Skip to main content
Build Your Mate Ecosystem

Supercharging Mates with Knowledge (Overview)

How Mate Knowledge gives a Mate files it uses in every conversation, and when to use it instead of an attachment.

Last updated 10 days ago

Mate Knowledge gives a Mate a set of files that it always has at hand: procedures, product sheets, glossaries, style guides, reports. You attach the files once, on the Mate. The Mate then uses them in every conversation, with no need to attach them again. This article explains how knowledge works. The steps are in "How to Add and Manage Files in Mate Knowledge".

For the choice between a conversation attachment and Mate Knowledge, and for a plain-language guide to the integration modes, see How a Mate uses your knowledge.

How a Mate uses its knowledge

  • Persistent across all conversations. The files stay on the Mate. They apply in private chats and in workspace conversations alike.
  • Used in every answer. Each time the Mate answers, it uses every active knowledge file, in the form set by the file's integration mode.
  • You choose the form per file. The integration mode decides what the Mate receives: the file itself, a Markdown conversion, a summary, only the file name, or nothing. A Hidden file stays stored but does not reach the Mate.
  • Attached to one Mate. A knowledge file belongs to the Mate you attach it to. Other Mates do not receive it. The Mate can quote or use the content in its answers, so anyone who talks to the Mate can see what it says about the files.

Large active files leave less room for the conversation. Pick the lightest mode that does the job: a Summary for a long report, Hidden for a file you want to keep but not use now.

Supported files

You can attach most file types, up to 1000 MB per file. Executable and installer files (for example .exe, .dmg or .sh), system files and empty files are refused with a message.

After the upload, the platform processes each file:

  • PDF, Word (DOC, DOCX), PowerPoint (PPT, PPTX), Excel (XLS, XLSX), CSV and Markdown files are converted to Markdown text.
  • The Summary mode uses an AI summary of the file that the platform generates.

What the Mate can read from other files, such as images, audio or video, depends on its model. With the Default mode, a file goes to the Mate as-is when its model accepts that file type.

Mate Knowledge or a conversation attachment?

Conversation attachment

Mate Knowledge

Scope

One conversation

Every conversation of the Mate

Who adds it

Anyone in the conversation

The Mate's Owner or Admin

Visible to

Everyone in the conversation

The Mate's managers, on the Knowledge tab

Best for

A one-off analysis

Reference material the Mate always needs

Add files in a few steps

  1. In the sidebar, click Mates & tools, then Organization's Mates.
  2. Click the Mate.
  3. Open the Knowledge tab.
  4. Click Upload files, or drag files onto the upload area.
  5. Choose an integration mode for each file.

A knowledge change applies at once. You do not need to click Update.

Example use cases

  • Customer support Mate: FAQs, troubleshooting guides, product manuals.
  • HR Mate: company policies, the employee handbook, benefits information.
  • Technical writer Mate: style guides, terminology lists, documentation templates.
  • Sales assistant Mate: product brochures and competitor comparisons.
  • Legal analyst Mate: internal legal guidelines and contract templates. Follow your company's data handling policies.

Was this helpful?

Still need help? Ask the team