Connecting knowledge sources to power generative replies in AI agents

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<p id="docs-hc-snippet" style="display: none;">Knowledge sources are the information your AI agent uses to create AI-generated answers to questions from your customers. Adding knowledge sources to your AI agent lets it generate answers to help customers without requiring you to script every response.</p>
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<div class="note attention" id="knowledge_import__note_iyj_lks_hjc">
<span class="attentiontitle"></span> This article doesn't apply to customers who
bought AI agents - Advanced before March 10, 2026. Instead, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10791195957530" target="_blank">this article</a>.</div>
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<p class="p">Knowledge sources are the information your AI agent uses to create AI-generated answers
to questions from your customers. Adding knowledge sources to your AI agent lets it
generate answers to help customers without requiring you to script every response. </p>
<p class="p">This article contains the following topics:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="knowledge_import__ul_ekh_v3w_cfc">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_qlm_13w_cfc">About knowledge sources</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_af2_f15_p3c">Connecting a Zendesk help center to an AI agent</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_ttm_2kv_p3c">Connecting an external knowledge source to an AI agent</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_iq3_hkv_p3c">Disconnecting a knowledge source</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_jwt_rzt_p3c">Viewing all connected knowledge sources</a></li>
</ul>
<p class="p">Related article:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="knowledge_import__ul_qm1_v3w_cfc">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9185497386394" target="_blank">Configuring search rules for knowledge sources
for AI agents</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_qlm_13w_cfc">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">About knowledge sources</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">You can connect the following types of knowledge sources to an AI agent: </p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_qlm_13w_cfc__ul_j53_kzt_p3c">
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">Zendesk help centers</strong>: The help center associated with your Zendesk
account (or a specific brand, if you’ve <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408829476378" target="_blank">set up multiple brands</a>). </li>
<li class="li">
<strong class="ph b">External knowledge sources</strong>: Content from external sources, which is
brought into your Zendesk account through a <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4593564000410" target="_blank">web crawler</a> or a <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9822956298010" target="_blank">knowledge connector</a>. </li>
</ul>
<p class="p">You can connect multiple knowledge sources to a single AI agent. For example, you can
connect multiple Zendesk help centers, multiple external sources, or a combination
of both. Nevertheless, we recommend keeping the overall number of knowledge sources
within a reasonable limit. Having too many sources can in some cases lead to reduced
accuracy and increased latency. </p>
<p class="p">Connecting one or more knowledge sources is required in order for an AI agent to
create an AI-generated answer. If you add a Generative replies block in a <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357749494810" target="_blank">dialogue</a>, or instruct a <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8979864563610" target="_blank">generative procedure</a> to produce a knowledge reply, and
you have no connected knowledge sources, a technical error will occur.</p>
<p class="p">When an AI agent searches a connected help center, it searches the current content of
the help center at the time the search is performed. However, when an AI agent
searches a connected external knowledge source, it searches the information that was
available as of the last sync, which usually happens every 24 hours.</p>
<p class="p">If you’re using restricted help center content, AI agent responses respect the
article view permissions, which means: </p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_qlm_13w_cfc__ul_zgj_lzt_p3c">
<li class="li">If the customer is authenticated, the AI agent can use relevant restricted
articles to generate its response. </li>
<li class="li">If the customer is unauthenticated, the AI agent can use only public articles to
generate its response. </li>
</ul>
<p class="p">For more information, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8087943201306" target="_blank">Using restricted help center content in AI agent
responses</a>.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_af2_f15_p3c">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3">Connecting a Zendesk help center to an AI agent</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">You can connect a Zendesk help center associated with any of your brands to an AI
agent. The AI agent can then use the help center content to generate answers to
customer questions.</p>
<p class="p">Your help center must be <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5702269234330#topic_ndf_fpf_mk" target="_blank">activated</a> before you can connect it to an
AI agent.</p>
<div class="p">
<div class="note" id="topic_af2_f15_p3c__note_cq5_fss_hjc">
<span class="notetitle">Note:</span> Currently, you cannot connect a help center from your
production account in your sandbox account.</div>
</div>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To connect a Zendesk help center</strong></p>
<div class="p">
<ol class="ol" id="topic_af2_f15_p3c__ol_rz3_jmv_p3c">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In the AI agents workspace, <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357756913178#topic_t25_qvj_tdc" target="_blank">select the AI agent</a> you want to work
with.</span></li>
<li class="li"><span class="ph">Click <img class="image" id="topic_af2_f15_p3c__d9e164" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ai_agents_content_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Content</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Knowledge sources</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Edit sources</strong>.<p class="p">A Knowledge sources dialog appears.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">In the field at the top, select <strong class="ph b">Help center</strong>. </li>
