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What Are Knowledge Sources in Macha, and How Do You Add Them?
A knowledge source is any content a Macha agent can search and reference, added as uploaded files, a crawled website, a single webpage or a connected app. Live sources such as Google Workspace, Notion and Confluence are read in real time, while Ready sources are indexed snapshots.
Key takeaways
- A knowledge source in Macha is any content an agent can search and reference, and every source is managed from the Sources page in the Macha dashboard.
- Macha accepts uploads of up to 10 files at a time, each up to 20 MB, and a website crawl indexes up to the first 200 pages it finds.
- Live sources in Macha, such as Google Workspace, Notion and Confluence, are read in real time, while Ready sources like uploaded files are indexed snapshots.
- The Zendesk Help Center source syncs itself whenever articles are published or unpublished, while website sources need a manual Resync to pick up changes.
A knowledge source in Macha is any content an agent can search and reference when it answers, and you add one from the Sources page in four ways: upload files (up to 10 at a time, 20 MB each), crawl a website (up to 200 pages), index a single webpage, or connect an app such as your Zendesk Help Center, Notion, Google Workspace or Confluence.
| Source type | Status | How it stays current |
|---|---|---|
| Upload Documents (PDF, DOCX, XLSX, CSV, TXT) | Ready | Re-upload when the file changes |
| Add Website / Add Webpage | Ready | Hit Resync |
| Zendesk Help Center | Ready | Syncs on publish or unpublish |
| Google Workspace, Notion, Confluence | Live | Read in real time |
What does a knowledge source look like in 50 seconds?
What counts as a knowledge source?
A knowledge source is any content your agent can search through and reference. Help-center articles, a policy PDF, your website, an internal wiki: once it's a source, the agent can look things up in it. You manage them all from the Sources page.
How do you add a knowledge source in Macha?
At the top of the Sources page you've got three quick options, plus connected apps:
- Upload Documents: for files like PDFs, Word docs, spreadsheets and CSVs. Spreadsheets of 2,000 rows or fewer load straight into the agent's context; bigger files are chunked and searched. (How to upload documents.)
- Add Website: crawl and index a whole site, up to the first 200 pages Macha finds. (How to index a website.)
- Add Webpage: index a single URL when that's all you need.
- Connected apps: your Zendesk Help Center, Notion, Google Workspace and Confluence can all be sources too.
The AI Knowledge Builder can also turn past Zendesk tickets into articles, which become a normal source.
What's the difference between Live and Ready sources?
Each source shows a status badge that tells you how fresh it is:
- Live (Google Workspace, Notion, Confluence): these pull content in real time from the connected app. Change the doc, and the agent sees the change on its next read.
- Ready (Zendesk Help Center, uploaded files, indexed websites): these have been indexed and are good to search. They're snapshots. The Help Center syncs itself; a website needs a Resync, and a changed file needs a fresh upload.
That split decides which kind of source suits content that changes. (See knowledge source vs. tool.)
Why do knowledge sources matter for answer quality?
With good sources connected, the agent quotes your documented answers; without them, it guesses from its training data. It's the biggest single lever on answer quality. (For the deeper how-to on connecting and scoping sources per agent, see connecting a knowledge base to an AI agent.)
Frequently asked questions
What is a knowledge source? Any content your agent can search and reference: help-center articles, docs, a website, an uploaded file.
How do I add one? Upload documents, add a website to crawl, add a single webpage, or connect an app like your Help Center, Notion, Google Workspace or Confluence.
What's the difference between Live and Ready? Live sources pull content in real time from a connected app; Ready sources have been indexed (a snapshot you can search).
Does my Zendesk Help Center stay current? Yes. It syncs as you publish or unpublish articles.
How big can an upload be? Up to 10 files at a time, each up to 20 MB. A website crawl stops at 200 pages.
Which source should you connect first?
Start with your Zendesk Help Center: it's written for customers and keeps itself in sync. Then connect anything your team edits weekly, like pricing sheets, as a Live Google Doc or Notion source.
Ground your agent: add your help center and docs as knowledge sources. $50 of free usage, no credit card required. Start free.
