> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.alex.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Knowledge Uploads

> Upload documents directly to the Knowledge Base when the content doesn't live in a connected tool

Not everything worth answering from lives in Confluence, SharePoint, Notion, or Drive. **Uploads** let you put a document straight into the Knowledge Base — a benefits PDF, a candidate FAQ, a client one-pager — with no connection to set up.

Uploads are available to every company, whether or not the other Knowledge Base sources are enabled.

## Uploading

In the Alex app, go to **Settings** > **Knowledge Base** and click the **Uploads** card.

![Knowledge Uploads panel with a drag-and-drop zone accepting txt, pdf, doc, and docx files up to 7 MB each](https://mintcdn.com/apriora/1dLms1nR32YN9Z59/images/kb-uploads.jpg?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=1dLms1nR32YN9Z59\&q=85\&s=c15ec0142fb4c15382fdfaed5996073c)

Drag files onto the drop zone, or click it to browse. Files are indexed as soon as they finish processing — there's no sync cycle to wait for.

| | |
| - | - |
| **File types** | `.txt`, `.pdf`, `.doc`, `.docx` |
| **Maximum size** | 7 MB per file |
| **Maximum documents** | 200 per company |

> [!TIP]
>
> Scanned PDFs with no text layer still work — Alex falls back to optical character recognition when a PDF has no extractable text.

## Managing Uploaded Documents

![Uploaded documents listed with Synced and Global badges, an on/off toggle, and per-document controls](https://mintcdn.com/apriora/1dLms1nR32YN9Z59/images/kb-uploads-list.jpg?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=1dLms1nR32YN9Z59\&q=85\&s=0c303422be1283466c52fd970bdecf60)

Each row shows the file name, roughly how much indexed content it produced, and when it was uploaded, alongside:

| Control | What it does |
| - | - |
| **Status badge** | **Synced** once the document is indexed and answerable. **Failed** if processing didn't succeed. |
| **Scope badge** | **Global** if the document is answerable in every interview, or a summary of its job conditions. |
| **Toggle** | Switches the document on or off for answers, without removing it. |
| **Scope button** | Opens the [job scope dialog](https://docs.alex.com/integrations/knowledge-base/job-scoping.md). |
| **Download** | Retrieves the original file as uploaded. |

### Replacing a document

Upload a file with the **same name** as an existing one and it replaces it. This is the intended way to publish an update — the old version stops being answerable as soon as the new one finishes processing.

> [!NOTE]
>
> Because replacement is keyed on the file name, keep names stable across revisions. `benefits-guide.pdf` updated in place is much easier to manage than `benefits-guide-v2-final.pdf` sitting alongside the original.

### Turning a document off

Switching a document off excludes it from Alex's answers immediately, while keeping it in the list and keeping its indexed content — so switching it back on is instant. Use this rather than deleting when a policy is temporarily out of date.

## When Processing Fails

A document that can't be read shows a **Failed** status. Alex's message tells you what to do: fix the file and re-upload it with the same name to retry.

Common causes:

* The PDF is a pure image with no text layer *and* OCR couldn't read it — try a higher-quality scan.
* The file is password-protected or otherwise encrypted.
* The file is corrupt, or its extension doesn't match its actual format (a `.docx` that's really a `.pages` file, for instance).

## Uploads vs. Connected Sources

> **Use an upload when**
>
> The content is stable, self-contained, and doesn't have a natural home in a connected tool — or you want something answerable today without waiting on an integration.

> **Use a connected source when**
>
> The content is already maintained somewhere and changes over time. Syncing means Alex tracks the edits automatically; an upload has to be replaced by hand.

> [!WARNING]
>
> An uploaded document is a point-in-time copy. If the underlying policy changes and nobody re-uploads the file, Alex will keep answering from the stale version. For anything that changes regularly, connect the source instead.


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