<li class="li">In the list, select the Zendesk help center you want to connect to the AI
agent.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_af2_f15_p3c__image_pgx_vmv_p3c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aiaa_knowledge_source_hc_connect.png" width="350"></p>
<div class="p">
<div class="note tip" id="topic_af2_f15_p3c__note_gcl_nmv_p3c">
<span class="tiptitle">Tip:</span> If you don’t see your help
center, make sure you’ve <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5702269234330#topic_ndf_fpf_mk" target="_blank">activated it</a>. </div>
</div>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.<p class="p">Your help center appears in the Knowledge sources
list.</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_af2_f15_p3c__image_hwy_wmv_p3c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aiaa_knowledge_source_hc_in_list.png" width="600"></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="topic_ttm_2kv_p3c">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4">Connecting an external knowledge source to an AI agent</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">You can also connect an external knowledge source to an AI agent so the AI agent can
use the information from that source when generating answers to customer questions. </p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To connect an external knowledge source</strong></p>
<div class="p">
<ol class="ol" id="topic_ttm_2kv_p3c__ol_jjb_2nv_p3c">
<li class="li">If you haven’t already, <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/9796599390874" target="_blank">connect an external knowledge
source</a> to your Zendesk account. </li>
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In the AI agents workspace, <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357756913178#topic_t25_qvj_tdc" target="_blank">select the AI agent</a> you want to work
with.</span></li>
<li class="li"><span class="ph">Click <img class="image" id="topic_ttm_2kv_p3c__d9e164" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ai_agents_content_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Content</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Knowledge sources</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Edit sources</strong>.<p class="p">A Knowledge sources dialog appears.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">In the field at the top, select <strong class="ph b">External content</strong>. </li>
<li class="li">In the list, expand the type of external knowledge source if necessary, then
select the source you want to connect to the AI agent.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_ttm_2kv_p3c__image_nfk_snv_p3c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aiaa_knowledge_sources_external_connect.png" width="350"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.<p class="p">Your external knowledge source appears in the Knowledge
sources list.</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_ttm_2kv_p3c__image_okt_tnv_p3c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aiaa_knowledge_sources_in_list.png" width="600"></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title5" class="topic nested1" id="topic_iq3_hkv_p3c">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title5">Disconnecting a knowledge source</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">You can disconnect a knowledge source from an AI agent to prevent the AI agent from
using the information in that source when generating answers to customer questions. </p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To disconnect a knowledge source</strong></p>
<div class="p">
<ol class="ol" id="topic_iq3_hkv_p3c__ol_k1n_c4v_p3c">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In the AI agents workspace, <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357756913178#topic_t25_qvj_tdc" target="_blank">select the AI agent</a> you want to work
with.</span></li>
<li class="li"><span class="ph">Click <img class="image" id="topic_iq3_hkv_p3c__d9e164" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ai_agents_content_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Content</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Knowledge sources</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Edit sources</strong>.<p class="p">A Knowledge sources dialog appears. </p>
</li>
<li class="li">In the field at the top, select either <strong class="ph b">Help center</strong> or <strong class="ph b">External
content</strong>.<p class="p">In the list, deselect the knowledge source you want to
disconnect. </p>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.<p class="p">The disconnected knowledge source is removed from the
Knowledge sources list.</p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title6" class="topic nested1" id="topic_jwt_rzt_p3c">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title6">Viewing all connected knowledge sources</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">In your AI agent’s settings, you can view all the content sources currently connected
to it. The AI agent will use these sources to generate answers to customer
questions. </p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To view all connected content sources</strong></p>
<div class="p">
<ol class="ol" id="topic_jwt_rzt_p3c__ol_xbc_tzt_p3c">
<li class="li"><span class="ph">In the AI agents workspace, <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/8357756913178#topic_t25_qvj_tdc" target="_blank">select the AI agent</a> you want to work
with.</span></li>
<li class="li">
<span class="ph">Click <img class="image" id="topic_jwt_rzt_p3c__d9e164" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ai_agents_content_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Content</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Knowledge sources</strong>.</span><p class="p">This page shows you a list of all knowledge sources currently
connected to the AI agent.</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_jwt_rzt_p3c__image_xmp_c15_p3c" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/aiaa_knowledge_sources_view_all.png" width="600"></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
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