Manage what your bot knows: documents and temporary information

Knowledge documents hold information about your business: delivery terms, returns, service details or a detailed guide. They are not automatically read from start to finish before every answer. Their descriptions, the question and the reading setting help determine which information is opened.

How it works

Knowledge attached to a skill follows that skill’s Who is this for choice. A customer who does not qualify cannot receive the restricted material through knowledge search instead. Hidden skills and their attached guidance are not offered before qualification. This does not change which staff members can read the knowledge in the app.

Documents, instructions and memories are different

What you want to save	Where it belongs	Example
Business information with detail to look up	A knowledge document	Delivery areas, prices and exceptions.
A short business fact	Facts in the Handbook	“Collection is from our main branch.”
How the bot should behave	Guidance or a skill’s instructions in the Handbook	Ask a particular question before recommending a service.
Something about one customer	A memory in that customer’s customer profile, not a general document	The customer’s preferred delivery day.

For a custom skill, open its rule editor and set Until with an optional Time (optional) in your workspace’s time zone. Without a time, it ends at the end of that date. After expiry the bot no longer uses the skill or its attached knowledge. The rule stays visible with an Expired label. Choose No end date to clear the date, or a later date to renew it. A past date is allowed and shows a warning.

A skill is a particular ability or rule the bot uses. A document attached to a skill belongs to that skill’s knowledge. General documents are not attached to one of your custom skills. Do not put a customer’s private details in general knowledge.

A skill’s documents stop being available to the bot when that skill is disabled. Deleting a custom skill also deletes its attached knowledge sources. To preserve a document independently, use Move to general knowledge before deleting the skill. Changing where a document belongs does not rewrite its contents. See teaching and learning for choosing the right place for new information.

These are two views of the same saved documents. The configuration view groups sources by skill. A disabled skill can remain visible there, marked Disabled, without its documents being available to the bot. The bot’s name changes the Handbook’s heading. You do not need a separate document library for each line.

The row leads with its description. Below it you can see the document name, source type, any skill assignment, how it is currently served and, for linked sources, the last sync or read information. Catalog knowledge marks information brought in as catalog knowledge; it is not a switch to a live Shopify catalog.

When a file is available to customers

Uploading a file in the Coach does not save it as knowledge by itself. Apply its knowledge card first. The saved file must finish processing with readable text and belong to an enabled skill that answers customers. A skill used only for conversations with your team does not make its documents available to customers. A linked source must also retain its access.

Both small files the bot opens for reading and large files it searches can be usable. You do not need to force a different reading setting just to finish setup. During Setup, Not available to customers yet links to unfinished files and unapplied cards. It can name a failed file even while another source is already ready.

Long documents and sections

omotto can automatically organize suitable long text documents into sections for reading. This lets the bot open a relevant section instead of treating the beginning as the whole document. Not every document has sections, and spreadsheets are handled differently. Clear headings and separate topics make your source easier to maintain. There is no section-outline editor or separate sectioning setting to configure.

Where to find it

Use Bot → Handbook → Documents, in the area describing what your bot knows. Synced website pages are in Handbook → Web sources, not the Documents list.

Set it up

Editing, adding, downloading and deleting depend on your permissions. Viewing a Handbook row does not necessarily give you download or edit access. If the expected control is missing, ask your workspace owner to check your access. Some source types also depend on your plan or available connections.

When uploading a knowledge file, creating a blank document or linking from Google Drive, choose Add to for general knowledge or the intended skill. The selected skill stays selected through Google sign-in and when the new document’s content editor opens. Disabled skills remain listed but cannot receive new knowledge. Send-only uploads keep their separate purpose and permissions.

Find a document in the Handbook

1. Open Documents.
2. Enter part of its name or description in Search documents. This searches the list’s names and descriptions, not every word inside document bodies.
3. Under Show, choose the group you need.
4. Use the page controls to reach other results.

You can also use Search this Handbook at the top of the page. It finds matching document names and descriptions across list pages, then may add related matches after a short pause. It does not search inside document bodies. Search only reveals items you can already access. Clear restores your previous view without changing saved settings.

Upload a file the bot can read

Use PDF, Word .docx, plain text .txt, Markdown .md, or a spreadsheet .xlsx, .csv or .tsv. Convert old .doc and .xls files first. Knowledge uploads can be up to 25 MB each. Storage allowance still applies.

From the Handbook

1. Open Documents.
2. Open Add a document, the plus menu.
3. Choose Upload file.
4. If the choice is shown, leave The assistant reads it selected. This is the starting choice when you can add knowledge.
5. Choose your file.
6. Fill in What’s in this document? with a short, accurate description.
7. Choose Save.
8. Wait for processing to finish before testing the information.

Only send it, don’t read is a different purpose. It adds a file for a sending rule, rather than a document the bot reads to answer questions. If you only have access to sending files, that can be the only choice shown. Follow sending files to finish the rule.

