Set up a reliable Knowledge base
Choose the right Knowledge source, organize it, control visibility and publication, and maintain one trusted answer.
A reliable Knowledge base gives the Agent reviewed information that does not come from the product catalog. Humind supports articles, snippets, webpages, documents, and imports from Gorgias or Zendesk Help Centers, each with a different maintenance model.
This guide explains how to design the structure, choose a source type, control public and published states, and establish a review loop. It also explains how public folders and articles can appear in the Helpdesk without duplicating their content.
How this fits into Humind
Knowledge is the maintained source of non-catalog information used by Humind. Articles, snippets, imported webpages, documents, and external help-center sources have different ownership and visibility rules. Choose a source type that matches how the information will be maintained.
Public, published articles can also be projected into a Helpdesk. Snippets remain operational guidance rather than public Helpdesk pages. Keeping one authoritative source for each policy reduces conflicting answers and makes updates auditable.
Before you start
Access: Knowledge read access lets you browse content. Knowledge write access is required to create, edit, move, publish, unpublish, or delete items.
- List the customer and operator questions the Knowledge base must answer.
- Identify the owner and authoritative source for each policy or explanation.
- Separate product facts that belong in Catalog from narrative information that belongs in Knowledge.
Step-by-step workflow
Design folders around stable jobs
Open AI Agent, then Knowledge. Create a small set of folders around durable topics such as ordering, delivery, returns, product care, or internal sales guidance. Use names teammates and customers can understand without internal project vocabulary.
Folders support browsing, search, move operations, and Helpdesk collections for public content. Avoid deep or overlapping structures that force an article into several possible homes.
Choose the correct content type
Use Article for authored, structured content. Use Snippet for short private guidance. Use Webpage when the canonical source is a web page. Use Document for a maintained file. Use Gorgias Help Center or Zendesk Help Center when importing from those external documentation systems.
Do not import the same policy from several sources. Decide which system owns updates and retire or unpublish redundant copies through a reviewed process.
Write and classify content
Give every item a specific title and purpose. For articles, add a useful excerpt and structure the body with headings, lists, links, tables, or media only when they improve comprehension. Keep the opening answer clear enough that a reader can confirm relevance quickly.
Use tags and folders consistently. Search Knowledge before creating a new item, then move or bulk-manage content when reorganizing rather than producing a second copy.
Control visibility and publication
Review the Knowledge settings panel. Public versus Private controls audience, while Published versus Draft controls lifecycle. A Helpdesk can project eligible public, published articles and their folders into a customer-facing publication.
Snippets are private operational content and do not become Helpdesk pages. Imported or managed source types may have status behavior tied to their source, so verify the current item rather than assuming every type is edited identically.
Test and maintain
Test representative questions in Playground after meaningful changes. Review the source that influenced the answer, resolve conflicts, and add a review date for time-sensitive policies.
Periodically filter by status and tags to find drafts, old content, and items without clear ownership. Unpublish inaccurate content before replacing it; do not leave two competing public answers active.
Permissions and important caveats
- Public and Published are separate decisions; both matter for customer-facing Helpdesk eligibility.
- Helpdesk publication creates an immutable snapshot, so Knowledge changes appear publicly only after a new Helpdesk version is published.
- Deleting content is destructive. Prefer a reviewed unpublish or archival workflow when history matters.
- Knowledge should not manually duplicate live catalog fields that are already synchronized.
Verify the result
Use this checklist before considering the work complete:
- Every topic has one named authoritative source and owner.
- Folder and tag structure makes both maintenance and customer browsing understandable.
- Public articles have accurate excerpts, visibility, publication state, and links.
- Representative Playground answers use current content without conflicting sources.
Troubleshooting
An article does not appear in the Helpdesk
Confirm the item is an article, Public, Published, eligible for the Helpdesk, inside its active period, and included by the Helpdesk content settings. Then publish a new immutable Helpdesk version.
The Agent gives two different policy answers
Search all Knowledge source types and snippets for duplicate authority. Keep one reviewed source, unpublish or remove the conflicting copy through the approved process, and retest.
Imported content is outdated
Confirm which external system owns the source and refresh or replace it through that integration's supported workflow. Do not patch a second article unless ownership is intentionally moving to Humind.