Uploading documents to a knowledge base
Upload documents adds files to a knowledge base by hand — the one-off alternative to a connector on the Sources tab. Nothing you upload can be cited until it has indexed.
- The Knowledge Base module visible in your left-hand navigation.
- This permission: Knowledge Base · Document — CREATE.
- A knowledge base that already exists, and the files — PDF, Word, text, Markdown, HTML or CSV.
If Knowledge Base isn't in your navigation, your role doesn't have visibility for it — ask a workspace administrator, or see Permissions and module visibility.
Steps
Select Knowledge Base in the left navigation, then Details on its card. It opens on the Documents tab.
Select Upload documents. The drawer is headed Add Documents.
Use Browse files, or drag them in. Accepted:
.pdf,.docx,.txt,.md,.html,.csv— up to 50 MB and a 200-character filename each. A rejected file shows its reason on its row and is left out.Under Access metadata, turn on Public, or tag an Access role, Department or People group — Unrestricted / all internal users is what widens a dimension. All three blank means nobody can retrieve the file. Tags are stamped on every file.
Select the upload button — it carries the count, as in Upload 3 file(s). Files go up one at a time, so keep the drawer open. Each row shows a transfer percentage, then its ingest job: queued, processing, indexed.
What success looks like
- A "queued for ingest" message appears for each file.
- Every row reaches indexed and the drawer closes about a second later; it stays open if a row failed, so the error survives.
- It appears on Documents with a Manual upload badge and, when the pipeline finishes, an Indexed status.
Replacing a document
To update a document, use Upload new version on its row rather than uploading the file again. It takes one file, keeps the existing access (Inherits access:), and offers a What changed? note for the version history. The previous version keeps answering questions until the new one indexes.
If something goes wrong
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Type not allowed. Accepted: | The extension is not one of the six. | Convert the file, then add it again. Only the extension is checked, so a wrongly-named file fails later in ingest instead. |
| A row reads failed, or Blob upload failed. | The transfer or the commit was refused. | Read the row’s message, select Close, then upload that file again. |
| The document lands as Failed on Documents. | Ingest could not read it — commonly a scanned or image-only file. | Hover the red Error tag, then see Checking ingest status. |
| The Documents tab is replaced by Access Forbidden. | The tab reads the roles, departments and groups directory and your role cannot. | Ask a workspace administrator for those read permissions. |
Next
- Checking ingest status — what happens after upload.
- Sources — connectors that pull documents in for you.
- Access — who can retrieve what you uploaded.