From the configuration view

1. Find the skill group that should own the document.
2. Choose Add → Upload file.
3. Choose the document and fill in What’s in this document?.
4. Choose Upload.
5. Check the resulting document row for processing or errors.

Uploading a file is different from Import knowledge, which prepares information for review before saving it into appropriate places.

Create a document without uploading

From the Handbook

1. In Documents, open Add a document → New document.
2. Enter Title. Use a single line and a name that is not already taken.
3. Enter What’s in this document?.
4. Choose Save.
5. The new row opens its content editor. Write the information in Body.
6. Choose Save again to save the body.

Creating the name and description does not fill in the business information for you. Finish the body before relying on the document.

From the configuration view

1. In the appropriate skill group, choose Add → New document.
2. Fill in Title and What’s in this document?.
3. Choose Create.
4. Write the content in the editor that opens.
5. Choose Save.

A new document starts with Auto (recommended) as its reading setting. The title names the document; the description explains its contents; the body contains the actual information. Existing rows have no title-renaming field. A linked or uploaded source keeps its source name; changing its description does not rename the file.

Edit the body, download or remove a document

Edit the body

1. Find the document.
2. In the Handbook, choose the pencil labelled Edit content. In the configuration view, open Document actions → Edit.
3. Change the text.
4. Choose Save, or Cancel to discard the body edit.
5. Wait for the update to be processed before testing it.

Body editing is offered for supported plain-text documents that have passed the security check and are no larger than 1 MiB (1,048,576 bytes). This is a file-size limit, not a character limit. This includes documents written in omotto and eligible uploaded text files. PDF, Word and spreadsheet bodies are not edited in this text editor. Their descriptions can still be edited.

Download

1. Open the document’s three-dot menu.
2. Choose Download, when offered. In the configuration view, the linked filename can also download the file.

Download is also available for linked Google files and synced website pages when a saved copy has passed the security check and you have download permission. It downloads that saved copy, not the current original. Open in Drive, Open the page and Copy link remain separate actions for reaching the source.

Delete

1. Open the document’s three-dot menu.
2. Choose Delete document.
3. Review and confirm the deletion.

The bot stops using the removed document. There is no one-click undo. If the document is also sent by a File rule, remove it from those rules first; the deletion dialog points to the affected rules. Deletion is not a way to change the document while keeping its sending rules intact.

Temporary knowledge and end dates

For a temporary promotion, closure or exception, state both the information and its end date when teaching it. Do not rely on a sentence such as “this week” in an uploaded document to schedule automatic expiry.

1. Explain the temporary information in your Coach conversation, including the exact date and time if relevant.
2. If the suggestion asks Is this temporary? Tell me until when, answer in the conversation before approving it.
3. Check Valid until, when shown, and the proposed text before saving. A memory suggestion’s inline editor also offers a Valid until date field.
4. Approve only when the content and end date are right. Approving an undated suggestion as-is keeps it with no end date.

Settings

Show

Show choice	What it means	Initial choice
All	All entries you are allowed to see, including send-only uploaded files when available.	Selected when no filter is set.
Needs action	Documents with reading/security failures, certain source-access problems, or a missing description after processing.	Not selected.
General	Documents in general knowledge.	Not selected.
A skill’s name	Documents belonging to that skill. These choices appear for skills represented in the list.	Not selected.

Write and edit useful descriptions

What’s in this document? is written for the bot, not just for filing. Prefer “Returns and exchanges: time limits, item condition and refund methods” over “Important document”. Describe what is actually inside. Do not use this field as a substitute for behavioral instructions or put the entire policy in it.

• Manual uploads and new documents require a description in these forms.
• Some automatically created or linked documents receive a drafted description. You may briefly see Drafting a description from the document….
• A description you change to your own nonblank text is not automatically overwritten. Update it yourself when the contents change.
• Clearing an existing description returns it to a fallback such as the filename and allows automatic drafting where available. It does not guarantee an immediate new description. Enter your own accurate text if needed.

To change it in the Handbook, click the description in the row. It saves as you type; choose Done to close it. In the configuration view, choose Edit description, change the text and choose Save.

How the assistant reaches this document

In the Handbook, choose More beneath a document. In the configuration view, expand Show retrieval settings. The setting is How the assistant reaches this document. Changing a choice saves it immediately and may start processing again.

Choice	What it does	When to use it
Auto (recommended)	Lets omotto choose the reading approach from the document’s size. Ordinary processing selects Readable for up to 48,000 characters of extracted text and Searchable above that.	The default for new documents; leave it unless you have a reason to choose another approach.
Inline	Places short document text alongside the bot’s working information rather than requiring a separate opening step. It is available only for documents with up to 8,000 characters of extracted text.	Short information that is relevant very often.
Readable	Makes the document available to open on demand. A short document can be read whole; a long one may be read in sections or ranges.	A guide or policy that is opened when relevant.
Searchable	Makes relevant passages discoverable by meaning, rather than relying on an exact word match.	Long documents or a large collection.

