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Knowledge management strategies

Use collections to separate sources and agent access, then use labels and state settings to make the right documents easy to find. This walkthrough builds a returns support collection that both a voice agent and an email agent can use.

Start with a collection you can maintain​

Choose the source you actually update. If your team writes policies in Studio, create a Manual collection called Store policies. If policies already live in a folder, create an Uploaded files collection and upload that folder. For a maintained help center, import its web pages or Zendesk articles instead.

Keep one decision or procedure per document: Return eligibility, Refund timing and Damaged deliveries are easier to select than one document covering every support topic. Give each a summary that distinguishes it from the others. For example, the refund document's summary could be:

When a refund is issued after an online return, how long the bank can take,
and what to do if the refund has not arrived. Does not cover return eligibility.

New documents receive an automatic summary when you leave it empty. Review that text, especially where several documents cover similar subjects. After a policy change, use Generate or edit the summary yourself so it still describes the current body.

Assign only the intended material​

On the support agent's Knowledge tab, assign Store policies with All documents if every document belongs in its scope. New policies added there become available automatically.

If an agent only handles returns, assign the same collection with Only and select the Returns label. Add individual documents for exceptions, such as a general contact policy. The label applies only within Store policies; another collection with a Returns label remains outside the scope.

Use Excluded documents for a specific document the agent must never receive, even through a matching label. An exclusion is agent-wide. For separate teams with different access, separate collection assignments are clearer than using a state search setting as a security boundary.

List known documents and search for the rest​

In the returns state, select Refund timing under Listed up front when it is needed frequently. Its title and summary appear when the state starts, so the agent can open it without first searching. Keep the list focused because each listed summary adds to the prompt.

Use Everything the agent can use when follow-up questions may cover other policies. Use Only selected when this state's search should stay on returns. Use No search for a scripted step that only needs its listed documents. Listed documents can still be opened, and documents returned earlier in the conversation may remain readable.

Email agents always apply these state search settings. For voice and chat, enable strict state separation if you need them; otherwise all states share search.

Test the customer's words​

Open Test a question and try both the document's words and the customer's words. Compare refund timing with when do I get my money back. Search is lexical, so those queries can return different results. Add natural terminology to titles, summaries or content where it belongs, and tell the agent to try alternative keywords when a first search is unhelpful.

On the Knowledge tab, choose Configuration, enter a Question, then click Run to test the agent-wide scope. The channel is selected automatically. Test state settings from each state's own knowledge panel. Use the excluded/out-of-scope comparison to distinguish an access problem from a matching problem. A document being ranked first only proves retrieval; run a conversation or test email to check whether the agent reads it and gives a supported answer.

Update without changing document identity​

For uploads, keep relative file paths stable and enable Overwrite changed files when applying a new version. Moving a file to another folder changes its upload identity. ZIP-only Delete missing files can remove the old document, leaving individually selected IDs unavailable.

Before bulk relabeling, moving or deleting documents, read the agent impact preview. A label change can alter an Only selection, and a move can remove access from published agents immediately. After updating content, use Generate missing to fill gaps or explicitly choose replacement if existing summaries need rewriting.

Next steps​