Use Connected Knowledge when you want to expose large volumes of external content quickly without curating individual topics. Use Managed Topics instead when you need actions, flows, or precise control over what the agent says and does. Both use RAG (retrieval-augmented generation) to match user queries.
Why use multiple knowledge sources?
Your organization may have knowledge living in:- websites
- documents such as PDFs, CSV, JSON, and other internal reference files
- existing help desk systems or applications, such as Zendesk or Gladly
How Connected knowledge differs from Managed Topics
Both the Connected and Managed Topics tabs within the Knowledge area expose information to your agent, but they serve different purposes:| Capability | Connected tab | Managed Topics tab |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger actions, functions, flows, SMS | No | Yes |
| Precise control over agent responses | No | Yes |
| Auto-sync from external sources | Yes | No |
| Best for frequently updated FAQ content | Yes | — |
| Best for stable, structured info | — | Yes |
| Fine-grained behavior control | No | Yes |
| Setup complexity | Low — no prompting skill required | Higher — requires more expertise and maintenance |
If both tabs contain conflicting information, Managed Topics always takes priority.
Add a new source
- Go to Build → Knowledge → Connected tab
- Select New source
- Choose one of:
- Upload files
- Add URL
- Zendesk
- Gladly
- Additional integrations are in development — contact your PolyAI representative for the latest availability
- Complete the required details and click Add
Supported source types
| Source Type | Details |
|---|---|
| Upload files — Text & structured data | .txt, .csv, .json, .xml, .md, .html, .rtf |
| Upload files — PDF | .pdf |
| Upload files — Microsoft Office | .docx, .doc, .docm, .xlsx, .xls, .xlsm, .pptx, .ppt, .pptm, .msg |
| Upload files — OpenDocument | .odt, .ods, .odp |
| Upload files — Email files | .eml |
| Upload files — E-books | .epub |
| URL scraping | Public documentation pages and help center articles |
| Zendesk (beta) | Help Center content with API sync |
| Gladly (beta) | Knowledge source sync |
| Additional integrations | In development — contact your PolyAI representative for the latest availability |
What exactly gets scraped when I upload a URL?
URL scraping traverses linked pages from the provided URL, with the following limits:- Depth → Only one level below the initial URL.
- Breadth → A maximum of 10 embedded pages.
Keeping content fresh
After external content changes:- click Update to re-scrape files or URLs
- or use the Sync icon per source
Group and manage sources
Group sources by product line, team, region, or document type. Sort by newest, oldest, type, or name. Each source offers:- Sync
- Rename
- Move to group
- Remove
Why isn’t my agent using the sources I connected?
Several factors affect retrieval:Data structure
Connected knowledge splits content into 2000-character chunks with 500-character overlap. Very large documents or widely separated related sections may struggle more with relevance. What to do:- Restructure documents into smaller, tighter pieces.
- Repeat key headings or terms.
- Or curate the material as a managed topic for guaranteed usage.
Update state
Two updates must be current:- Source Update → keeps the data in each source fresh
- Agent Update → applies knowledge connection changes to the agent
Environments, variants, saved changes
Each source must be enabled in the correct environment and variant. Any edits must be saved before leaving the page.Conflicting information?
If the Managed Topics and Connected knowledge contain conflicting data, the Managed Topics tab wins. Content from the Managed Topics tab is always prioritised.Viewing Connected Knowledge in Conversation Review
When your agent retrieves content from Connected Knowledge during a conversation, you can see exactly which sources were used in Conversation Review.- Open a conversation in Analytics > Conversations.
- In the Diagnosis dropdown, toggle Sources on.
- Each turn where Connected Knowledge was retrieved shows a Sources tag beneath the agent’s response, alongside any matched Managed Topics.
- Click a source name to open an inline preview panel showing the exact text chunks the agent used.
- Use Open in Knowledge in the panel to navigate directly to the source in the Knowledge area.
- Verifying the agent retrieved the correct content for a given question
- Debugging cases where the agent’s response seems inaccurate or incomplete
- Confirming that newly added or updated sources are being picked up
Behavior and configuration notes
- Use PolyAI’s Raven LLM for best results — it paraphrases structured and unstructured content more naturally.
- Connected knowledge results are given ranking priority to ensure they surface alongside Managed Topics.
- Connected knowledge and Managed Topics data are merged at runtime.
- Any system-prompt style guidance applies to both.
Related pages
Managed Topics
Create curated topics alongside connected sources. Managed Topics always take priority.
RAG overview
Understand how retrieval-augmented generation works across your knowledge.
Conversation diagnosis
Verify which knowledge sources were retrieved on each turn.