Connecting to Assistants¶
Learn how to link your knowledge bases to assistants for intelligent, context-aware responses.
Prerequisites¶
- Store created
- Files uploaded and processed
- Assistant configured
Connecting a knowledge base enables contextual answers based on your documents and reduces hallucination by grounding responses in real data.
Connecting a Store¶
Method 1: From Assistant Detail View¶
- Go to Assistants
- Click Manage Assistant on your desired assistant
- Scroll to the Stores section
- Click Add Store
- Select the store from the dropdown
- The store is now connected
Method 2: From Chat Interface¶
- Go to Chat
- Select your assistant
- In the middle panel, click Add Store
- Select the store to connect
This is useful for quick testing without leaving the chat.
Managing Connections¶
View Connected Stores¶
In the assistant detail view, the Stores section shows:
- List of connected stores
- Number of connections (badge)
- Quick disconnect option
Disconnect a Store¶
- Go to the assistant's Stores section
- Click the disconnect icon next to the store
- The store is removed from the assistant
Non-Destructive
Disconnecting doesn't delete the store or its files. You can reconnect anytime.
How It Works¶
When a user asks a question, the system searches your connected stores for relevant information and uses it to generate accurate responses.
Advanced: Query Flow & Retrieval Settings
Query Flow: 1. User asks a question (e.g., "What's your return policy?") 2. Question is converted to a vector embedding 3. System searches all connected stores for similar chunks 4. Top N chunks (default: 5) are retrieved based on similarity 5. Retrieved chunks provide context for the AI's response 6. User receives a response grounded in your documentation
Retrieval Settings (configured in assistant's advanced options):
| Setting | Default | When to Adjust |
|---|---|---|
| Max Results | 5 | Increase to 8-10 if answers lack detail, decrease to 3-4 if responses feel scattered |
| Score Threshold | 0.7 | Raise to 0.8 if getting irrelevant results, lower to 0.6 if missing matches |
Multiple Stores¶
Connecting Multiple Stores¶
You can connect multiple stores to a single assistant. The assistant will search across all connected stores.
Use cases: - Different content categories - Separate departments contributing knowledge - Staged content updates
Best Practices for Multiple Stores¶
- Keep stores focused: One topic per store
- Avoid duplicates: Don't upload the same content to multiple stores
- Consider relevance: Only connect stores relevant to the assistant's purpose
Testing Your Connection¶
- Go to Chat
- Select your assistant with the connected store
- Ask a question specific to your uploaded content
- The response should reference information from your documents
Good test questions: - Questions only answerable from your documents - Specific facts, figures, or policies
Debugging Poor Results
If the assistant doesn't use your knowledge base:
- Check connection: Verify the store is listed in the assistant
- Verify processing: Ensure you clicked "Finish Upload" after uploading
- Test search: Ask very specific questions matching document content
Best Practices¶
Quality Content: - Well-structured documents with clear headings - Complete sentences with context - Focused, relevant information - Regular updates to keep content current
Clear Assistant Instructions:
Your assistant's instructions should explicitly mention using the knowledge base.
Good Instruction Example
You are a customer support assistant for [Company Name].
When answering questions, always search your knowledge base first
and base your answers on the information found there.
If you cannot find information about a topic in your knowledge base,
say: "I don't have specific information about that in my documentation.
Let me connect you with a human agent who can help."
Never make up policies or product details. Only use information from
your knowledge base.
Test Thoroughly: - Questions you know are answered in your docs - Questions with tricky phrasing - Questions that aren't in your docs (to test fallback behavior)
Advanced: Store Organization Strategies
Choose an organization strategy that fits your use case:
By topic (most common):
Assistant: "Product Support Bot"
Stores:
- Product Specifications (40 MB)
- Troubleshooting Guides (25 MB)
- Warranty Information (5 MB)
Why: Different document types, easy to update specific areas
By update frequency:
Assistant: "Company Information Bot"
Stores:
- Static Content (20 MB) - Rarely changes
- Dynamic Content (30 MB) - Changes weekly
- Seasonal Content (10 MB) - Updated quarterly
Why: Easy to update frequently-changing content without touching stable information
By product line:
Advanced: Prompt Engineering for RAG
Enhance your assistant's use of RAG with these prompt techniques:
Confidence calibration:
If the information in your knowledge base is unclear or
contradictory, acknowledge this and offer to escalate to
a human agent.
Handling gaps:
If a user's question is partially covered in your knowledge base,
answer what you can from your documents and clearly indicate
what information you don't have available.
Multi-store awareness:
Troubleshooting
Assistant ignores knowledge base: - Verify store is connected - Check processing completed - Add explicit instructions to use the knowledge base - Test with questions that match document content exactly
Incorrect information retrieved: - Review document content for accuracy - Remove outdated or incorrect documents - Check for duplicate/conflicting information
Slow responses: - Reduce number of connected stores - Optimize document sizes - Adjust retrieval settings (fewer results)
No results found: - Verify documents were processed (Finish Upload) - Check document format is supported - Ensure content is text-based (not images)