Knowledge

Knowledge is a dedicated workspace — the “Knowledge” item in the sidebar — where you ground an agent in real information. Pick which agent you're editing from the agent dropdown in the header, then add Documents, crawl the Web, write Snippets, or capture Q&A pairs. Everything you add is embedded and retrieved automatically on every request to that agent. (Tools live in the separate MCP workspace.)

How the workspace is organised

Open Knowledge from the sidebar. The page always edits the globally-selected agent — the one shown in the agent dropdown at the top-left of the header. Switch agents there and the whole workspace re-keys to that agent. Four tabs split the work by source type:

Knowledge · app.sentientone.ai/knowledge
KnowledgeAgent: Website Chatbot ▾
DocumentsWeb CrawlSnippetsQ & A
FilePagesStatusUploaded
acme-product-guide.pdf42Ready2 days ago
refund-policy.pdf8Ready5 days ago

The agent dropdown drives everything

The header dropdown is the single source of truth for “which agent am I working on”. It steers Knowledge, Playground, and Chat together, so you never re-pick an agent per page. Knowledge isn't edited from the agent page — pick the agent in the header dropdown, then open Knowledge (or the MCP workspace) from the left menu. Knowledge is the one place to manage an agent's knowledge.

When to use which

  • DocumentsLong-form files — manuals, handbooks, contracts, product spec sheets. We chunk, embed, and retrieve the matching passages on every request. Best for content you already have as a file.
  • Web CrawlA public URL (often your help centre, docs site, or product pages). We crawl it, chunk every page, and retrieve passages just like Documents. Best when the content already lives on the web and you want it to stay in sync.
  • SnippetsShort, opinionated facts you want the agent to treat as authoritative — pricing rules, brand voice, business hours. Max 300 characters, stored whole (not chunked). Best for anything you can write in a single sentence.
  • Q & AA paired question and answer. Both sides are embedded, so retrieval matches whether the user phrases it like your question or like your answer. Best for support-style “how do I…?” content.

Documents

Upload a PDF. We extract pages, embed chunks, and the agent retrieves the top-matching passages alongside the user message on every request — automatic RAG, no setup.

Knowledge → Documents
Documents · Website ChatbotSearch documents+ Add Document
FilePagesStatusUploaded
acme-product-guide.pdf42Ready2 days ago
refund-policy.pdf8Ready5 days ago
release-notes-v3.pdf3Ready1 week ago
draft-launch.pdf16Processing 64%Just uploaded
broken-scan.pdfError · OCR failed10 minutes ago
5 documents · 69 pages indexed12 credits used this month
  • + Add DocumentOpens a file picker. PDFs only. The file is uploaded, queued for OCR/extraction, then chunked + embedded. Status flips from Processing to Ready once indexing finishes.
  • Status pillProcessing N%, Ready, or Error. Errors show the reason on hover — common causes are scanned PDFs with no OCR layer and password-protected files.
  • SearchFilters the table by filename. Doesn't search inside document content (the agent does that at request time).
  • DeleteRemoves the document and all its embeddings. The next request to the agent no longer has access to it.
  • Credit indicatorDocument uploads cost credits proportional to total page count. The chip at the bottom shows your running usage. Low-credit accounts see an inline warning above the table.

How to upload a PDF

  1. 1

    Pick the agent in the header

    Use the agent dropdown so Knowledge is editing the right agent.
  2. 2

    Open Knowledge → Documents

    Click Knowledge in the sidebar, then the Documents tab.
  3. 3

    Click + Add Document

    The file picker opens. Pick a PDF — single file at a time.
  4. 4

    Wait for processing

    The row appears immediately with status Processing. Page count fills in as we extract. Typical 50-page PDF takes 10–30 seconds.
  5. 5

    Test in Playground

    Open Playground and ask a question whose answer is in the document. The reply should cite the matching passage.

Gotchas

  • Scanned PDFs without an OCR layer will fail with Error · OCR failed. Run the PDF through your preferred OCR tool first, then re-upload.
  • Very large PDFs (>500 pages) hit the per-document chunk limit and may take minutes to index. Split them into logical sections instead.
  • Updating a document means delete + re-upload. There's no in-place re-index yet — old embeddings stay associated with the old file until you remove it.
  • Password-protected files are rejected at upload time. Decrypt before uploading.

Web Crawl

Point the crawler at a public URL — typically your help centre, docs site, or product catalogue — and we'll fetch the pages, extract clean text, embed each one, and serve them at retrieval time. Re-crawl on demand to pick up changes.

Knowledge → Web Crawl
Web Crawl · Website ChatbotSearch sources+ Add Web Source
New web source

Domain

example.com

Include paths

/docs, /help

Exclude paths

/admin, /internal

Max depth

3

Max pages

100

Concurrency

4
Start crawlEstimate: ~32 pages, ~14 credits
SourcePagesStatusLast crawl
docs.acme.com84 / 84ReadyYesterday
help.acme.com12 / 32Crawling 38%Just now
shop.acme.com210 / 300Partial · 12 errors2 days ago
legacy.acme.com0Error · 403 Forbidden1 hour ago
4 sources · 306 pages indexedRe-crawl all
  • + Add Web SourceOpens the form. Domain is required; everything else has sensible defaults.
  • DomainThe root the crawler starts at (example.com). Use the bare domain — protocol and www are normalised automatically.
  • Include pathsComma-separated path prefixes the crawler is allowed to follow. Leave blank to crawl everything under the domain.
  • Exclude pathsComma-separated path prefixes to skip. Useful for keeping /admin, /account, or noisy archive sections out of the index.
  • Max depth / Max pages / ConcurrencyBounds the crawl. Defaults are 3 / 100 / 4 — enough for most product help centres without burning credits.
  • Page statusPer-page sub-status visible when you expand a source: ready, processing, error, skipped (robots.txt or non-HTML).
  • Re-crawlPer-source action. Re-fetches every page, updates embeddings, and replaces stale content.
  • DeleteRemoves the source and all its indexed pages. Reversible only by re-adding and re-crawling.