Served as or Currently served as shows the reading approach currently available. It can differ from the choice while a linked source is refreshing. Inline text can also be opened on demand when the collection is too large to include it all together. None of these choices guarantees that every word is read for every reply.

Finding a document and reading it are different steps. Descriptions help choose a source; search can return relevant portions. A result from a long document is not proof that the entire document was read. An unsuccessful search is not proof that the information does not exist. If answers miss something, check its description, status, skill assignment and actual contents, then try a rehearsal or inspect the reply.

What happens when…

Who owns updates: upload, Google Drive or website?

Source	Where you change the body	How omotto gets a newer version
Written in omotto or an editable text upload	Edit content or Edit in omotto.	Save; the changed file is processed again.
Other uploaded file	Edit your original outside omotto.	Upload the revised file; the uploaded copy does not watch your computer for changes. Use a different filename if the existing name is taken, then remove the outdated document when appropriate.
Linked Google file	The Google source, not the omotto body editor.	Sync; use Sync now when available. See Google Drive knowledge.
Synced website page	The source website.	Automatic checks or Sync now, when available. See web sources.

In the Handbook, synced pages belong to Web sources. A site searched live is not the same as a saved, synced page; follow the web-sources guide for that choice.

For an eligible Drive file, Unlink from Drive opens a confirmation to keep a local copy. Unlink and keep a copy to edit here, where offered, stops following the source and keeps a local copy; in-app body editing still requires a supported editable format. Unlinking is unavailable before the first sync finishes. A website page does not have this Drive unlink action.

Sync now requests a refresh; it does not mean the update has finished. Check the row again. If source access is withdrawn or a page is no longer reachable, its knowledge is not available for customer answers. Reconnect, select the file again or fix the source as the displayed message directs.

Reading knowledge is not sending a file

A document can be both knowledge and a file sent to customers. In the Handbook menu:

• Send this when… starts a sending rule while keeping the document as knowledge. Complete the rule to specify when it should be sent.
• Send only, don’t read, where offered, converts an eligible document to a send-only file. Confirming stops the bot from reading it as knowledge, then opens its sending rule.
• Also sent when… links to existing rules using that document.

These controls depend on access, plan and document eligibility. See sending files for conditions, attachments and rule setup.

Temporary knowledge reaches its end date

An end date without a time lasts through the end of that day in the business’s time zone. A specified local time ends at that time. See region and time-zone settings if the business’s zone is wrong.

Dated document or instruction text stops being supplied as current knowledge after expiry. Its stored text may still appear in the editor; expiry does not delete the document. Expired memories are retained rather than automatically deleted, and are no longer current. You do not need to type special markers yourself. Spreadsheet cells do not use the same automatic expiry behavior as dated prose.

Ask what changed, without looking for a history screen

You can ask the Coach about recorded knowledge changes: for example, “What changed in our returns policy last week?” Give the subject, document name and approximate dates. Available history can include memories, skills, instructions and document changes, subject to your viewing permissions.

This is not a guarantee that every old file version can be recovered. Older changes may be absent, long changes may be partial, and linked-source history does not preserve a full independent copy of the provider’s content.

If restoring earlier wording produces a suggestion, review it like any other Coach suggestion. Check it against today’s policy and approve only the intended change. Restoration uses ordinary reviewed changes, not a dedicated history screen or an automatic undo button.

Troubleshooting

Processing, security and “Needs OCR”

Status or message	Meaning and next step
Processing	The file is not yet ready. Wait and check again.
Ready	Processing finished. It does not mean every answer will use the document.
Failed	The file could not be read. For an ordinary upload, delete it and upload it again.
Unsupported type	Use one of the supported file formats above.
Needs OCR	omotto could not extract usable text. A scan is one possible cause; an empty text file or one containing only spaces can also trigger this status. Check that the source contains text. For a scan, upload a version with selectable text. OCR means converting a picture of text into readable text; this status is not a promise that omotto will convert the scan.
Blocked by security scan	The rejected file will not be read. Delete it and upload a clean copy.
Action required	The Handbook has a problem needing your attention. Read the explanation beneath the row.
Missing description	Add an accurate description rather than relying only on a filename.

Linked sources can instead show a connection/access problem, a paused sync, a temporary error, a storage limit or processing-capacity wait. Follow that message and the linked-source guide. A website security warning may explicitly say the last safe version remains available; that is different from a rejected first upload becoming ready. If processing stays stuck or a retry fails again, contact support with the filename and visible status, without sending private file contents unnecessarily.

Related

• The Handbook
• Import knowledge
• Google Drive knowledge
• Web sources
• Sending files
• Teaching and learning