Time: ~45 minutes
Skill level: Intermediate
What you'll have by the end: A knowledge base linked to a copilot, with the right documents ingested and a tested approach for keeping it current.

The problem this solves

Without a knowledge base, your copilot knows a lot about the world in general but nothing specific about your organization. It can't answer questions about your internal processes, your product, your policies, or your team's work — because you haven't given it that context.

Knowledge bases fix this. You give the copilot access to your documents, and it uses them to ground its responses in your actual content.

Before you start

You need:

A custom copilot (or you'll create one during this playbook)
A collection of documents relevant to the copilot's purpose
A clear sense of what questions you want the copilot to answer from those documents

If your documents are in Google Drive or SharePoint, you can connect those folders directly. Learn about profile connections →

Step 1: Decide what the knowledge base is for (5 minutes)

A focused knowledge base works better than a general one. Before you start uploading, define the scope.

Answer these questions:

What kinds of questions should this knowledge base help the copilot answer?
Who is the intended audience — the people asking questions of this copilot?
What documents contain the authoritative answers?

Example scopes that work well:

HR policies and employee handbook (for an HR copilot)
Product documentation and release notes (for a support copilot)
Project specs and meeting notes (for a project assistant)
Industry reports and competitive research (for a strategy copilot)

Example scopes that work poorly:

"Everything" — too broad to produce reliable retrieval
A mix of unrelated domains in a single KB linked to a single copilot

If you have a lot of content across different domains, consider multiple knowledge bases linked to different copilots.

Step 2: Prepare your documents (10 minutes)

The copilot is only as good as what you give it. A few things that improve retrieval quality:

Use well-structured documents. Clear headings, sections, and formatting help the copilot understand where information lives. A well-formatted PDF performs better than an unformatted wall of text.

Remove what doesn't belong. Old versions, superseded policies, duplicate content — these introduce noise. Curate before you upload.

Supported formats: PDF, DOCX, TXT, CSV, XLSX
File size limit: 30MB per file

If you have a large document (200+ pages), consider whether the copilot actually needs the full text, or whether a subset of the most relevant sections would serve it better.

Step 3: Create a knowledge base (5 minutes)

Click Knowledge Hub in the sidebar.
Click Create New.
Give it a descriptive name that reflects its scope: "Product Documentation" not "KB 1."
Click Save. You'll land on the detail page.

Full knowledge base guide →

Step 4: Add your documents (10 minutes)

On the knowledge base detail page:

Option A — Upload directly: Drag and drop files onto the upload area or click to open a file picker. You can upload up to 20 files at a time. Status badges show processing progress for each file.

Option B — Connect Google Drive or SharePoint: If your documents live in a cloud folder, connect it directly instead of uploading copies. This keeps your knowledge base in sync with the source.

Click Connect Google Drive or Connect SharePoint (you'll need to authenticate if you haven't)
Select the folder
Wait for the initial sync to complete

If your content changes frequently, consider enabling Auto-Sync to keep the knowledge base updated automatically every 24 hours. Learn about Auto-Sync →

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Admin setup required for external folders
Google Drive and SharePoint connections must be enabled by your organization administrator before they appear in knowledge base settings.

Wait for files to show Processed status before linking the knowledge base to a copilot.

Step 5: Link the knowledge base to your copilot (5 minutes)

Open your copilot's settings.
Go to the Knowledge tab.
Select the knowledge base you just created.
Click Save changes.

Your copilot now has access to those documents.

Step 6: Test the retrieval (10 minutes)

Start a new chat with the copilot and ask questions that should be answerable from your documents. Be specific:

"What is our current policy on [X]?"
"What are the steps for [process Y] according to [document name]?"
"Summarize what [document] says about [topic]."

Evaluate the responses:

Is the information accurate? Cross-check against the source document.
Is the copilot finding the right content?
Are there important questions it can't answer that you expected it to?

If retrieval is missing content you expected:

Confirm the files show Processed status in the knowledge base
Check whether the relevant content is clearly written in the source documents (vague content produces vague answers)
Consider whether the document structure makes the relevant section easy to find

Ongoing maintenance

Knowledge bases go stale if you don't maintain them. Build a lightweight process:

When documents change: Re-upload updated versions or sync the source folder
When documents are retired: Remove them from the knowledge base
After major changes: Test a sample of questions to confirm the copilot is still answering correctly
Periodically: Review what's in the knowledge base and remove anything no longer current or relevant

Next steps

Knowledge bases reference guide — full documentation
Custom copilots guide — other copilot settings
Scaling a copilot across your team — sharing what you've built