How to Add AI Data Sources in BoldDesk
BoldDesk’s AI Copilot relies on structured and curated data sources to generate accurate, context-aware responses. You can enhance its performance by adding relevant content through four main methods;
- If an agent lacks permission to access a specific knowledge base, the AI will exclude that content from its responses—even if it exists.
- AI Copilot analyzes the most recent comment in a ticket to generate a reply. The AI will only consider the most recent question if you have several follow-up questions in a ticket.
- BoldDesk uses Azure OpenAI to provide this service, meaning the AI might give incorrect responses. Therefore, the agent needs to verify the AI-generated information before posting.
- Azure OpenAI, as used in BoldDesk’s AI Copilot, generates responses based on:
- Relevant Knowledge Base (KB) articles.
- Other configured sources such as custom answers and uploaded files.
- Azure OpenAI does not have access to external data or any information beyond what is provided within the BoldDesk environment and configured sources.
- The AI permits a maximum of 4096 tokens, roughly equivalent to 12,000 characters. We advise creating separate Knowledge Bases (KBs) for distinct topics instead of combining multiple topics into a single KB.
1. Knowledge Base Articles (KB)
BoldDesk allows you to create structured Knowledge Base (KB) articles that not only serve your customers and agents, but also act as valuable data sources for the AI. These articles help the AI deliver accurate, context-aware responses by referencing published content. Explore more about creating and managing articles for further details.
How to Create a KB Article
- Log in to the BoldDesk Agent Portal.
- Navigate to the AI Module > under Content > Click KB Articles.
- After clicking on KB Articles, you will be redirected to the KB module.
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Under the KB module, click Create > Then select Article.
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Fill in Article details.
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Publish the Article.
- BoldDesk does not impose any limits on the number of articles you can create in the Knowledge Base.
- The AI permits a maximum of 4096 tokens, roughly equivalent to 12,000 characters. We advise creating separate Knowledge Bases (KBs) for distinct topics instead of combining multiple topics into a single KB.
2. Questions and Answers (Q&A)
Questions and Answers act as a data source for the AI Copilot/AI Agent and are not directly visible to end users. You can include FAQ-type questions and answers to help the AI Copilot/AI Agent in addressing those queries. Learn more on How to Create Questions and Answers for AI.
How to Add Q&A Entries
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Navigate to AI module > Knowledge source > Q&A
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Click the Add Q&A button.
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Fill out the question-and-answer fields.
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To finish, click the Publish button. Once published, the Q&A will be integrated into the AI knowledge source.
There are no limits on the number of questions and answers that can be added.
3. Web Pages
Web pages allow BoldDesk AI to reference real-time, publicly accessible content from your documentation site or help portal. When added as a data source, BoldDesk AI indexes the provided URLs and their eligible child pages, using the information to produce accurate, context-aware responses through AI Copilot and AI Agents.
Once configured, these pages become part of the AI’s knowledge foundation, ensuring customers and agents receive responses grounded in your latest published content.
How to add Web Pages
BoldDesk provides a dedicated workflow for adding web pages to the AI module. Follow the steps below.
Steps:
1: Log In
Sign in to the BoldDesk Agent Portal using your agent or admin account.
2: Navigate to Web Pages
Go to:
AI > Content > Web Pages
This opens the Web Pages screen, where all previously added URLs are listed.
3: Add a New Web Page
Click the “Add Web Page” button.
A Web Page dialog box appears with three available methods for adding source URLs:
- Crawl Links
- Import Sitemap
- Add Single URL
Each method supports different indexing requirements, depending on the structure of your documentation.
Learn more on How to Make Your Site Reliable for AI Support.
- Providing a root domain, such as https://www.bolddesk.com/, will result in the processing of all pages within that domain. If a specific path is provided, such as https://www.bolddesk.com/pricing, only the nested pages within that path (for example, https://www.bolddesk.com/pricing/team-based) will be processed. Other URLs will not be crawled.
- Additionally, during crawling, only links to pages within the same domain will be considered. Links to external domains will be disregarded.
- Sitemap URLs can also be utilized, and they will be processed accordingly.
- To simplify whitelisting and approval through the robots.txt file, we provide a dedicated user agent, BoldDesk-Bot. If you have restrictions in place for external crawlers, you can grant access to BoldDesk by whitelisting this specific user agent.
- To remove URLs from the AI’s knowledge base, navigate to AI → Web Pages, select the relevant website, and delete the URLs from the displayed list. Once deleted, the AI will no longer index, retrieve, or reference content from these URLs in any future interactions. This procedure ensures that outdated, irrelevant, or undesired information is excluded, thereby maintaining the accuracy, relevance, and integrity of the AI’s responses.
4. File (PDF)
BoldDesk allows you to enrich its AI by uploading files that serve as knowledge sources. These files are processed and indexed to help the AI respond accurately to user queries.
How to Add a File
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Log in to BoldDesk Agent portal.
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Navigate to AI Module → Knowledge Source → Files.
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Click on ‘Add File’.
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Choose the Brand, set the Access Scope (Private or Public), and upload the file.
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Then click ‘Add File’ to save.
- BoldDesk currently supports uploading files in PDF and Microsoft documents (.doc, .docx, .docm, .dot, .dotx, .dotm) formats. Ensure that all uploaded files are clear, well‑structured, and relevant to help the AI accurately process the content and generate reliable responses.
- Only files that are publicly accessible will be processed. Private files will be excluded from the end user’s update.
- BoldDesk has imposed limits on how many files one can add. Trial Users: A maximum of 5 PDF documents can be added. Active Users: A maximum of 100 PDF documents can be added.
- The data sources added can be used in both the Web App and the Mobile App; however, they can only be added through the Web Application.
- Currently, BoldDesk AI cannot generate responses from previous tickets or emails. However, you can convert frequently used email replies into Knowledge Base (KB) articles. Once published, the AI can reference these articles to provide accurate answers to similar questions in the future.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q. What types of content can be used as AI data sources?
KB articles, Q&A entries, web pages, and PDF & Microsoft documents files (.doc, .docx, .docm, .dot, .dotx, .dotm) formats.
Q. Can I control who sees the data sources?
Yes. You can set access scopes to Private (internal only) or Public (visible to all).
Q. What happens if a data source is deleted?
The AI will no longer reference or retrieve content from deleted sources.
Q. Does the AI access external websites or the internet?
No. The AI only uses data explicitly added to BoldDesk.
Q. How can I ensure the AI gives accurate answers?
Keep your data sources up to date, well-structured, and topic-specific. Always review AI responses before sending.