Gotchas

  • Authentication walls block the crawler. Pages behind login render as the sign-in page. Either expose a public alternative or skip them with an exclude path.
  • JavaScript-rendered SPAs with no server-rendered HTML extract very little. Use SSR / SSG, or pre-render the pages you want indexed.
  • robots.txt is respected. Pages disallowed by your robots file are marked skipped. If you own the site and want them crawled, update robots.
  • Re-crawls cost credits. The page-count estimate shows up front. Re-crawl on a cadence that matches how often your source actually changes (weekly is usually plenty).

Snippets

Short facts the agent should treat as authoritative. Unlike Documents, snippets aren't chunked — each one is stored as a complete unit and retrieved when its embedding is most similar to the user's question.

Knowledge → Snippets
Snippets · Website ChatbotSearch snippets+ Add Snippet
New snippet

Snippet

Add a short knowledge snippet (max 300 chars)…
0 / 300Save
SnippetHits · 7dAdded
Our standard refund window is 30 days from the delivery date.1842 weeks ago
Free shipping kicks in at $75 — applies in both US and Canada.921 week ago
Business hours: Mon–Fri 9 AM to 6 PM Pacific. Closed weekends and US holidays.613 days ago
Loyalty points expire 12 months after the date they were earned.12Yesterday
4 snippets · 349 hits this week
  • + Add SnippetOpens the inline composer. Type up to 300 characters and save. Saved snippets start retrieving on the next request.
  • Character counterLive counter under the textarea — turns red near the cap and blocks save at 300. Keeping snippets short forces precise wording, which retrieves better.
  • SearchFilters the table by snippet text. Doesn't affect retrieval — purely a UI filter.
  • DeleteRemoves the snippet. Reversible only by re-typing.

Gotchas

  • Snippets aren't chunked. If your fact is longer than 300 characters, split it into two snippets, or move it to a Q & A pair (which allows a longer answer).
  • Generic wording retrieves poorly. Embeddings reward concrete, distinctive phrases. "Free shipping over $75" retrieves better than "Shipping policies are generous".
  • Snippets don't replace the system prompt. Use the prompt for tone, persona, and behaviour; use snippets for facts.

Q & A

A Q&A entry is a question paired with the answer you want the agent to give. Both the question and the answer are embedded separately, so retrieval fires whether the user phrases their message like your question ("how do I reset my password?") or like your answer ("password reset link"). It's the best fit for support-style content where the same fact gets asked in many different ways.

Knowledge → Q & A
Q & A · Website ChatbotSearch+ Add Q&A
New Q&A

Question

e.g. What's your refund policy?

Answer

The answer the agent should give…
Question ≤ 200 · Answer ≤ 500Add Q&A
QuestionAnswerStatusCreated
What's your refund policy?Refunds are issued within 30 days of delivery.Ready2 days ago
How do I reset my password?Use the “Forgot password” link on the sign-in page.ReadyYesterday
Do you ship internationally?Yes — to 30+ countries, calculated at checkout.ProcessingJust now
  • + Add Q&AOpens the inline composer with a Question field (max 200 chars) and an Answer field (max 500 chars). Save embeds both halves into the agent's knowledge base.
  • Status pillProcessing while the pair is being embedded, then Ready. An Error means embedding failed — delete and re-add.
  • SearchFilters the table by question or answer text. Purely a UI filter — retrieval always searches the full set.
  • DeleteRemoves the pair and both embeddings. The agent stops retrieving it on the next request.

How to add a Q&A pair

  1. 1

    Open Knowledge → Q & A

    With the right agent selected in the header.
  2. 2

    Click + Add Q&A

    Write the question the way users actually ask it, and the exact answer you want the agent to give.
  3. 3

    Save and wait for Ready

    The row appears as Processing while we embed both halves, then flips to Ready — usually a second or two.
  4. 4

    Test in Playground

    Ask the question a few different ways. Because both sides are embedded, paraphrases should still retrieve the pair.

Snippet vs Q&A — which one?

Reach for a Snippet when the fact is a single short statement you want recited (≤300 chars, no question). Reach for a Q & A pair when users ask the same thing many ways and the answer is longer — the embedded question gives retrieval a second handle to match on, and the answer can run up to 500 characters.

Tools (MCP)

Tools live in their own MCP sidebar item, separate from Knowledge. Connect external tools and live data via the Model Context Protocol — the agent discovers the available tools automatically and you choose which to expose. See MCP Servers for transports (stdio / SSE / HTTP), auth, and tool selection.

How retrieval works under the hood

On every API call, the agent embeds the user's message and looks up the top-K most similar chunks across Documents, Web Crawl pages, Snippets, and Q&A pairs combined. Matching passages are injected into the prompt before the LLM runs. You don't configure any of this — it's automatic and tuned per agent.

Open Tracing on any request to see exactly which chunks were retrieved, their similarity scores, and which source they came from. That's the fastest way to debug "why didn't the agent know X?".

Mix the surfaces

Most production agents combine several surfaces: Documents and Web Crawl for long-form reference, Snippets for crisp facts and tone enforcement, Q&A for support questions, and MCP for live tools. The retrieval layer ranks across all of them — you don't need to pick just one.