Knowledge Node
The Knowledge node looks up an answer from your agent’s knowledge base at the exact point you place it in the flow — then lets the call branch on whether an answer was found. It runs instantly (no caller turn), so the caller hears no dead air.Why a node, when the agent already has a knowledge base? Left to its own
judgment, an agent may look something up — or it may answer from memory and get
it wrong. The Knowledge node makes the lookup guaranteed and on-script: at this
step, the answer always comes from your knowledge base, and you decide what happens
when nothing is found. That determinism is the whole point of a workflow.
When to use it
Grounded FAQ answers
“What are your hours / prices / return policy?” — answer from your own content
instead of risking a made-up reply.
Branch on found / not-found
Route one way when the knowledge base has an answer, and a graceful fallback
(transfer, apologize, take a message) when it doesn’t.
Configure it
Select the node on the canvas to open the Inspector.| Setting | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Query | What to search for. Defaults to the caller’s latest message ({{last_user_message}}), so a Knowledge node placed right after a question “just works”. You can also write your own query with {{variable}} interpolation. |
| Knowledge source | Which source to search, picked from a dropdown. The default — the agent’s knowledge base (all sources) — is the usual choice; pick a specific source only when you want to scope this node to one of them. |
| Store answer in variable | The variable that receives the retrieved answer text — e.g. {{knowledge_result}}. A later Conversation node reads it aloud. |
| Found flag → variable | (Optional) A boolean variable set to true/false depending on whether anything was found. Use it to branch. |
| Max passages | How many passages to pull from the knowledge base (default 5). |
Declare the variables you reference (the answer variable and the found flag) in the
Variables panel first, so the node has somewhere to store its results.
Reading the answer back to the caller
The Knowledge node doesn’t speak — it stores the answer. The next Conversation node reads it by referencing the variable in its prompt, for example:
“Answer the caller’s question using this information: {{knowledge_result}}.
Keep it short and natural.”
This route-then-speak pattern keeps the spoken reply grounded in your content while
still sounding like the agent.
Branch on whether an answer was found
Give the node a Found flag variable (say{{kb_found}}), then draw two edges
out of the Knowledge node:
Answer path
An equation edge
{{kb_found}} == TRUE → a Conversation node that reads {{knowledge_result}}.Fallback path
An unconditional edge → a graceful fallback (apologize and offer to take a
message, or a Transfer to a human).
Worked example — return policy
Look it up
The flow routes to a Knowledge node. Its Query is left at the default
(
{{last_user_message}}), so it searches for exactly what the caller asked. The
answer lands in {{knowledge_result}} and {{kb_found}} is set.Pairs well with Global nodes
Make the question-handling stretch a Global node so the caller can ask a factual question at any point — the flow jumps to the Knowledge lookup, answers, then returns to whatever the caller was doing.Next steps
Transitions & Variables
Declare the answer and found-flag variables and write the equation edge that
branches on them.
Node Types
See how Knowledge sits alongside Condition, API Request, and Tool.
Tool Node
Run an integration action — SMS, calendar, CRM — at a specific step.
Knowledge Base
Add the sources this node searches.