Knowledge Base
What it does: A workspace-wide library of documents your AI can search and cite from. Set up once by an admin, the Knowledge Base is available to your whole team — so everyone gets answers grounded in your organization’s own content, without each person needing to re-upload the same files.
How to use it
Go to Settings → Knowledge Base
Click Settings (gear icon) in the sidebar and select Knowledge Base.
Upload documents
Click Upload Document or drag and drop files directly onto the page. Supported formats:
| Format | Extensions |
|---|---|
| Documents | .pdf, .docx, .txt, .md |
| Spreadsheets | .csv, .xlsx |
| Data | .json, .xml |
| Images | .png, .jpg, .gif, .webp |
Maximum file size: 50 MB per file.
Wait for indexing
Each document moves through a processing pipeline before it’s ready:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Processing | Document is being extracted, chunked, and embedded |
| Indexed | Ready — the AI can now search and reference this document |
| Failed | Something went wrong — check the error message and retry |
Start asking questions
Once indexed, the AI automatically searches the Knowledge Base when it’s relevant to your question. No special syntax needed — just ask naturally.
Only admins and owners can upload to or delete from the Knowledge Base. Regular members can query it but cannot modify it. See Member Invitations for role details.
Managing documents
The Knowledge Base page shows all uploaded documents in a table with:
- File name and type icon
- Status badge (Indexed, Processing, or Failed)
- File size
- Chunks — number of indexed segments (more chunks = more searchable content)
- Upload date
You can search by filename when you have more than a few documents, and delete any document by hovering over it and clicking the trash icon.
If a document fails to process, check the error message. Common causes include corrupted files or unsupported content within an otherwise supported format. You can retry processing from the actions menu.
Least-privilege file access
By default, every indexed document in the Knowledge Base is searchable by all members of your organization. If your team handles sensitive content that not everyone should see, you can restrict this with the Force least-privilege file access toggle in Settings.
When enabled:
- Each file in the Knowledge Base honours a per-file access control list (ACL)
- At query time, Cumulus only searches files the requesting user has been granted access to
- Answers will never cite a document the asker can’t see
This lets admins upload a broad library of documents and grant access granularly — finance files to the finance team, legal files to legal, and so on — without needing separate Knowledge Bases.
Least-privilege access is an org-level toggle. Enabling it affects all Knowledge Base documents, not just newly uploaded ones. Review existing file permissions after turning it on.
Knowledge Base vs. File Uploads vs. Workspace Sources
| Feature | Scope | Persistence | Who uploads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knowledge Base | Organization-wide | Persistent | Admins & owners |
| File Uploads | Single chat message | Ad-hoc | Any member |
| Workspace Sources | Single workspace/project | Persistent | Workspace admins & members |
The key distinction: File Uploads are for ad-hoc, chat-scoped attachments — useful when you have a one-off document to analyze in a specific conversation. Knowledge Base is for content your whole organization needs to reference repeatedly, set up once and maintained centrally.
For project-specific documents, consider uploading to a Workspace instead. Workspace sources give the AI focused context for that project without mixing in unrelated org-wide documents.
Related
- File Uploads — attach files to individual chat messages
- Workspaces — project-level document management
- Member Invitations — manage roles and permissions
- SharePoint Integration — auto-sync documents from SharePoint
- Google Drive Integration — auto-sync from Google Drive