Knowledge Bases - User Guide

Knowledge Bases - Overview

Knowledge Bases empower the users to transform specific folders to intelligent information hubs. The users can interact with these knowledge bases to ask questions and receive quick responses. 

Users can choose any of the prompts or recommended questions, use audio input or type in their question in the input bar on the knowledge base. They can view the source information, provide feedback, use suggested questions/prompts, view chat history, and regenerate answers on these knowledge bases.

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Create a Knowledge Base

Use a Knowledge Base

Using the Q&A on a Knowledge Base

Feedback Options

Switch Between Knowledge Bases

Configure Knowledge Bases

Create Report

User Permissions and Access

Noteworthy Functionalities and Specifications

Prompts Management in Knowledge Bases

Use and Manage Prompts

Additional Resources

Create a Knowledge Base

There are multiple ways to create a new knowledge base. 

Use the Copilot Hub

1. Navigate to Copilot Hub in the left menu.
   
2. Click on Create new Knowledge Base. 
   

Use the List View in Settings

1. Navigate to Settings -> AI powered features -> Knowledge Bases.
2. Click Create new Knowledge Base.
   

Configure the Knowledge Base

1. Select the folder to add it to the knowledge base and click Next. On selecting a particular folder, all the content within that folder gets automatically selected. Users can choose to deselect the non-essential sub-folders from the folder selected to improve the response quality. 
   
   

   To deselect specific subfolders in an existing knowledge base, first mark the knowledge base as inactive. Then, create a new one using the same folder and deselect the desired subfolders.

   
   Enter the details for the knowledge base and click Next. 
   • Enter the name for the knowledge base in the Name field.
   • Select an icon. This icon represents the Knowledge Base in the Copilot Hub -> Knowledge Bases page.
   • Provide a description (optional).
   • A default No Response message is provided.  The user can modify the default message if needed.
   
   
2. Select the desired prompt(s). Users can also search for the required prompts and make their selection. This is an optional step and the users can create the knowledge base without selecting any of the prompts. A toggle is available to view only the selected prompts. Click Save.
   

After saving, the new Knowledge base will appear in the list view with status, Preparing (progress percentage).

The Knowledge Base will move to an Active stage once the files are processed and will be visible to end users once active. 

Knowledge Bases on the Copilot Hub page show the details such as the icon selected from configuring the knowledge base, name of knowledge base, folder name, and last updated date/time.

Use a Knowledge Base

Use Copilot Hub

1. Navigate to Copilot Hub.
   
   

   Users can search for a specific knowledge base or use the following quick filters:

   • All: This is the default selection and displays all the active knowledge bases 
   • My Knowledge Bases: The knowledge bases created by the user are displayed
   • Trending Now: Displays the most frequently used knowledge bases
     
2. Click on the Knowledge Base to start asking questions. The user can click on any of the prompts or recommended questions to get a response. They can also use audio input or type in their own questions. Users can click on the View prompts option or the view prompts icon in the input box to select a particular prompt from the prompt library. The selected prompt can then be inserted in the interaction to get the associated response. Users can also provide an input and click on the Improve Prompt icon to improve the prompt. Additionally, users can type @filename or use ‘+’ icon to select and ask questions based on specific file(s). 
   

Any Page on Egnyte Web UI

1. Click on the contextual entry point available at the top right corner in the WebUI.
   
2. Select the Knowledge Base to interact with.
   
3. Users can choose any of the prompts or recommended questions. They can also use audio input or type in their question in the input bar on the Knowledge Base. The suggested questions also show up based on the questions asked by a user. Users can click on the View prompts option or the view prompts icon in the input box to select a particular prompt from the prompt library. The selected prompt can then be inserted in the interaction to get the associated response. Prompts created by the users have an icon added to distinguish them from the system prompts.Additionally, users can type @filename or use ‘+’ icon to select and ask questions based on specific file(s). 
   
   Users can also click and view the source for the knowledge base.
   
   Alternatively, users can click on the Tools icon to view the source(s) enabled or disabled for the knowledge base.
   

Contextual Invoking

1. Select the folder that is associated with a Knowledge Base.
   
2. Click on the Knowledge Base icon. 
   

When the user opens the folder that has a knowledge base and then clicks on the icon at the top right of the screen, they are not presented with the option to further select the Knowledge base. The user can directly interact with the selected folder’s knowledge base in this case.  

Using the Q&A on a Knowledge Base

Users can choose any of the prompts or recommended questions, use audio input or type in their question in the input bar on the knowledge base. 

