Knowledge Base access (agent visibility)
Last updated: October 30, 2026
Choose which knowledge base content your Support Agent can use by adding the knowledge base to its Resources and configuring Support agent access on the relevant collections and articles. Customer visibility and Support Agent access serve different purposes. Making an article internal does not, by itself, prevent an enabled Support Agent from using its content in a customer conversation.
The settings to understand
Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
Agent Resources | Which knowledge sources are available to this agent. |
Visibility | Who can view the article in your knowledge base. |
Support agent access | Whether Support Agents may retrieve and use the content. |
Accessible only by direct link | Whether the article is listed for people browsing or searching the help center. |
Customer-specific restrictions also matter. If content is restricted to particular customers or accounts, confirm that the issue’s account matches those restrictions.
1. Add the knowledge base to the agent’s Resources
Go to Settings > AI controls > Support agents and open your Support Agent.
Open Resources.
Add or select the knowledge base the agent should use.
Adding a knowledge base as a Resource does not override its collection or article access settings. Check both the selected source and the content’s Support agent access.
2. Configure collection access
Open Knowledge base and navigate to the collection.
Open the collection’s Settings.
Find Support agent access and choose the appropriate option.
For Specific agents only, select the agents that should use the collection.
Select Save. Reopen Settings to confirm the saved choice.
Option | When to use it |
|---|---|
Inherit from parent | Use the parent collection’s access configuration. At the knowledge base root, inheritance allows agent access. |
Specific agents only | Allow the selected Support Agents to use the content. |
No support agent access | Prevent Support Agents from using the content. |
Use collection settings for groups of articles with the same intended access. For inherited settings, follow the parent chain until you find the setting that determines access.
3. Check the individual article
Open the article in Knowledge base.
Open Options > Settings.
Review Visibility separately from Support agent access.
Leave access inherited to use the parent setting, or select Specific agents only and choose the intended agents. Use No support agent access when the article must be excluded.
Select Save in the settings sidebar, then reopen it to confirm the saved selection.
An explicit article setting can override an inherited collection setting. Check the article itself when its behavior differs from the other articles in the collection.
Common configurations
Customer documentation: Give the relevant Support Agents access to current product instructions, even when the articles are already visible to customers.
Internal knowledge the agent should use: Keep human visibility internal and explicitly allow the intended Support Agent. The agent can use that knowledge to formulate customer replies, so include only information suitable for that purpose.
Internal-only team material: Set No support agent access for content that the agent should not use, such as unpublished plans or internal operating details.
Multiple agents with different scopes: Use Specific agents only to assign relevant knowledge to each agent.