Agents

Organize knowledge in folders

Group sources into folders, reuse a folder across agents, and understand what removing and deleting each do.

A folder groups sources inside the workspace library. Its real value is on the agent side: selecting a folder for an agent is a live reference, so anything you drop into that folder later reaches the agent with no further change.

What you need

  • A workspace you are a member of.
  • At least one source in the library, if you want to move things in as you go.

Steps

Step 1: Create the folder

In Knowledge base, click Add and choose New folder. On an agent's Knowledge tab, use the New Folder button. Give it a Folder name.

Step 2: Put sources in it

In the create dialog, Add files to folder lists every loose source in the workspace under Files with no folders. Tick the ones that belong in the folder and they are moved when the folder is created.

Afterwards, use Move in a source's row menu, pick the target and confirm with Move here.

Step 3: Select the folder for an agent

Open the agent, go to Knowledge, then Add New and Choose From Library. Pick the folder and confirm. The folder appears under Folders, labelled Live folder: always reflects its current contents.

Step 4: Keep adding to it

New uploads can go straight into the folder. In the add dialog, set Location to that folder instead of Library root. Every agent that selected the folder picks the new source up once it is Ready.

Get it right

Name a folder after the job an agent does, not after where the documents came from. An agent uses every ready source in a folder it selected, so a folder is only as good as the worst document in it.

Recommended

  • Returns and refunds, holding the policy, the exceptions list and the FAQ, selected by the returns agent.
  • Clinic opening hours, holding one page, selected by the receptionist agent.

Less effective

  • From marketing, holding a price list, three slide decks and a brand guide, selected by every agent.
  • Everything, kept as the one folder so that nothing is ever missing.

Worked example

You create Returns and refunds, tick the returns policy and the refunds FAQ in Add files to folder, and create it. On the returns agent you select the folder; the row reads All ready.

A week later you upload the new exceptions list straight into that folder. Nobody touches the agent. Once the file reads Ready, the next conversation uses it, and the Used by column in the library shows the folder is referenced by one agent.

What happens next

The agent keeps a reference to the folder, not a copy of its contents. Every conversation uses whatever is in the folder at that moment, and only the sources showing Ready.

Moving a source into a folder has one side effect worth knowing. Individual picks only apply to loose sources, so when a source moves into a folder it is dropped from every agent that had selected it on its own. Select the folder for those agents instead.

The library shows two views, Sources and Folders, and the Used by column tells you how many agents reference a row.

Remove versus delete

These are two different actions and the portal keeps them apart.

Action Where What it does
Remove folder or Remove source The agent's Knowledge tab Takes it out of this agent's selection. The item stays in the library and other agents keep it.
Delete from library The agent's Knowledge tab Deletes it from the workspace and removes it from every agent.
Delete The library row menu The same permanent delete.

The confirm dialog for a removal says so directly. Removing a folder tells you the folder and its sources will remain in the workspace library, and removing a source tells you the source will remain there.

The delete dialog first checks where the item is used and tells you, either that it is not used by any agent and is safe to delete, or the number of agents using it with up to five of their names. You then confirm with Delete from library.

Limits

Limit Value Applies to
Folder name Required, must not be empty Create and rename
Folder name length No maximum Create and rename
Nesting One level. A folder cannot contain another folder. Every folder
Folders per agent No maximum Agent selection

Troubleshooting

A source I moved into a folder disappeared from an agent

That is the move dropping its individual selection. Select the folder for that agent, and the source comes back as part of the folder.

The folder is selected but the agent still misses a file in it

Only sources at Ready are used. Open the folder and check the status of that file. A folder row on the agent's Knowledge tab shows All ready when every source inside it is usable.

Delete says it could not check where this is used

The usage check did not come back, so the dialog cannot name the agents. The delete still works. Close the dialog and open it again if you need to know who loses the item before you confirm.

Some sources survived a folder delete

The delete reports which sources it could not remove. Refresh the library and delete the leftovers individually.

FAQ

Can I put a folder inside a folder?

No. A source is either loose at the root or in exactly one folder.

Can one source be in two folders?

No. Moving it into a folder takes it out of wherever it was. If two agents need it and nothing else, keep it loose and select it individually for both.

Does renaming a folder break anything?

No. Agents reference the folder itself, not its name.

What is the difference between a folder and the agent's selection?

The folder is a grouping in the workspace. The selection is the list of folders and loose sources one agent is allowed to use. Changing the selection never changes the library.

Who can create and delete folders?

Any member of the workspace.