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Knowledge Files

Knowledge files are your own documents — the return policy, the watering guide, the employee handbook, the delivery zones sheet. Upload one and VMXpert can answer staff questions out of it, quoting the file it read.

Without them, VMXpert knows how VMX works and knows plants in general, but it doesn't know your 30-day return window or your holiday schedule.

Knowledge Files or Company Context?

Both teach VMXpert about your business, and they suit different things.

Use it for Example
Company Context A handful of short facts you type in "We deliver within 20 miles. Wholesale accounts are net 30."
Knowledge Files Whole documents you already have A 40-page employee handbook, a care-guide packet

If you find yourself pasting pages of text into Company Context, it belongs here instead.

Uploading a file

Go to Admin → Toolbox → VMXpert → Knowledge Files and click Upload a file.

The file is read as soon as it lands, and the page tells you what happened:

  • ✅ Indexed — N pages · text layer. VMXpert can search this file now. Read cleanly.
  • ⚠️ Indexed — N pages · read from a scan. VMXpert can search this file now. It worked, but check the preview — this means the file was a scan.
  • ❌ An error message explaining what went wrong — for example, "Save this as a PDF or a plain text file." Nothing was indexed.

Click Preview on any file to see the first lines exactly as VMXpert sees them. Do this once per file, especially for scans.

Which files work

Best: plain text, Markdown, CSV, Word documents (.docx), and PDFs saved from a computer (a printed price list, anything with selectable text). These are read exactly and cost nothing. One limit on Word documents: headers and footers aren't read, only the main body. That's invisible for most policies. If a document keeps something important only in a footer, move it into the body first.

Also works: scanned or photographed PDFs, and images saved as PNG, JPEG, or TIFF. Text recognition reads them the first time — that costs a small amount of credit, and reading the same file again is free. It makes occasional mistakes, so check the preview before trusting a scan for anything precise.

Doesn't work: older Word documents (.doc), spreadsheets (.xlsx), slide decks, and other image formats like HEIC (the format iPhones save photos in by default), GIF, or WEBP. Save the Word document as .docx, save the spreadsheet or slide deck as a PDF, or convert the photo to PNG or JPEG, then upload that.

Two limits on what gets read

Very long documents are shortened. For PDFs, Word documents, and scans, VMXpert reads roughly the first 20,000 words. If your handbook is longer, split it into a few files — "Handbook, Time Off" and "Handbook, Safety" as separate uploads — which also makes VMXpert's answers easier to trace back to a source. Plain text and Markdown files are read in full, with no word limit.

Scanned documents are read to 10 pages. This limit applies only to scans and photos. A PDF saved from a computer has no page limit — a 25-page digital handbook is read in full. If you have a long scanned document, the best fix is to get a digital copy; failing that, split it into 10-page pieces.

The page tells you when either limit has been hit, so you're never guessing.

Asking questions that use your files

Just ask normally. VMXpert checks your knowledge files whenever a question looks like it's about your business rather than about VMX:

  • "What's our return policy on perennials?"
  • "How much notice do staff need to give for time off?"
  • "What do we tell customers about winter watering?"

The answer names the file it came from, so you can go check the source. If VMXpert answers "I don't know" on something you know is in a file, open Knowledge Files and look at that file's badge — a ❌ or a garbled preview is almost always why.

Keeping files current

Re-upload the new version and remove the old one. VMXpert has no memory of a removed file. There's also a Re-index button, for the rare case where a file was uploaded before it finished saving.

Only people who can manage AI settings can see or change knowledge files. Everyone who can use VMXpert gets answers from them.

Turning knowledge search off for someone

Knowledge search can be allowed or denied per person or group under Admin → Toolbox → VMXpert → AI Capabilities, listed as "Knowledge search." Deny it for someone, and VMXpert can no longer answer them from any knowledge file.

What VMXpert shares outside the business

When a reply is going to a customer or vendor rather than to staff, VMXpert sticks to what a business would tell a caller (hours, policies, product and care information) and leaves internal material out.

This is guidance, not a lock. Don't upload anything sensitive as a knowledge file: employee records, pay, customer lists with personal details, card or bank numbers. A file uploaded here should be something you'd be comfortable an outside reader eventually saw.