Knowledge, Skills and MCP

Documents provide facts to retrieve; MCP provides external actions; Skills provide reusable procedures. Use a custom workspace tool when code and files already solve the need. These capabilities can be combined without a dedicated native app.

Create a useful document collection

Configure an embedding provider in AI provider first. In Settings → Knowledge → Documents create a collection with a short name and a description explaining when to search it. Upload a small source, wait for indexing and verify a nonzero chunk count. Ask a question with a source/page citation and one absent from the source.

Supported inputs include PDF, DOCX, TXT, CSV, Markdown and JSON; PowerPoint uses PDF conversion. The upload ceiling is 50 MiB, with smaller extraction/resource limits for text and Office content. Large or malformed files can be rejected. Split large sources into useful parts rather than increasing every limit.

Maintain documents and Skills

The agent searches a specific relevant collection. It can ingest one workspace file per rag_ingest call, add a description and remove requested documents. Notes → Add to knowledge uses the same index. Deleting a collection deletes its documents; keep original sources separately. Changing embedding models may require rebuilding the index and sending text to the new provider.

Knowledge → Skills stores procedures with a name, description, when-to-use guidance and steps. Ask the agent to save a proven workflow as a Skill. Personal preferences and remembered facts are separate memory; neither Skills nor uploaded text grant permissions to run tools.

Connect an MCP server in personal mode

• Open Settings → MCP. Enter a name and a URL reachable from the Prism server; localhost inside a container means that container.
• If Bearer authentication is required, create the token in Settings → Secrets and select its name in the connection form. Do not paste the token into chat.
• Click Connect. HTTP/SSE transport is detected. If the server asks for OAuth, approve the browser popup; allow popups if necessary.
• Inspect the discovered tools in Settings → Tools, then test one harmless operation. Connect only tools whose effects you understand.

Refresh, disable and reconnect

Refresh reconnects and updates added, changed and removed tools while retaining URL, authentication and enabled state. A discovery failure retains the previous catalogue and displays an error. Turning a server off withdraws its tools without deleting its settings; removing it deletes the connection. A revoked OAuth grant needs fresh browser authorization; Refresh does not open consent.

Knowledge and MCP in shared mode

Group administrators manage documents and servers in Admin → RAG / MCP; members see read-only settings and can use permitted tools. There are no personal document collections or MCP servers in shared mode. Group administrators can curate documents through their agent too. With several groups, use the intended Room for its shared context. A member without a group has neither group knowledge nor MCP.

Diagnose a missing answer or tool

For knowledge, check embedding readiness, collection scope/description and indexed chunks. For MCP, check server reachability, credentials, enabled state, personal opt-outs and administrator policy. An unrelated collection should not be searched just because it exists. A tool’s presence does not guarantee the remote service accepts its credentials or inputs.