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Knowledge Base (RAG)

Knowledge bases let your voice agents answer questions using your own data — product catalogs, FAQs, policies, pricing sheets, and more. Powered by Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), your agent searches your knowledge base in real-time during calls to give accurate, contextual answers.

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How It Works

Upload documents

Add your content — PDFs, text files, web pages, or raw text. Agni splits them into searchable chunks automatically.

Index & embed

Documents are processed into vector embeddings for semantic search. This happens automatically after upload.

Connect to agent

Attach the knowledge base to your agent. The agent will search it whenever a caller asks a relevant question.

Agent answers

During a call, the agent retrieves the most relevant chunks and uses them to craft an accurate response.

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Creating a Knowledge Base

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Via Dashboard

  1. Navigate to your Agent → open the agent builder
  2. Find the Knowledge Base section
  3. Upload documents or paste text content
  4. The system indexes your content automatically
  5. Save — your agent now has access to this knowledge

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Via API

cURL
curl -X POST https://api.ravan.ai/api/v1/rag/documents \
  -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "title": "Product FAQ",
    "content": "Q: What are your business hours?\nA: We are open Monday through Friday, 9am to 6pm EST.\n\nQ: Do you offer refunds?\nA: Yes, we offer full refunds within 30 days of purchase.",
    "metadata": {
      "category": "faq",
      "last_updated": "2026-03-28"
    }
  }'

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Content Best Practices

Use Q&A format

Structure content as questions and answers. This matches how callers ask questions and improves retrieval accuracy.

Keep chunks focused

Each document should cover one topic. A 500-word FAQ works better than a 10,000-word manual.

Include context

Don’t just list facts — include enough context for the agent to form natural responses.

Update regularly

Stale information leads to wrong answers. Set a schedule to refresh your knowledge base.

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Example: Good vs Bad Content

Bad (too terse): 
Hours: 9-6 M-F
Returns: 30 days
Shipping: Free over $50
Good (natural, contextual): 
Q: What are your business hours?
A: Our office is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM Eastern Time. We are closed on weekends and major holidays. For urgent matters outside business hours, you can leave a voicemail and we'll return your call the next business day.

Q: What is your return policy?
A: We offer a full refund within 30 days of purchase, no questions asked. After 30 days, we can offer store credit or an exchange. To initiate a return, the customer needs their order number and the email used at checkout.

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Querying the Knowledge Base

You can also query the knowledge base programmatically:
cURL
curl -X POST https://api.ravan.ai/api/v1/rag/query \
  -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "query": "What is the return policy?",
    "top_k": 3
  }'
This returns the top matching chunks ranked by relevance, which you can use in your own applications.

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Managing Documents

ActionAPI EndpointDescription
UploadPOST /api/v1/rag/documentsAdd or update a document
GetGET /api/v1/rag/documents/{id}Retrieve a specific document
ListGET /api/v1/rag/documentsList all documents
QueryPOST /api/v1/rag/querySearch the knowledge base
RefreshPOST /api/v1/rag/refreshRe-index all documents
DiscoverPOST /api/v1/rag/discoverAuto-discover content from URLs

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URL Discovery

Automatically crawl and index content from your website:
cURL
curl -X POST https://api.ravan.ai/api/v1/rag/discover \
  -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://yourcompany.com/faq",
    "depth": 2
  }'
This crawls the page and linked pages (up to the specified depth) and indexes the content.

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Exclusions

Control what gets indexed by managing exclusions:
cURL
# Add exclusion patterns
curl -X POST https://api.ravan.ai/api/v1/rag/exclusions \
  -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -d '{ "patterns": ["*/internal/*", "*/admin/*"] }'

# List current exclusions
curl https://api.ravan.ai/api/v1/rag/exclusions \
  -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY"

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Tips for Better Retrieval

Your documents may be too broad. Split large documents into focused topics. Each document should cover one subject area.
The content may not match how callers phrase their questions. Add multiple phrasings of common questions to your knowledge base.
Add more specific content. Include exact product names, numbers, dates, and policies. The more concrete your knowledge base, the better the answers.
Use the refresh endpoint to re-index after updates. Set up a recurring workflow to refresh knowledge bases weekly or after content changes.