Corthex · Knowledge / preparation
Give every important answer a home.
A webshop chatbot needs more than a large pile of documents. Build a small source inventory that somebody owns, checks and keeps current.
Open the source inventoryOriginal conceptual source-library imageStart with the questions
Coverage is a responsibility, not a file count.
List the questions you actually want the assistant to handle before you upload content. A shopper choosing a product needs different evidence from a shopper asking about an existing order. For each question, name the authoritative source, who approves it and what the assistant should do if the information is missing. This creates an answer map instead of a document collection whose gaps only become visible after launch.
Choose a manageable pilot scope. For example, begin with product selection, delivery-policy explanations and the route to support. Do not label the assistant as able to handle every order exception simply because an order connector exists. Your first review should establish which facts come from approved knowledge, which require a live tool and which remain a team decision.
Stable explanations
Product guides, reviewed policies and instructions explain how your business works. Keep one authoritative version and make exceptions explicit. A readable document still needs a reviewer and a refresh decision.
Changing store facts
Prices, stock, available combinations and private order context may need connected tools. A copied catalog page can be useful background, but it does not automatically establish the current value at the time of a question.
Human decisions
Exceptions, unclear measurements and unsupported changes need an agreed route to a person. Write down who handles them, what information is appropriate and how the visitor continues when nobody is available live.
Put an owner beside every source.
Use a role rather than personal details if that is enough. The review check records your assessment; it does not certify the content or run an AI evaluation.
Your source inventory
Entries stay in this tab. Download a copy to keep them. Do not include passwords, private customer records or API keys.
A ten-question challenge set
A source is ready when it survives the question.
Which product fits this use?
Expect an explanation tied to known attributes and a clarifying question when the requirement is incomplete. Do not reward a confident recommendation without product evidence.
Is this option available for that model?
Check the option against the connected catalog or approved specification. Similar-looking products can have different allowed combinations.
What does delivery normally involve?
Use the approved delivery policy and identify regional or product exceptions. Keep usual policy terms separate from a specific order’s actual shipment.
Where is my order now?
Check verified customer identity and the permitted live lookup. A policy source alone cannot prove the current private order state.
Can I return this standard item?
Preserve all relevant conditions from the reviewed policy. Explaining the procedure does not create a return or approve a refund.
What about my custom-made item?
If the source does not cover the exception, expect a clear limitation and referral. Do not allow the assistant to infer a rule from an unrelated product.
Can you promise a price from this old PDF?
Check whether current pricing is available through the appropriate store source. A citation proves where a statement came from, not that it is current.
Two sources disagree. Which is right?
Identify the conflict and the authoritative source owner. Fix the content before expecting a prompt to consistently resolve contradictory instructions.
Can I speak to someone outside opening hours?
Expect the configured offline route and a truthful explanation of availability. Do not treat a queued request as a live human response.
What if the answer is not in the sources?
The assistant should acknowledge the gap, ask a useful question or offer support. Add the failed test to the inventory and assign the missing source.
Keep the inventory alive after the upload.
Review one source change and one failed question at a time. Record what changed, which questions depend on it and when someone checked the new answer. Remove superseded material rather than leaving both versions available without a clear purpose. Imported website content also needs a freshness decision; a successful import is not a permanent guarantee of current information.
Before launch, turn this source inventory into an acceptance review with a named owner. Keep uncertain answers and unavailable integrations in the test set, not only the questions the assistant already answers well. The goal is a bounded, maintainable service that explains what it knows and gives a useful route when it reaches its limits.
Your source selection also affects the context you need to budget for. Estimate credits with your own context assumptions.