Upload and manage reference files in Vortex Memory

The Knowledge Base is the curated, merchant-uploaded layer of Vortex Memory. You upload reference files deliberately — brand guidelines, supplier catalogues, returns policies, contracts, SOPs, meeting transcripts — and the platform parses, indexes, and makes them citable by Ask Viq with page-level precision. The corpus is intentionally small and precise rather than large and noisy: every file in the Knowledge Base is there because someone decided the AI OS should know about it.

Supported file types

Vortex Memory accepts six file types. Each has its strongest use cases.

The most-uploaded format. Best for finalised prose documents.Strongest use cases: returns and refund policies, supplier contracts, brand guidelines, regulatory documents, internal SOPs, marketing briefs.The platform extracts text for keyword indexing. Image-only (scanned) PDFs run through OCR at upload so the text is still searchable. Page numbers are preserved so citations can point to the exact page.

How to upload a file

Open the Knowledge Base tab

Navigate to Vortex Memory in the platform sidebar, then click the Knowledge Base tab. The upload surface sits at the top of the file list.

Add your files

You have three options:

Drag and drop — drag files or a folder from your file explorer onto the upload zone. The zone highlights when files are over it. Up to 50 files per drag-and-drop.
Browse and select — click Upload to open your operating system’s file picker. Select one or many files.
Bulk upload (zip) — for batches larger than 50 files, use the bulk-upload form. Drop a zip file and the platform unpacks it, preserving the folder structure as your Knowledge Base hierarchy.

Set metadata

The upload form asks for a few fields before the file is processed:

File name — defaults to the original file name. Rename it to something descriptive (supplier-widgets-co-q2-pricelist.xlsx rather than Sheet1.xlsx).
Description — a short prose summary of the file (what it is, who produced it, when it applies). Descriptions are indexed and improve search ranking significantly.
Tags — flat labels for cross-cutting search. The tag field autocompletes from your workspace’s existing tag set. Common tags: contract, q2-2026, widgets-co, policy.
Folder — the Knowledge Base folder this file lives in. Files without a folder land in the workspace Inbox for later triage.
Scope — per-user private (default) or workspace-public. See the scope section below.
Retention — how long the file should remain live. Default is forever. See the retention section below.

Wait for indexing

For most files (short PDFs, small spreadsheets) indexing completes in under a minute. Long audio recordings can take a few minutes to transcribe.The file status in the list shows Parsing, then Indexed when it is searchable. You can leave the surface and return; parsing continues in the background.

Confirm the file is searchable

Once the status shows Indexed, the file is in the keyword search index and Ask Viq can cite it. Run a quick search for a term you expect to appear in the file to confirm the upload landed correctly.

How to organise files

Use folders for hierarchy and tags for cross-cutting attributes — the two work together. A typical folder structure for a merchant past the initial upload sprint:

/brand-guidelines/
/policies/
  /returns/
  /privacy/
  /shipping/
/suppliers/
  /widgets-co/
  /gizmos-inc/
/sops/
  /chargebacks/
  /fulfilment-exceptions/
/meetings/
  /weekly-team/
  /supplier-calls/

A file at /suppliers/widgets-co/contract-2026.pdf might also carry tags contract, q2-2026, signed-by-ceo, legal-review — so you can find every supplier contract or every Q2 document regardless of folder.

How to search the Knowledge Base

The search box at the top of the Knowledge Base tab runs keyword search across every parsed layer: file names, descriptions, tags, folder paths, and the full text of every uploaded document (including OCR’d image text and audio transcripts). The search supports boolean operators:

Operator	Example	Effect
`AND`	`pricing AND q2-2026`	Results must contain both terms
`OR`	`pricing OR catalogue`	Results contain either term
`NOT`	`supplier NOT directory`	Results contain the first term but not the second
`"exact phrase"`	`"effective from 01 Apr 26"`	Exact phrase match
`term*`	`policy*`	Prefix match (policy, policies, etc.)

You can also narrow results without changing the query using filters: file type, folder, tag, owner, upload date, scope, and any custom metadata fields your workspace has defined.

Keyword search is the right tool when you know what you are looking for. For conceptual questions (“policies that mention transit damage”) or synthesis across multiple files, use Ask Viq. A small Ask Viq about this link sits next to the search box and sends your current query directly to Ask Viq with the search results pre-loaded as context.

Semantic search — where your query is matched by conceptual similarity rather than exact term — is on the roadmap and will ship in a later release.

Scope: private by default

Every file you upload is per-user private by default. No one else in your workspace can see it, search for it, or receive it as a citation from Ask Viq until you explicitly change the scope.

Default-private means the Knowledge Base is safe to use for exploratory uploads, drafts, and sensitive material. Sharing is always a deliberate act.

To share a file, open its detail view and use the Share action:

Share with specific teammates — choose named users and grant either read-only (they can view the file) or read-and-cite (they can also cite it through Ask Viq) permission. The file stays private to everyone else.
Promote to workspace-public — every member of the workspace can search for, read, and cite the file. A confirmation prompt appears before the change takes effect.

Reasonable defaults for most workspaces:

File type	Recommended scope
Brand guidelines	Workspace-public
Returns and refund policies	Workspace-public
Shared SOPs	Workspace-public
Supplier price lists	Workspace-public if the team reasons about margin together; private to the finance lead if pricing is closely held
Customer call transcripts	Private to the handling team
Drafts under review	Private until ready, then promoted
Personal notes	Private

Retention controls

Each file has its own retention rule, set at upload. The default is forever — the file stays live until you manually delete it. If you need a different window, the upload form offers preset options:

Option	Typical use case
7 years	Financial records (GDPR-adjacent retention)
5 years	Contracts
3 years	Operational records
1 year	Reference material with a known shelf life
90 days	Temporary uploads (a presentation that will be replaced)
30 days	Genuinely temporary uploads
Custom	Any number of days, weeks, months, or years

When a retention window closes, the file moves from live to archived — it is no longer in the active retrieval pool for Ask Viq but remains accessible with the “include archived” toggle. Archived files are not deleted; only explicit deletion is permanent and irreversible. You can change a file’s retention after upload from its detail view. Every retention change is logged in the audit trail.

Documentation Index

​Supported file types

​How to upload a file

​How to organise files

​How to search the Knowledge Base

​Scope: private by default

​Retention controls

Supported file types

How to upload a file

How to organise files

How to search the Knowledge Base

Scope: private by default

Retention controls