What Do I Put in an AI Agent's Knowledge Source?
A knowledge source is a folder of your own documents. What goes in it, what it is not, and the read-through to do before you connect it.
A knowledge source is a folder of your own documents that your AI agent pulls from first, such as a one sheet, topics and a bio. It's not a website or another person's data. Read what is in the folder before you connect it.
In my skills setup video I use my speaking AI agent's folder as the example. If you're a solo consultant, a host or a nonprofit staffer, your folder holds different documents, and the order stays the same: prepare the folder, read it through, then connect it. The video is my skills setup video.
What is a knowledge source?
I start with what it isn't.
From my setup video. It is not, let's say, access to a website or access to another person's data.
Then I give the example I use.
From my setup video. Let's say I use a folder that has my speaking topics, my bio, my headshot, all the things that I would need to do for a speaking engagement.
What goes in the folder?
In my example, the folder holds the documents the AI agent needs for one job.
From my setup video. The knowledge source could be my speaker folder that has my one sheet, topics, bio, any other details that I need.
The folder lives where I already keep my documents.
From my setup video. I would upload the Google or Microsoft or Box folder, wherever I'm housing my documents, that folder would go in knowledge source.
The reason for the folder is the order the AI agent works in.
From my setup video. So, that when my speaking gig agent starts working for me, they know pull from this source first.
Example, replace with yours: a nonprofit staffer might gather the grant files an AI agent should read first, such as the one pager, the program descriptions and the boilerplate for proposals. A host might gather the show description, the guest bio template and the topics list.
How do I prepare a folder?
| Step | What you do | | --- | --- | | Prepare | Put one job's documents in one folder, in the place you already keep them | | Read through | Open every file in it, and ask whether you want your AI agent to have it | | Connect | Attach the folder to the AI agent only after the read-through |
In the video I didn't connect my own folder, because I wanted to check what was in it first.
How is a knowledge source different from a connector?
A connector gives the AI agent access to a tool. In the same video I say I would add connectors too:
From my setup video. I would definitely need to give it access to my calendar, Gmail, and my Drive just to start off.
In the session I named which tools I give my AI agent access to:
From the recording, 31:04. I'm going to give my agent access to ones I've already given it access to before, such as my Google Drive, Sheets, Gmail, as well as a calendar, okay?
The folder is a different thing. It holds the documents the AI agent reads first, and the connector is how it reaches a tool. There is a longer page on what a connector is, and one on what a skill is.
Where do I attach it?
The builder in my video is Gumloop. On my relationship to Gumloop, I said this:
From the recording, 33:22. I don't work for Gumloop. I found this tool over the summer through Lenny's podcast, and I started using it and have since made myself an ambassador for them. I've created a relationship with Gumloop. I am not an employee.
More on that is in Do you work for Gumloop? (the answer from the session).
Checked on 2026-11-05 against Gumloop's AI agent documentation: it has a Knowledge Sources section where you attach sources such as Google Drive, Notion, Slack, GitHub, Confluence or uploaded files, and you can attach a whole source or pick the exact files and folders. My video names a Google, Microsoft or Box folder, so the options differ, and screens change.
What goes wrong
Connecting a folder you haven't read is the failure.
From my setup video. A knowledge source, which I'm not going to connect because I need to double-check what's in my speaking gig folder before I give the agent access.
My answer is a read-through.
From my setup video. Hey, as a best practice, before you connect a tool, actually read through it. Go through a manual checklist to make sure that that's information you'd want to share with your agent.
I said the same about skills I download from the internet: I'm very hesitant to copy one if I can't read it before I download it (34:47).
How Do You Vet an AI Agent Skill Before Downloading It? covers that case.
What my captions don't cover: a limit on the size of a folder, how often the AI agent re-reads it, or what happens when a file in it changes.
Where this comes from
This article grows from the session I taught live with Women Applying AI on October 7, 2026, and from my published skills setup video on YouTube, whose captions were pulled on October 31, 2026. The quoted passages are my own words, with the source named in each. The lists and steps around them were drafted by my team's AI agents from those words and my published pages, and checked against the recording before publishing. Platform details that have a public source carry a dated Checked on line.
Build Your First AI Agent in One Hour: the full session with the clips, the prompts and the transcript.
Related reading: What Is a Connector for an AI Agent?, What Is a Skill for an AI Agent?, How Do You Vet an AI Agent Skill Before Downloading It?.
Frequently asked questions
What is a knowledge source?
A folder of my own documents, such as a one sheet, topics and a bio, that the AI agent pulls from first.
Is a website a knowledge source?
No. I said it's not access to a website or access to another person's data.
What do I do before I connect a folder?
Read through it. I said to go through a manual checklist to make sure it's information you'd want to share with your AI agent.
Build something that actually runs your workflow.
A focused, free 60-minute live session with Jacqueline. You build alongside her, on your own real task, and leave with an AI agent that is already running.