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Snippets in AskVault knowledge management

Written by Joseph Russo, Principal Architect, Networks and Tech, AskVault · Reviewed by Allison Chan
Last updated: · 4 min read

What snippets are

Most AskVault knowledge comes from crawled URLs, uploaded files, or integration sources (Notion, Confluence, GitHub). Snippets are different. They're short freeform text entries you add directly in the dashboard, no document needed.

Three patterns where snippets fit:

  1. Tribal knowledge. A fact your team knows but never documented. "Our office is closed on Indian national holidays plus a 2-week winter break." A snippet captures it.
  2. Sales talking points. "Our biggest customer in India is a 500-person SaaS that processes 200k support queries per month." Surfaces during sales conversations without living in marketing docs.
  3. Override or augment crawled content. Your blog says one thing, you want to add nuance the bot should mention. A snippet sits alongside.

Snippets differ from Q&A pairs. Q&A pairs are structured question-answer entries that override retrieval. Snippets are freeform paragraphs that join standard retrieval alongside your other sources.

Setup

Three steps to a working snippet.

  1. Open Knowledge > Add Source > Snippet in AskVault.
  2. Type the snippet. Plain text up to 50,000 characters. Markdown supported.
  3. Optionally set the Audience. It is public by default; internal snippets are excluded from retrieval on public channels.
  4. Save.

Once it is indexed, test by asking the bot a question whose answer is in the snippet; you should get a response that quotes the snippet content.

Snippet structure

Each snippet has:

  • Title. Short label shown in retrieval citations. Customer-facing.
  • Content. The actual text, up to 50,000 characters.
  • Audience (optional). public (the default) or internal.

Most snippets need only a title and content.

How snippets rank

Snippets compete with your other sources on relevance, with no extra weight. If you need a specific answer to win every time, write it as a Q&A pair, which gets a retrieval boost.

When to use snippets vs docs vs Q&A pairs

A decision matrix:

  • Document is published somewhere (website, Notion, Confluence). Index it as a doc. Re-sync keeps it fresh.
  • Content is short, one-off, and shouldn't live in a doc. Use a snippet.
  • Content is a specific question with a specific canonical answer. Use a Q&A pair.

Markdown support

Snippets accept Markdown formatting. Useful for:

  • Bullet lists of policy points.
  • Tables of pricing or comparison data.
  • Code blocks for technical snippets.
  • Bold and italic emphasis.

The bot preserves formatting when surfacing the snippet content in its reply.

Audience

Like every knowledge source, a snippet carries an Audience of public (the default) or internal. Set it to internal and the snippet is excluded from retrieval on public channels: the widget, the hosted page and the public API.

Useful for internal-only content (sales talking points, internal pricing) that shouldn't surface to anonymous website visitors.

Limits

  • Count. No fixed number per plan; snippet text counts toward your plan's content allowance (5 MB on Free up to 100 MB on Business).
  • Per-snippet length. Up to 50,000 characters.
  • Markdown features. Tables, lists, code blocks, links. No embedded images.

Bulk import

There is no CSV import for snippets. Snippets are created one at a time under Knowledge > Snippets. If you are migrating a large body of content from another knowledge tool, upload it as files or crawl it as a URL set instead: both accept many items in one pass, and each becomes a normal knowledge source.

Common pitfalls

Snippet doesn't surface in retrieval. Visitor's question doesn't match the snippet's semantic content. Add keywords to the snippet's title (which embeds with stronger weight) or write the snippet in the same vocabulary your customers use.

Bot quotes outdated snippet content. Snippet wasn't updated when the underlying fact changed. Edit the snippet directly; changes apply within seconds.

Snippet conflicts with crawled doc. Both mention the same topic with different details. Either delete the doc, delete the snippet, or update both to agree. Bot may quote whichever has higher relevance score, leading to confused customers.

Customer asks for a link to the source. Snippets have no URL to link to. If the fact also lives on a web page, put the link in the snippet text, or index the page instead.

FAQ

Can I write a snippet in a non-English language?

Yes. Retrieval works across major languages. Write the snippet in the language your customers ask in.

How do I share snippets across workspaces?

You don't. Each workspace has its own snippet collection. For shared knowledge across multiple workspaces, use Notion or another central source that all workspaces ingest from.

Can snippets reference each other?

No. Each snippet is retrieved on its own merits. If two facts belong together, put them in one snippet.

Do snippets count toward my content storage cap?

Yes, like any source, but text is small. Even a full 50,000-character snippet is about 50 KB.

Can I version-control snippets?

No. There is no version history or snippets API. Keep the source text in your own repository or wiki if you need history.

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