Asking brief and specific questions generates the best answers. Multi-part questions generate better answers when asked separately.

Users can also find specific files or folders within the Knowledge Base. Responses to their queries may include relevant files or folders, depending on the nature of the question.

Users can also choose from the multiple AI models directly within the chat input box. 

1. Click on the Tools icon.
   
2. Click on Model.
   
3. Gemini-2.5 Flash is the model selected by default. Click on the arrow and select a different model as required.
   
4. The changes will reflect in the input box as per user’s selection.
   

 

Users can also use Knowledge Bases to carry out natural language searches for file metadata. They can add filters in the query for:

• File Type: (for example, find all word docs, show me the ppts)
• User Name: (for example, what did John modify)
• Modified Date: (for example, updates from last week, modified in the last month)
• Upload Date: (for example, files uploaded last week)

Users can type @<filename> in the input box to ask questions based on a specific file and receive a response.

They can also click on View all files, select the file(s) from their Knowledge Base folder, and click on Continue to ask questions based on the selected file(s).

Similarly, users can click on ‘+’ icon, search for the file(s) or click on View all files and select the desired file(s) for the Knowledge Base folder to ask questions based on their selection.

Answer Generation Mechanism

There is an option to select the folder while creating a Knowledge Base. When the user asks a question on the Knowledge Base, the algorithm retrieves all the pertinent information from all the associated files in the selected folder. 

The algorithm then amalgamates all the relevant details based on the information retrieved and produces a human-like interactive response.

Additionally, sources are provided with each of the answers for users to verify the information if they wish to. 

Generative Capabilities

Users can generate a response for them based on their queries. For instance, users can ask the knowledge base to create a number of tweets for them.

Similarly, the users can generate an email using the knowledge bases and likewise.

Verify Answers

• Use audio input or type in a question and generate the answer on the knowledge base 
• Read the response and click on the given source(s) to verify the information presented 

For critical decisions, users are advised to cross-verify answers from original documents.

Users can also click on the inline citation to view the source and verify the response generated.

For Egnyte source(s), the specific section of the information in a file is highlighted if the user clicks on the citation. For web sources, the specific URL opens up.

Regenerate Answers

The user can regenerate the answer using different source(s) in a Knowledge Base. 

1. Click on the regenerate icon.
2. Select the desired source(s) from the list available.
3. Click on Regenerate.
   

Edit a Prompt

Users can edit the most recent prompt in the interaction to refine the response generated. 

• Click on the Edit icon.
  
• Edit the prompt and click on Submit to get a response as per the edited prompt.
  

New Chat

Click on the New Chat icon at the top and the ongoing chat will be cleared.

       

Chat History

Chat History of up to 180 days in the past is available for the knowledge bases. The history icon is available at the top right corner.

To view the chat history available for a Knowledge Base: 

1. Open the Knowledge Base.
2. Click on the history icon. The available historical records will show up with the date/timestamp next to it.
   
3. Hover over on the chat record to view the full name if it is not already visible.
   
4. Click on any of the available chat records to access it in the knowledge base.
   
5. The chat history will be blank if there are no previous conversations.
   

Renaming a Record 

1. Open the chat history of a Knowledge Base.
2. Hover over on a particular record to rename. 
3. Click on the rename option for the record.
   
4. Enter the new name for the record. To undo the changes made, click on the Undo icon. If the user tries to save an empty (blank) title, then the record will be auto renamed to “Untitled”.
   

Deleting a Record 

1. Open the chat history of a Knowledge Base.
2. Hover over on a particular record to delete.
3. Click on the delete icon.
   
4. Click on Delete in the confirmation pop-up. The record will be removed from the chat history.
   

Use and Manage Prompts

Users can interact with a knowledge base using prompts and they can also view prompts using the View prompts option or from the icon in the input bar. They can utilize the prompt library to insert the desired prompt or create a new one.

Learn more about prompts management in knowledge bases.

Feedback Options

Users can provide feedback on the responses generated in a Knowledge Base. 

• Clicking on the thumbs up or thumbs down icon below the response provides feedback.  After every three questions, an explicit feedback option will appear.
  
• Users can provide additional comments after clicking on thumbs down. Click Submit after entering the comments.They can also choose to either provide consent (checked by default) or opt out of allowing Egnyte access to the logs.

  

The feedback submitted by users will be shared with the Copilot Hub team to improve the feature and a notification will appear after the user submits the feedback.

Switch Between Knowledge Bases

The option to switch between Knowledge Bases appears after selecting a particular one. 

