Knowledge Base – Files
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Purpose
Knowledge Base - Files reads uploaded files and returns processed file content for the rest of a flow. It can provide a DataFrame for file-by-file processing or raw content for a message-based step.
When to use it
- Extract text from uploaded documents.
- Prepare files for splitting, parsing, or type conversion.
- Send one uploaded document's raw content to a prompt or model.
Required setup
Upload one or more supported files. Choose the output that matches the next component: Files for DataFrame-aware steps or Raw Content for a message-based step. Use Structured File when CSV, Excel, Parquet, JSON, or YAML must preserve real columns or nested object structure.
How to use it
- Add Knowledge Base - Files and upload the files.
- Connect Files to a DataFrame-aware component, or use Raw Content for a message-based component.
- Change the file-processing controls only when the defaults do not fit the workflow.
Configuration
| Setting | What it controls | Recommended starting point |
|---|---|---|
| Files | Selects the files to process. A connected Server File Path takes precedence. | Start with one representative file. |
| Server File Path | Takes the file from an earlier component in the flow instead of the picker. | Leave it unconnected unless an earlier component supplies the file. |
| Processing Concurrency | Controls how many files process at once. The default is 1. | Keep 1 until file processing time is a problem. |
| Silent Errors | Skips standard parsing failures instead of raising them. It is disabled by default. | Leave it off until a skipped file is acceptable. |
| Delete Server File After Processing | Removes a file taken from Server File Path once processing finishes. It is enabled by default. | Leave it enabled unless a later step needs that same file. |
| Ignore Unsupported Extensions | Skips unsupported files instead of stopping the run. It is enabled by default. | Leave it enabled for mixed uploads. |
| Ignore Unspecified Files | Applies to Server File Path only. Skips a received item that carries no file path instead of stopping the run. It is disabled by default. | Leave it off unless the earlier component can send items without a file. |
| [Deprecated] Use Multithreading | When turned off, files process one at a time and Processing Concurrency is ignored. It is enabled by default. | Leave it enabled. Set Processing Concurrency to control parallel work. |
| Separator | Defines the boundary when content is combined. | Use a visible separator when a downstream prompt needs to distinguish files. |
| Advanced Parser | Processes the file with advanced document extraction and shows extra controls such as Pipeline and OCR Engine. It appears only when exactly one file is selected and that file is not CSV, XLS, XLSX, or Parquet. It is disabled by default. | Enable only when basic extraction is not enough. |
Expected result
The component returns processed file data or raw content. Raw Content joins the parsed files and fails above roughly 10 million characters rather than truncating, pointing you at the Files output instead. Unsupported files are ignored or reported according to the selected controls. Advanced document processing can take more resources than basic extraction.
Reference details
Use Advanced Parser when basic extraction misses content in a scanned or image-heavy document. Its diagnostics can include the name and path of the file being processed, so test a representative non-sensitive file before uploading a larger or more sensitive one.
Limitations
Knowledge Base - Files does not index, embed, search, or retrieve by itself. Files you select in Builder are copied into the published version of the agent, and re-copied on every deploy, so the published agent reads that copy rather than your Builder selection. Connect Server File Path only when an earlier component in the flow supplies the file; otherwise select the files here.
Works well with
Use Split Text to chunk extracted text, Parser to structure a result, and Type Convert when the next component needs a different value type.