Knowledge base#

A knowledge base is a set of documents you can edit (with folders), plus background for your agent, the library items filed in it and the watches linked to it. One sentence separates it from the library: a knowledge base holds documents you can edit; the library holds everything else.

Knowledge bases live in the cloud only. Open them from any device, and your agent keeps working in them while your computer is off.

My knowledge base#

Every account comes with "My knowledge base", which can't be deleted. You never have to create anything first: any document that isn't written inside another knowledge base goes here.

More knowledge bases#

A knowledge base is a way to organise once you need one, not a prerequisite. When a project or a long-running interest deserves its own place, create one: "Competitor research", "Reading", "Job search".

1. Select the + next to "Knowledge bases" in the sidebar;
2. Choose "New knowledge base". One called "Untitled knowledge base" is created at once;
3. Rename it in place.

The knowledge base tree in the sidebar contains only folders and documents, and each document is one Markdown file. Only the knowledge base you're in is expanded by default.

The knowledge base page#

Open a knowledge base and you see:

• at the top, its icon and name, both editable in place; More has Rename, Export as Markdown and Delete knowledge base (no Delete for "My knowledge base");
• in the middle, an input box (start a conversation here), then the conversations and documents that belong here (New document, New folder, or "Import Markdown files");
• on the right, background for your agent, library items (the latest few, with Add and View all), linked watches, and the automations in this knowledge base. On a phone these sit below.

Background for your agent#

A note written for your agent: what this knowledge base is for, what you care about, how you want things framed. Up to 1,000 characters. In a conversation here, the background goes to your agent with every turn.

Library items#

Pages, files and recordings in your library can be filed in a knowledge base. Add lets you "Upload a file", "Paste a link" or "Pick from your library"; anything you add here is filed in this knowledge base directly. Filing is optional; see Library.

Linked watches#

A watch doesn't belong to a knowledge base, but you can link one. A knowledge base can link several watches, and a watch can be linked to several knowledge bases. Select Link and pick from the watches you follow. Once linked, your agent looks through those watches' briefs first when you talk to it here. Unlinking doesn't unfollow: the watch stays in your radar. The other way round, when you unfollow a watch, its links to knowledge bases are removed too.

Automations#

The automations that write their documents into this knowledge base are listed here. Add opens a new one with this knowledge base already chosen.

How your agent searches#

• By default it searches everything: the documents in all your knowledge bases, your library, and the watches you follow.
• In a conversation inside a knowledge base, it looks through that one's documents, filed items and linked watches first, then everywhere else.
• Filing only decides where something lives and what gets searched first. It is not a wall: nothing is out of reach because it sits in a different knowledge base.

Importing a Markdown folder#

Already have a folder of Markdown, such as an Obsidian vault?

1. Select the + next to "Knowledge bases" and choose "Import a Markdown folder";
2. Choose the folder, or drop it on the page. If your browser can't pick folders, choose Markdown files or a .zip instead;
3. The page lists what will come in. Select Import;
4. Watch the progress until it finishes (keep the page open until then). You land in the new knowledge base.

• The whole folder becomes one new knowledge base. Its name is the folder name, cut to 60 characters when the folder name is longer, and the folder structure stays as it is. A document with a title in its front matter uses it; otherwise the file name is the title.
• There are no questions to answer: before you import, the page shows how many documents and folders will come in and how many other files are skipped.
• Only Markdown files (.md, .markdown) are imported; other files are skipped. Chinese file and folder names inside a .zip keep their names when they are encoded as UTF-8 or GBK. Hidden files and folders (names starting with ., such as .obsidian or .git), node_modules and __MACOSX are left out, and the page tells you how many and which. Files must be UTF-8: if one can't be read, nothing is imported and you're told which file it is.
• Nothing is dropped silently: a folder name over 80 characters, a file name over 200 characters, or two paths that differ only by letter case or Unicode form (such as Notes/a.md and notes/a.md) stop the import and the files are named. Rename them and try again.
• One import allows at most 2,000 documents, 200 folders and 12 levels of nesting; above that, import a subfolder instead. If the scan sees more than 50,000 files of any type, it stops, and you import a subfolder instead.
• A document over 500,000 characters is left out, like other file types: the page names it before you press Import, and everything else is imported.
• A .zip can be up to 100 MB (for a bigger one, unzip it and choose the folder), and the Markdown inside can unpack to at most 200 MB (for more, unzip it and import a subfolder).
• If it stops halfway, what was imported stays. Select Import the rest to carry on, without duplicates. The same goes for a reload or a closed tab: come back to this page (the knowledge base's own page points you here too), choose the same folder again, and the rest is imported into the same knowledge base. What you choose again must match the first time: if files were added, removed or renamed, it is imported as a new knowledge base. The unfinished-import reminder lives only in this browser on this computer and is kept for 7 days. It doesn't show up on another device or browser. Select Don't remind me to drop it.
• Your original folder isn't touched. From then on they are two independent copies: changing one doesn't change the other.
• A .zip exported from waper (see "Exporting" below) can be imported straight back.

Only want a few Markdown files in a knowledge base you already have? In the Documents section of that knowledge base's page, select Import Markdown files. The files go to the top level, and the rules are the same as above (only .md and .markdown; if one can't be read, nothing is imported; a file over 500,000 characters is named and skipped, and the rest are imported). A knowledge base holds at most 2,000 documents: if the import would go over that, it stops, and what was already imported stays.

Would rather not upload a folder? Then don't import it. Choose "Work in a folder on your computer" from the + in the input box, and your agent reads and edits it in place while your computer is online. See Your computers.

Exporting#

You can export a knowledge base as Markdown at any time (More → Export as Markdown on its page). You get an archive with the same folder structure. One export packs up to about 8 million characters of text; above that the page tells you how much there is, and you can move some documents to another knowledge base and export the two separately. A single document can be exported on its own too; see Documents.

Deleting#

Every knowledge base except "My knowledge base" can be deleted (More → Delete knowledge base on its page). Nothing in it is deleted: its documents and folders move to "My knowledge base", the items filed in it become unfiled, linked watches stay in your radar, conversations started in it stay in your conversation list, and its automations stay, but no longer belong to this knowledge base.