• Click on the dropdown menu.
• Select the target Knowledge Base.
  
  
  

Configure Knowledge Bases

Admins and users with Owner or Full Permission on folders can create a knowledge base. :

1. Navigate to Copilot Hub.
2. Click on the settings icon.
   

3. Folder owners can also configure copilot by navigating to Settings -> AI Powered Features -> Knowledge Bases.
   

The dashboard shows the list of all the knowledge bases with the Name, Scope (folder path), Created By, Status, and Created Date.

Enable Power Users to Create Knowledge Bases

Admins can enable the Power Users to create Knowledge Bases.

• Navigate to Settings -> Configuration -> AI.
  
• Set the toggle under Knowledge Bases to Enable. 
  
• Click on Save Changes.
  

Filter Knowledge Bases

Users can filter the knowledge bases as per the following criteria:

• Created By: Choose the knowledge bases created by Anyone (default), Me, or a Specific person. 
• Status: Filter the knowledge bases as per their status. The options include Any (default), Active, Inactive, and In Progress.
• Created date: View the knowledge base according to their created date. Any time is the default selection with other choices such as Last 24 hours, Last week, Last month, Last 3 months, Last 6 months, Last 12 months, and Custom.
  

Edit a Knowledge Base

1. Hover over on the specific row to edit a particular Knowledge Base.
2. Click on the Edit icon or the three-dots menu -> Edit
   
3. Edit the Name, Icon, Description, and/or No response message. Users can also make changes to the prompt(s) selected. The folder, once selected, cannot be modified. The user would have to re-create the knowledge base using a different folder, if needed. Click on Save after editing.
   
   

 

Mark Knowledge Base as Inactive

1. Hover over on a specific row to mark a particular Knowledge Base as Inactive.
2. Click on the Inactive icon or three-dots menu -> Mark as Inactive.
   
3. Click on Mark as Inactive.
   

Create Report

Admins can create a report for any of the knowledge bases. The report provides the interaction history of all the users along with the feedback from the last 30 days. 

1. Hover over on a particular knowledge base to create a report. 
2. Click on the three-dot menu -> Create Report for Active Knowledge Bases. For inactive knowledge bases, hover over and click on the Create Report icon. 
    
3. The user will get a UI notification and an email notification with the report attached in the email.
   

   
   

User Permissions and Access

Creation of new Knowledge bases is a functionality available to admins and users with owners or full permissions on the folder.

Accessibility of the Knowledge base is extended to all users with access to the corresponding folder. 

Even if users do not hold universal access for all files or subfolders within the folder, the Knowledge base will still operate, but only draw from and expose information that respective users are privy to.

Ensuring Information Safety

A Knowledge Base strictly maintains user access permissions; it won’t unveil answers or information that users lack access to.

Copilot does not consider password protected files and files protected using Microsoft Purview Solution (having restricted, confidential, or other protected labels) to generate responses.

Noteworthy Functionality and Specifications

Folder Modifications and Knowledge Base Status

• Merging, Deleting, Moving, or Renaming Folders: These actions on the parent folder may transition the corresponding Knowledge Base to an inactive state. Once inactive, users can no longer access or utilize it.
• Recommended Action: In such scenarios, it's advisable for users to create a new Knowledge Base using the updated folder path.

Recommended Folder Size

Egnyte recommends 10,000 as the folder size limit for better response quality. The users will get to know if the folder size exceeds 10,000 files while creating the knowledge base to make the changes, if required. 

The following pop-up appears after folder selection, if the folder has more than 10K files.

The users can also spot the knowledge bases that exceed the 10K files limit in the Copilot Hub page. An exclamation mark with the detailed message on hover over appears next to the knowledge base status. 

Users can move or delete files to reduce the total number to 10,000 or fewer, then click the Re-process button on the Copilot Hub page.

This will re-process the knowledge base and improve response quality, considering the updated file count.

There is also an in-product notification sent to the Knowledge Base creator if the folder exceeds 10,000 files at any point. The creator can click on the bell icon at the top-right to view the notification.

Integration Process for New Files

When a new file is added to a folder, it undergoes an integration process before becoming accessible in the Knowledge Base.  It typically takes around 15 to 30 minutes for the new file to be fully integrated into the Knowledge Base and be ready for use in responses.

Instantaneous Exclusion

Deleting or moving files out of the folder will immediately remove them from the reach of the Knowledge Base.

Additional Resources

• • Egnyte Copilot - User Guide
  • Copilot - Overview