# Knowledge Base
URL: https://docs.clearly-ai.com/docs/knowledge
Description: Add organization-wide policies, standards, snippets, and FAQs used by Clearly AI reviews and chat.
The **Knowledge Base** is organization-wide context for Clearly AI. Use it for policies, security standards, review guidance, runbooks, approved boilerplate, and recurring questions that should inform reviews and chat.

Knowledge Base content is separate from project sources. Project sources describe the system being reviewed. Knowledge Base content describes how your organization evaluates systems.

<Note>
  Knowledge Base management is available to organization admins and owners. If you do not see **Knowledge Base** in the sidebar, ask an admin or owner to add or update content for you.
</Note>

## What to add [#what-to-add]

Add material that reviewers expect Clearly AI to apply repeatedly:

* Security, privacy, compliance, or AI governance policies.
* Secure development standards.
* Review procedures and escalation rules.
* Approved answers or standard language.
* Frequently asked questions with known answers.
* Internal guidance that explains how your team interprets a control.

Do not add project-specific design docs here unless they should apply across the organization. Add project-specific evidence to a [project](https://docs.clearly-ai.com/docs/reviews#step-2-add-sources) instead.

## Open the Knowledge Base [#open-the-knowledge-base]

1. In the sidebar, open **Knowledge Base**.
2. Use **Search Knowledge Base** to test retrieval.
3. Use the **Files**, **Text**, and **FAQs** tabs to manage content.

## Files [#files]

Use **Files** for longer reference material such as policies, standards, diagrams, exports, and runbooks.

1. Open **Files**.
2. Click **Add Source**.
3. In **Upload Files**, drag files in or use **Browse Files**.
4. Use **Browse Directory** when you want to upload a folder.

Each file can also have **instructions**. Use instructions to tell Clearly AI how that file should be used, for example:

```text
Use this policy for production services that process customer data.
Ignore it for internal-only prototype systems.
```

From the file list, you can download, preview, delete, and add or edit instructions for a file.

## Text snippets [#text-snippets]

Use **Text** for short reusable context that does not need to be a file.

1. Open **Text**.
2. Click **Add Snippet**.
3. Enter **Name** and **Content**.
4. Save the snippet.

Good snippet examples:

* Standard wording for approved compensating controls.
* Short notes about how your organization classifies sensitive data.
* Review guidance that should be available without opening a full policy.

## FAQs [#faqs]

Use **FAQs** for questions with stable answers.

1. Open **FAQs**.
2. Click **Add FAQ**.
3. Enter **Question** and **Answer**.
4. Save the FAQ.

FAQs are useful when reviewers or engineers repeatedly ask the same thing, such as which policy applies to a common data type or when a specific review path is required.

## Search the Knowledge Base [#search-the-knowledge-base]

Use **Search Knowledge Base** to check whether Clearly AI can retrieve the content you expect.

1. Expand **Search Knowledge Base**.
2. Enter a focused query.
3. Click **Search**.

Results show matching text, filename, file path when available, size, modified date, and a relevance score. If a policy or snippet is hard to find through search, rename it, add clearer content, or split the document into more focused files.

## How reviews use the Knowledge Base [#how-reviews-use-the-knowledge-base]

During review generation, Clearly AI can search the Knowledge Base when a review template question needs organization-wide context. This is most useful when the question asks about policy requirements, review standards, approved patterns, or internal control interpretation.

Review Templates can also reference Knowledge Base content directly in question instructions. See [Review Templates](https://docs.clearly-ai.com/docs/review-templates#making-use-of-the-knowledge-base).

## How chat uses the Knowledge Base [#how-chat-uses-the-knowledge-base]

Chat can use:

* **Text snippets** and **FAQs** as general organization context.
* **Search Knowledge Base** to find relevant policy or guidance.
* **Read document** actions to inspect Knowledge Base files before answering.

Chat answers should be treated as AI-generated. Use citations and the **Sources** panel to verify important claims.

## Good practices [#good-practices]

* Prefer specific, current documents over large archives.
* Add instructions to files whose scope is limited by region, business unit, product type, or data type.
* Keep snippets short and named clearly.
* Use FAQs for stable answers, not evolving decisions.
* Remove outdated policy versions, or label them clearly as historical.

## FAQs [#faqs-1]

<Accordions>
  <Accordion title="Why doesn’t search find a document?">
    Try a shorter query with the exact policy or topic name. If it still does not appear, confirm the file uploaded successfully and is not a duplicate filename.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why does Chat give a generic answer?">
    Ask it to search for the specific policy, standard, or FAQ by name. If the answer still lacks detail, add clearer instructions or more focused Knowledge Base content.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why did a review ignore the Knowledge Base?">
    Check the review template question and hidden instructions. Very broad prompts may not make it clear which policy or standard should be used.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="How do I limit when a file should be used?">
    Add or edit file instructions so Clearly AI knows when to use it.
  </Accordion>
</Accordions>