Give a Specialist Knowledge Access

Each specialist independently controls which knowledge it can read — from the public Knowledge Base, the internal Handbook, assigned Library knowledge packs, and connected code bases. Tighter scope = faster, more accurate retrieval. A billing specialist that only reads billing KB categories, billing procedures, relevant billing knowledge packs, and billing-related repositories will get better results than one that reads everything.

Before you start

• The specialist must already exist in the stack. If not, add a specialist first.
• Know which KB categories, Handbook categories, Library knowledge packs, and code bases are relevant to this specialist. If you haven’t built either yet, see Knowledge Base and the Handbook docs.
• You can only assign Library knowledge packs that have already been granted to your workspace. Grants are made by Atender, not self-serve — when your workspace has none, the Library card reads “Industry knowledge packs are available — contact us to enable them.”
• Code base access is only available after the tenant has connected at least one repository, from Settings → Integrations → Code bases. That page is always reachable, but until GitHub is connected for your environment its connect buttons are disabled and it reads “GitHub is not set up here” — ask us to switch it on.
• Code bases also need a second grant that the other three sources do not: the specialist’s code-reading tools, on its Capabilities sub-tab. Step 9 below.

Steps

1. Open Settings → Agent Stacks and click into the stack.
2. Click the Orchestrator tab.
3. Click the specialist node on the canvas. The slide-out shows the specialist’s drilldown.
4. Click the Knowledge sub-tab.
5. Configure Knowledge Base access in the first card:
   Use the dropdown in the card header to pick the knowledge base this stack reads. Off is the first option — with it selected the specialist has no KB access at all. (Switching between knowledge bases clears the category restrictions below, and a Switch knowledge base? dialog warns you first.)
   Pick Full access to grant every category in that knowledge base, including categories added later, or Restrict to specific categories.
   Under Restrict to specific categories, check the categories the specialist should read. Subcategories are nested under their parent, and Select All / Deselect All toggles the whole tree. Until you check at least one, the specialist keeps full access — the card says so in amber.
6. Configure Handbook access in the card below. Same Off-plus-handbooks dropdown — and a new specialist starts on Off, so you have to pick a handbook before anything appears. There is no full/restricted radio: below the dropdown is a flat checkbox list of handbook categories, and leaving them all unchecked gives the specialist every category.
7. Configure Library access:
   Review the pack list on the Library card. It shows only packs already assigned to this specialist.
   Click Add knowledge pack to open the Add knowledge packs panel.
   Search for the packs you want, then click one or more to tick them.
   Click Add pack (or Add N packs) to assign them. Only packs granted to your workspace appear here.
   Note that the library leg rides the KB search: with the Knowledge Base dropdown on Off, assigned packs are not searched either.
8. Configure Code bases access:
   Find the Code bases card. This card only appears after the tenant has connected at least one repository.
   Check the repositories this specialist should be allowed to read. If no repositories are checked, the specialist reads no code.
   Once at least one is checked, a What it may say control appears with two options: Answer in product terms (never quotes code, never names a file) and May cite file and line (only for a specialist customers never talk to). It applies to the whole card, not per repository.
9. Grant the code-reading tools on the Capabilities sub-tab. Checking a repository in step 8 is not enough on its own — it says which code this specialist may read, not that it may read code, and a specialist with repositories checked and no tools assigned still reads nothing. Click Add capability and assign Search Code Base, Read Code Base File and List Code Base Files. They appear in that list automatically once the tenant’s first repository is connected; nothing else creates them, so a tenant with no connected repository will not find them there.
10. There is no Save button on the Knowledge tab — every change there is saved the moment you make it.

Verify it worked

• The summary strip in the slide-out header — above the Setup / Capabilities / Knowledge / Playbooks sub-tabs — should now show a non-zero Knowledge count. It counts category and subcategory restriction rows, so a specialist on Full access reads “none” there even though it can see everything.
• Open the Testing tab and ask a question that depends on KB content, Handbook guidance, a Library knowledge pack, or a code base the specialist should have access to. The reply should cite, quote, or follow it as appropriate for that source.
• Ask a question that depends on knowledge the specialist should not have. The reply should not include it.

