Update, replace and delete knowledge
How a change you make actually reaches the assistant, why editing a price in settings is not enough on its own, what deleting a source really removes, and how long each change takes to take effect.
- Who
- Owners and admins
- Plan
- All plans
- Role
- Owner or Admin
Before you start
- At least one knowledge source
Knowledge in OMAI comes from two places, and they are updated in two different ways. Uploaded files are managed on Dashboard → Knowledge Base. Services, FAQs, policies and opening hours are entered in Business settings — and they reach the assistant only after they are synced across.
Two kinds of knowledge, two ways to update
| Knowledge | Where you change it | What makes the change live |
|---|---|---|
| Uploaded documents | Knowledge Base — upload a new file, or use the buttons on the source row | The row returns to Ready after indexing. |
| Services and prices | Business settings → Services | Choosing Sync details from settings. |
| FAQ | Business settings → FAQ | Choosing Sync details from settings. |
| Policies | Business settings → Policies | Choosing Sync details from settings. |
| Opening hours | Business settings → Opening hours | Choosing Sync details from settings — but see the note below. |
Opening hours are the one case with two halves. Whether the business counts as closed *right now* is read straight from your hours and your special closures on every message, so an after-hours reply starts behaving correctly the moment you save. The hours the assistant *states* to a customer come from the synced knowledge source, so they stay on the old times until you sync.
After you edit details in settings
Step 1 Save your change in Business settings.
Step 2 Open Dashboard → Knowledge Base.
Step 3 Choose Sync details from settings in the page header.
- The sync rebuilds those four sources from whatever is in settings at that moment, so a deleted FAQ disappears from the assistant at the same time.
- It writes them in your Business content language, not the language your dashboard is in.
You should see: The button reads Syncing…. When it finishes, the sources titled Frequently asked questions, Services, Policies and Business hours show a higher Version number and a new update time.
One other event runs the same sync for you: changing the Business content language in Business settings. Nothing else does. There is no automatic sync when you save an individual service, FAQ, policy or hours row — press Sync details from settings yourself after a batch of edits.
Replace an uploaded document
Step 1 Upload the corrected file as a new source, following Upload documents.
You should see: A second row appears while the first one is still answering.
Step 2 Wait for the new row to reach Ready.
Step 3 Ask the question the document should answer on the knowledge test page.
You should see: The result names the source each passage came from, so you can see the new document being reached.
Step 4 Delete the old source, or choose Disable if you would rather keep it available to switch back on.
You should see: The old version leaves the search immediately.
Re-index does not take a new file. It reads the file already stored under that source again — useful after a run that failed for a temporary reason, and useless after you edited the document on your own computer. While it runs, the row shows Updating and the previous version keeps answering, so a refresh never leaves the assistant without knowledge.
Disable, reject or delete
| Action | What happens | Can you undo it? |
|---|---|---|
| Disable | The source leaves the search immediately and moves to Archived. Its passages, versions and file are kept, and it still counts against your storage allowance. | Yes. Enable restores it — for an uploaded document this reads the file from the start. |
| Reject | Offered on a source at Needs your review. Same outcome as Disable: archived, out of the search, nothing deleted. | Yes, with Enable. |
| Delete | A confirmation asks Delete this source? and warns that the assistant stops using it immediately. Retrieval is switched off first, then a background job removes the stored content. | No. |
| Still current | Offered on a source at Needs a check. Records today as the date the content was confirmed and returns the source to Ready. Nothing is re-read. | Nothing to undo — the source never left the search. |
What deletion actually removes
Deletion is two things: an immediate effect and a durable background job. The immediate part is that the source is taken out of retrieval and marked as deleted, so it can no longer reach a customer. The job then works through every place the content was stored and records the outcome for each one:
- the search entries that made the passages findable;
- the stored passages of text themselves;
- the original file in file storage, for an uploaded document;
- any indexing job still queued, running or failed for that source;
- the version records — after which the source itself is marked deleted and stops appearing in the list.
The job only reports success once each of those has confirmed, and it retries up to 5 times if one of them fails. If it still cannot finish, the source shows Deletion incomplete and the case is raised for us to handle rather than being quietly reported as done.
How quickly a change reaches answers
| Change | When the assistant behaves differently |
|---|---|
| Delete or Disable a source | Immediately, before the background work starts. |
| Sync details from settings | When the sync finishes and the button stops reading Syncing…. There is no file to read, so it is quicker than a document upload. |
| Upload a replacement document | When the new source reaches Ready, usually a minute or two. |
| Re-index an existing document | When the rebuilt version is activated. Until then the previous version answers. |
| Still current | No change to answers — the source was already being used. |
| Editing a service, FAQ, policy or hours in settings | Not until you run the sync. The stated hours, prices and policies do not change on their own. |
Sources marked Needs a check
A source is flagged Needs a check when its content has not been confirmed for 180 days, for an uploaded document, or 365 days for the details synced from settings. A housekeeping pass applies the flag, so it can appear up to about an hour after that date. A flagged source keeps answering — the flag is a prompt, not a block.
Still current is what clears it: it records today as the confirmation date and puts the source back to Ready. Re-indexing the same source does not reset that date, so a source you merely re-index gets flagged again at the next pass. If the content really has changed, upload the new file as a fresh source, or run the sync for a source that came from settings.
The trap: leaving the old version in place
Nothing in OMAI compares two sources and notices that they disagree. If last year’s price list is still Ready next to this year’s, both are searchable, and the assistant answers from whichever passage best matched the customer’s wording — which can easily be the old one. The same applies to an FAQ that repeats a policy you have since changed, and to a document that duplicates the details you keep in settings.
So treat every update as two jobs: add the new information, then remove or disable what it replaces. The knowledge test page tells you which source a given question actually reaches, which is the fastest way to catch a leftover.
Can I edit the text of an uploaded document inside OMAI?
No. There is no text editor and no preview of the extracted content. Change the file on your computer and upload the corrected copy.
I deleted a service in settings and the assistant still offers it. Why?
The Services knowledge source still holds the previous list. Choose Sync details from settings on the Knowledge Base page and the deleted service goes with it.
Can I see or restore an earlier version of a document?
The row shows the current Version number, but earlier versions are not browsable in the dashboard and cannot be restored from it. Keep your own copy of a file before you replace it.
Does disabling a source free up storage?
No. A disabled source keeps its file and still counts against the plan allowance. Only deleting it releases the space.