---
url: https://pencel.ai/docs/concepts/knowledge.md
description: >-
  Knowledge is what Pencel knows about your business, your documents, guidelines
  and web pages, so every room works from the same understanding and you only
  explain your business once.
---

# Knowledge

**Knowledge** is what Pencel knows about your business: what you sell, how you work, your policies and your reference documents. You explain your business once, and every room and chat draws on it. Nothing Pencel finds on its own counts as a fact until you confirm it.

Click **Library** in the left sidebar. Knowledge is the first section of its panel. See [Library](https://pencel.ai/docs/concepts/library.html) for a tour of the page.

## What you can do here

* Add documents, whole folders and web pages for your rooms to read.
* Decide which documents every room reads, which are used only when relevant, and which belong to one room.

Skills, reusable know-how for one kind of task, are in **Studio ▸ Skills**. See [Studio](https://pencel.ai/docs/concepts/studio.html).

## Your knowledge docs

The panel lists your folders. Click **All knowledge** or a folder to see its docs, with how Pencel reads each one, which rooms it applies to, and when it was last used.

### Add knowledge

Click **Add knowledge** and pick one:

| Choice | Use it to |
|---|---|
| **Upload or paste** | Drop in files (.md, .txt, .csv, .pdf, .docx, .xlsx, .pptx), or paste text with a title. |
| **Web page** | Keep a readable copy of a web page and refresh it on a schedule. See [Keep a web page in Knowledge](https://pencel.ai/docs/guides/linking-web-pages.html). |
| **Sync a folder** | Import a whole folder from your computer (.md, .txt, .docx, .pdf). Subfolders become folders in Knowledge. |
| **Write with AI** | Describe what you need and Pencel writes a first draft of a guideline or background doc. |
| **Start from a template** | Start from a ready-made outline, like an org chart or approval process, and fill in your details. |
| **Blank doc** | Write a document from scratch. |

### Folders and synced folders

Documents are sorted into folders by topic, such as Organization, Strategy and Processes. Guidelines you create with AI go into a **Guidelines** folder. Docs your rooms saved show under **Saved from rooms**. Use a folder's ⋯ menu to rename or delete it.

A folder you imported with **Sync a folder** stays connected to the folder on your computer. After you change files there, choose **Sync now** from that folder's ⋯ menu to bring the changes in. **Disconnect** stops the link. Word and PDF files are converted as they're read, so a large folder can take a few minutes.

### Who reads a document

Open a document. The column beside it decides who uses it.

**Pencel reads it** sets when teammates read it:

| Setting | What it means | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| **Always** | Every teammate reads it for every task. | A short company overview, rules that must never be missed. |
| **When relevant** | Read only when it's relevant to the task at hand. | Most documents: product sheets, price lists, procedures. |
| **Paused** | Kept here, but not used. | Drafts, old versions, material you're not ready to use. |

Keep **Always** documents few and short. Everything marked **Always** is read on every task, which uses more credits and leaves less room for the work itself.

**Applies to** sets which rooms use it: **All programs**, or one room by name. Your bid price list doesn't need to reach your inbox room.

**Folder** moves the document to another folder.

## When Pencel needs a fact from you

When a room or chat runs into a question about your business that Knowledge can't answer, Pencel asks you on [Home](https://pencel.ai/docs/concepts/home.html). The card starts with **Pencel needs:** and a short label, then the question and why it matters.

* Type the answer, or pick an option, and click **Save**. It becomes a confirmed fact in **Settings ▸ Memory**, and every teammate uses it from then on.
* Click **Not relevant** and Pencel won't ask again.

## How rooms use Knowledge

Every teammate in every room works with:

* the facts about your business you confirmed
* documents set to **Always** that apply to its room
* documents set to **When relevant**, when they're relevant to the task

Rooms that judge bids, like RFP Operations, also use **For bids and quotes**.

Each room can have knowledge of its own, too: files and documents only that room reads. Click the room's name, then **Knowledge**, to add files for that room, share a document with every room, and see what the room knows about your company. See [Team and rooms](https://pencel.ai/docs/concepts/programs.html).

## Knowledge, Memory and Documents

| | What it holds | Who adds it |
|---|---|---|
| **Knowledge** | Reference material for your rooms | You |
| [Memory](https://pencel.ai/docs/concepts/memory.html) | How you like things done, picked up from your work, and the facts about your business you confirmed | Pencel as you work, and you. You can review it. |
| [Documents](https://pencel.ai/docs/concepts/documents.html) | Your work: proposals, reports, spreadsheets, decks | You and your rooms |

## Common questions

**Does Pencel make up facts about my company?** No. Pencel suggests and you decide. A suggestion stays a suggestion until you confirm it, and a missing fact shows as missing rather than being guessed.

**Where is this kept?** On your computer, with the rest of your workspace. See [Data handling](https://pencel.ai/docs/privacy-and-security/data-handling.html).

## Related

* [Library](https://pencel.ai/docs/concepts/library.html)
* [Teach Pencel about your business](https://pencel.ai/docs/guides/teach-pencel-about-your-business.html)
* [Keep a web page in Knowledge](https://pencel.ai/docs/guides/linking-web-pages.html)
* [Team and rooms](https://pencel.ai/docs/concepts/programs.html)
* [Memory](https://pencel.ai/docs/concepts/memory.html)
* [Home](https://pencel.ai/docs/concepts/home.html)