Configure the first knowledge

Objective: give ELChat a reliable first source to respond to your business context. ** Estimated time:** 5 to 10 minutes, excluding processing time. Prerequisites: a site created in ELChat.

Choose a first source

In the relevant site, open the Knowledge tab. Four routes are available:

Source	Use it when…
Website	useful information is already published online
Sitemap XML or TXT	you want to provide a structured list of pages
File or document	information can be found in a document, table or image
Manual text	you want to add short information that does not exist elsewhere

For a first test, choose a short, recent and easy to check source.

Option 1 — Explore Website

1. Check previously the pages included and excluded in the site settings.
2. Select the source Website.
3. Start exploration.
4. Wait until treatment is completed before testing the answers.

Exploration settings

The launch uses the saved settings for the site. If you need to modify the inclusions or exclusions, save them in the settings before restarting the exploration.

Option 2 — Import Sitemap

1. Select the source Sitemap.
2. Add an XML file of up to 2 MB.
3. Check for possible inclusions and exclusions.
4. Launch the import.

ELChat also recognizes TXT, but the current interface blocks this format. Use XML from the dashboard as long as this route is not harmonized.

Option 3 — Import a document

1. Select the source File.
2. Give an explicit title to the resource.
3. Choose the file.
4. Launch the import.

The formats identified are:

• PDF, DOC and DOCX;
• XLS, XLSX, CSV and TXT;
• JPG, JPEG, PNG, WEBP, GIF, BMP, TIFF and TIF.

The maximum size is 20 MB in the inspected route.

Title improves context

PreferConditions de livraison — France — 2026todocument-final-v3. The title helps to find the resource and understand its content.

Option 4 — Add Manual Text

1. Select the source Manual text.
2. Enter a clear title.
3. Add content of at least 20 characters.
4. Validate the addition.

This path is suitable for a short business rule, a temporary information or a reference response that does not exist in a file.

Check that content is ready

Open the Resources tab and search for your content. Its condition generally varies between:

1. pending or in queue;
2. in treatment;
3. ready for use;
4. or in error if the treatment fails.

Wait until treatment is completed before judging the response of ElChat.

Test Knowledge

Ask a question whose answer is explicitly found in the source. Check that:

• the answer correctly reproduces the information;
• it does not add any promise missing from the content;
• the displayed content is still up to date;
• another question, off the subject, does not lead to an invented answer.

You can then use the quality assessment to follow the coverage and recommendations.

Example of first knowledge

Suppose your site talks about products, but the return policy is in a PDF. Import it with:

• Title:Politique de retour — France — 2026 ;
• Source: PDF validated by your legal team;
• Test question: “What is the deadline to return an item purchased in France?”

The title indicates the subject, country and period: it helps to choose the correct version when an old document still exists. The question must have an explicit answer in the PDF. If it does not appear, the withdrawal message is the expected behavior; It is better to indicate a limit than to invent a condition of return.