Using the Knowledge base with Alice

Using the Knowledge Base with Alice

This guide walks you through setting up and leveraging Alice’s Knowledge Base feature, detailing supported file formats, campaign-level insights, and advantages over the generic library function. By following these steps, you’ll integrate your domain knowledge seamlessly into Alice’s conversational AI workflows.

1. Introduction

Alice’s Knowledge Base is a dedicated repository for uploading, indexing, and querying your proprietary documents. Unlike the standard library function—which surfaces generic or public data—the Knowledge Base tailors responses using your own policies, manuals, FAQs, and other specialized content.

2. Getting Started

To begin using the Knowledge Base:

Access the Dashboard: Log in to Alice and select Knowledge Base from the main menu.
Create a Knowledge Base: Click New Knowledge Base, enter a name, and configure access permissions.
Prepare Your Files: Gather documents in supported formats (see Section 3).
Upload & Index: Use Upload Files to select documents. Alice will parse and index them automatically.
Start Querying: After indexing completes, begin asking questions against your uploaded content.

3. Supported File Types

The Knowledge Base accepts these formats:

PDF (.pdf) – Manuals, reports, guides.
Word (.docx) – Policies, templates, internal documents.
Plain Text (.txt) – Notes, logs, transcripts.
Markdown (.md) – Readmes, knowledge articles.
HTML (.html) – Web pages, documentation exports.
CSV (.csv) – Tables, spreadsheets, inventories.

Each file is parsed for text, headings, tables, and metadata. Alice then builds an index for fast, relevant retrieval.

4. Uploading and Processing Workflow

4.1 Upload Interface

In the Knowledge Base dashboard, click Upload Files, select one or more documents, and confirm. A progress bar displays ingestion and indexing status.

4.2 Automatic Chunking & Embedding

Large documents are split into smaller “chunks.” Alice generates embeddings for each chunk and stores them in a vector store to power semantic search, ensuring precise, context-aware results.

4.3 Monitoring & Logs

Track processing status under Activity Log. Any parsing errors or unsupported formats will be clearly flagged for review.

5. Querying the Knowledge Base in Alice

To ask questions based on your uploaded content:

Open the Alice chat interface and choose your Knowledge Base from the Data Source dropdown.
Enter your query. For example:


User: "What is our refund policy for international orders?"

Alice searches the indexed documents, retrieves relevant passages, and composes a concise answer with references.
Follow up with clarifications or deeper questions as needed.

6. Benefits vs. Library Function

Customization: Use your proprietary content instead of relying on public data.
Relevance: Index only the materials that matter to your business for domain-specific accuracy.
Performance: Pre-indexed content delivers faster, more precise results.
Access Control: Define user permissions to restrict who can access or query each Knowledge Base.
Traceability: Answers include document references and context snippets for full auditability.

7. Campaign-Level Insights

Alice provides campaign-level analytics to help you measure and optimize Knowledge Base usage. A campaign groups related documents or collections under a single reporting umbrella.

Query Volume: Total and unique user queries per campaign over time.
Top Queries & Hits: Most frequent questions and highest-impact documents.
Response Performance: Average indexing time, search latency, and success rate of returning relevant results.
User Engagement: Active users, session length, and follow-up question rates.
Content Gaps: Unanswered queries or low-relevance results highlight areas for new or updated documents.

Access these insights from the Analytics tab in the Knowledge Base dashboard. You can filter by date range, campaign, or user group and export reports as CSV for further analysis.

8. Best Practices

Organize by Domain: Create separate Knowledge Bases for HR, Product, Legal, etc.
Update Regularly: Re-upload revised documents to keep content current.
Use Descriptive Headings: Clear section titles improve chunking and retrieval accuracy.
Monitor Usage: Review query logs and analytics to identify missing or outdated information.
Manage File Size: Split very large files into smaller parts to avoid upload timeouts.

9. Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How long does indexing take?

A: Documents under 10 MB typically index in seconds; larger files may take several minutes. Check the Activity Log for real-time status.

Q: Can I delete or update a file?

A: Yes. In the dashboard, select the file and choose Delete or Update. Alice will re-process the content automatically.

Q: Is there a file size limit?

A: Each file supports up to 100 MB. Break larger documents into smaller sections if needed.

10. Conclusion

Alice’s Knowledge Base transforms your proprietary documents into a powerful conversational AI resource. With flexible file support, semantic indexing, campaign-level insights, and robust access controls, you’ll deliver precise, context-aware answers and drive greater productivity across your organization.