Available knowledge sources for agents

The new agent experience supports several types of knowledge sources. Each type connects your agent to different kinds of content and data.

Note

Features in this article are used by agents or workflows powered by the GitHub Copilot harness.

Usage-based billing applies to using, building, testing, and evaluating agents. These actions might consume Copilot Credits. Learn more in Manage costs for agents powered by the GitHub Copilot harness.

Note

A knowledge source is content the maker makes available to the agent at design time, so every user gets the same grounding. If instead you want an end user to bring their own file into a single conversation that's an attachment, not a knowledge source. See Attach files to a conversation.

Knowledge source types

When you select Add knowledge on the Build tab, the dialog presents sources organized into Featured and Advanced tabs, plus a file upload area. Featured sources include: Public websites, SharePoint, OneDrive for Business, Salesforce, ServiceNow, and Azure SQL. Advanced sources include: Azure DevOps Wiki, Azure DevOps Work Items, Custom Connector, and Enterprise websites.

Uploaded files

  • Drag and drop or upload documents directly to the agent. Supported file types include PDF, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
  • The file upload area appears at the top of the Add knowledge dialog.
  • Upload files as a knowledge source
  • Connect to ServiceNow to let the agent reference service management content.

Confluence (Advanced)

  • Connect to Confluence workspaces to let the agent reference team documentation and knowledge base articles.

Jira (Copilot connector)

  • Connect to Jira to let the agent reference issues, bugs, and project tracking content.

Azure DevOps Work Items (Copilot connector)

  • Connect to Azure DevOps to let the agent reference work items, bugs, and backlog content.

Note

Depending on your environment and licensing, other knowledge source types might be available, such as Dataverse, Azure AI Search, and Copilot connectors. The sources shown in the Add knowledge dialog can vary.

Dataverse

Copilot connectors

Suggestions in the Add knowledge dialog

The Add knowledge dialog suggests sources so you don't start with a blank picker. The specific suggestions depend on what's available in your environment. Treat each suggestion as a starting point and review it before you add it to the agent. For step-by-step guidance, see Add knowledge sources to an agent.

Suggested sources from your organization's connectors

When your environment has the required connectors installed and consented to, connector-based knowledge sources can also appear as suggestions in the Add knowledge dialog. Because these suggestions depend on your environment's connector readiness, they don't appear for every agent. If an expected connector-based suggestion doesn't appear, ask your administrator to confirm the connector is available.

SharePoint title matching

For SharePoint knowledge sources, the document title is used as one signal in how the agent selects content to reference. Give your SharePoint documents clear, descriptive titles that use the words your users are likely to ask about. Documents with missing or generic titles are harder for the agent to surface. Learn more about managing SharePoint content quality in Manage knowledge sources in an agent.

Choose the right knowledge source

Source type Best for
Uploaded files Specific documents you want the agent to reference directly
Public websites Product documentation, FAQs, public reference material
SharePoint Internal documents, policies, and team content
ServiceNow Service management content and knowledge base articles
Confluence Team documentation and collaboration content
Dataverse Structured business data (records, tables)
Azure AI Search Large document collections needing enterprise search
Copilot connectors Non-Microsoft data indexed for Microsoft 365
Jira Issues, bugs, and project tracking content
Azure DevOps Work Items Work items, bugs, and backlog content
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