Connecting external content sources to an AI agent to power AI-generated answers (Legacy)

After youcreate an AI agent, you can configure the content sources it uses to create AI-generated answers to customer questions.


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This article describes functionality that moved into
legacy status on July 31, 2025. On December 31, 2026, this functionality will no
longer be available. For more information, see this announcement.


After you create an AI agent, you can configure the
content sources it uses to create AI-generated answers to customer questions.
You must be an admin to configure content sources for an AI agent.
This article contains the following topics:

About content sources
Viewing all connected content sources
Connecting an external content source
Disconnecting an external content source

Related article:

Configuring an AI agent's brand and
channels



About content sources

Content sources are the information your AI agent uses to generate answers to
questions from your customers. Adding content sources to your AI agent lets it
generate answers to help customers without requiring you to script every response.
Your Zendesk help center is your default content source. It’s automatically connected
to your AI agent when you select a brand while creating your AI agent. You can
change which help center your AI agent is connected to (this is done by changing the AI agent’s brand), but your
AI agent must always have exactly one connected Zendesk help center. An AI agent
cannot be connected to multiple Zendesk help centers at the same time.
You can also connect additional, external content sources to your AI agent. This is
helpful if the information you want to power your AI agent’s generative answers is
already contained in a different platform besides your Zendesk help center.
You can connect the following different types of external content sources to an AI
agent:


Web crawler: A web crawler connects external website content to your AI
agent. You must first set up a web crawler in Knowledge
admin before you can connect it to your AI agent. An AI agent can be connected
to multiple web crawlers at the same time.

Confluence: A Confluence connection connects a Confluence space to your
AI agent. You must first set up a Confluence connection in
Knowledge admin before you can connect it to your AI agent. An AI agent can be
connected to multiple Confluence spaces at the same time.

External records: The Federated Search API connects external records to
your AI agent. You must first configure Federated Search API calls
before your AI agent can use these external records.

You can connect multiple types of content sources to a single AI agent. For example,
an AI agent can be connected to a Zendesk help center and one or more web crawlers
and Confluence spaces at the same time.
The web crawler refreshes content every 30 minutes. Confluence connections refresh
content every 24 hours, but you can manually refresh Confluence content if
needed. External records ingested through the Federated Search API refresh based on
your configuration.



Viewing all connected content sources

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.
To view all connected content sources


In Admin Center, click
AI in the sidebar, then select AI agents > AI agents.
Click the name of the AI agent you want to update.
Click the Settings tab.
Click the Brand and channels section to expand it. Under Brand, the
help center of the brand selected in the dropdown is used as the AI
agent’s default content source.

Below that, the External
content sources section shows all external content sources connected to your
AI agent.






Connecting an external content source

You can connect an external content source to an AI agent so it uses the information
from that source when generating answers to customer questions.
The available types of external content sources are web crawlers, Confluence spaces,
and external records ingested through the Federated Search API. Before you can add
an external content source to your AI agent, you must have already set up a web crawler, set up a Confluence connection, or configured a Federated Search API
call.
To add an external content source source



In the list of content
sources, click Edit sources. A new dialog
opens.


Select one or more external content sources you want to connect your AI
agent to. If you don’t see the source you want, click either Manage
crawlers or Manage Confluence to be taken to Knowledge
admin to set up a new web crawler or
set up a new Confluence
connection. Or, configure a Federated Search API
call.

Click Save. The selected sources are added to your list of external
content sources.



Updates to the AI agent’s connected content sources won’t be presented to customers
until you publish the AI agent.



Disconnecting an external content source

You can disconnect an external content source from an AI agent to prevent it from
using the information in that source when generating answers to customer
questions.


Note: You can’t disconnect a Zendesk help center. An AI agent
must always be connected to one Zendesk help center.

To disconnect an external content source



In the list of content
sources, click Edit sources.
Deselect the external content source you want to disconnect from your AI
agent.
Click Save.


Updates to the AI agent’s connected content sources won’t be presented to customers
until you publish the AI agent.


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