Knowledge Base vs. Handbook — which goes where

The split matters because they’re treated differently:

• Knowledge Base — Customer-facing — Quoted and linked in replies
• Handbook — Internal — Used to guide behavior. Never quoted directly to customers
• Library knowledge packs — Shared reusable knowledge — Used when the assigned pack is relevant. Only granted packs can be assigned to a specialist
• Code bases — Internal product or implementation context — Used when the assigned repository is relevant. What it may reveal is controlled by the card’s What it may say setting

A refund-policy article: customer-facing → KB. The detailed step-by-step procedure for processing refunds: internal → Handbook. A reusable pack of billing terms, product limits, or plan details: shared knowledge → Library. Implementation details, API behavior, or repository-specific product logic: internal code context → Code bases. The AI uses all assigned sources, but only customer-facing KB content should end up quoted in customer-visible replies.

Tighter scope tradeoffs

• Full access — One-click setup. Good when KB is small or all categories are relevant — Slower retrieval, more chance of irrelevant articles surfacing
• Restrict to specific categories — Faster retrieval, more accurate citations, fewer cross-domain mistakes — More setup, must update when you add new categories
• Assigned packs — Reuses curated Library knowledge across specialists and stacks — The pack must be granted to your workspace first, then assigned to each specialist that needs it
• Assigned code bases — Lets specialists answer with repository-aware context — Must keep repository selections and the What it may say setting aligned with what the specialist should expose

For stacks with mature KBs, Restrict to specific categories is the right choice. For stacks just starting out, Full access is fine — you’ll narrow it down as you see retrieval mistakes.

Voice calls handle knowledge scope differently than text conversations. For text, the routed specialist’s Knowledge settings determine what can be retrieved. For voice, routing only decides which specialist prompt answers a turn — retrieval does not follow it — so the call unions the KB category scopes and the Library pack assignments of the stack’s specialists, and any one specialist on Full access makes the whole call unrestricted. Handbook on a call is not a union: it is the stack’s own bound handbook. Code bases do reach a voice call: the code tools bind across the stack, so the call reads the union of the repositories granted to every specialist carrying them, under the strictest What it may say among those grants. If callers should not reach unrelated procedures, keep specialists in a voice stack scoped consistently.

Troubleshooting

• Symptom: The specialist cites an article from a category you didn’t grant. Fix: check the Knowledge sub-tab. On Full access the specialist reads the whole knowledge base. And on Restrict to specific categories with nothing ticked it also reads everything — no restriction rows means no filter — so tick at least one category to make the restriction bite.
• Symptom: The specialist can’t find an article you know exists. Fix: confirm the article’s category is checked in the specialist’s Knowledge config. Then check the article itself isn’t in archived or draft status — only published articles are retrievable.
• Symptom: You can’t find a Library knowledge pack in the Add knowledge packs panel. Fix: confirm the pack has been granted to your workspace first. Only granted packs are available to assign to a specialist. Packs already assigned to this specialist are not offered again.
• Symptom: You can’t find the Code bases card. Fix: confirm the tenant has connected at least one repository. The card only appears after a repository is connected.
• Symptom: The specialist can’t answer from code you expected it to read. Fix: check both grants. On the Capabilities sub-tab, Search Code Base / Read Code Base File / List Code Base Files must be assigned to this specialist — repositories checked with no tools assigned is the usual cause, and it looks configured. Then confirm the relevant repository is checked in the Code bases card; if none are, the specialist reads no code. If the repository shows a never synced warning, it cannot be searched yet either; a repository whose last sync failed is still searched from its last successful copy.
• Symptom: You can’t find Search Code Base in the Add capability list. Fix: the three code tools are created for the tenant the first time a repository is connected, and nothing else creates them. Connect a repository from Settings → Integrations → Code bases first, then look again.
• Symptom: The specialist discloses more code detail than expected. Fix: set the Code bases card’s What it may say to Answer in product terms.
• Symptom: The specialist quotes Handbook content directly to a customer. Fix: Handbook content is supposed to guide behavior, not be quoted. Check the Handbook article — if it includes phrases like “Tell the customer that…” the AI may follow them literally. Rewrite the Handbook content as guidance (“When the customer asks X, the policy is Y”).

See also

• What is a specialist agent?
• What is the Knowledge Base?