Source Providers are how you tell the AI which material to use for a given task. This article explains what they are, how to set them, what you get back, and everywhere you'll use them.
Prerequisites
- Understanding your Knowledge Hub — Source Providers let you select from it.
- You can reach the home screen and open the Research Assistant.
What Source Providers are
Where the Knowledge Hub is what you could use, Source Providers are how you choose what the AI will use — for one specific request, at the moment you make it.
A Source Provider tells the platform where to look for its source material when it answers a prompt or carries out a task. Whatever you set as your Source Providers is the only material the AI draws on to generate that output.
Set them every time. Source Providers are configured at the point of use — they don't carry over. Each time you use AI (a new prompt, a new activity, a transformation) check that the right sources are selected.
How to set your Source Providers
Whenever you reach a point where you'll use AI, you have two ways to give it material:
- Upload a document directly from your computer, for a one-off source.
- Configure Source Providers using the source provider button, then choose from:
- Your Knowledge Hub — open the selection window and narrow down to a whole library, a single document within a library, or any combination you choose.
- Web search — turn the whole web on; restrict it to specific websites; or exclude sites you don't want searched (for example, LinkedIn or Wikipedia).
Make your selection and choose apply changes. From then on, that request uses only what you've configured.
What you get back
In the Research Assistant, once you send a prompt you get an answer with inline citations that link to the websites and Knowledge Hub sources used. You also see a full list of sources — distinguishing the sources the tool read from the sources it actually cited (the ones behind those inline citations). That makes it easy to check the AI's working and trace any claim back to where it came from.
Where you'll use Source Providers
Source Providers appear everywhere you can call on AI. There are three main places:
1. The Research Assistant (from home)
Your starting point for open research. Upload a document, or configure Source Providers from the web or your Knowledge Hub.
2. Inside a Workspace
Within a private workspace document or a Q&A Workbook, Source Providers appear in two spots:
- The Assistant that sits within the document — much like the Research Assistant. Upload a file, or configure Source Providers from the web or Knowledge Hub.
- The Write panel — where you reach Ask AI and the pre-built transformations. Source provider selection sits here too, so you can configure sources for a specific action.
3. Inside a Project
Projects work a little differently. A project draws on its Project Library, and instead of the whole Knowledge Hub or the open web, your choices are narrowed to the Project Library or web search. You set Source Providers when you create an AI activity or work inside a blank document — again through the Assistant or the Write panel.
The Project Library holds everything specific to that pursuit:
- The RFP documents from the customer
- Your AI activity outputs
- Anything else you upload to the project
Those documents are only available through Source Providers while you're inside that project.
How this informs your work
Put the two ideas together and you have the model running underneath all of your AI work:
- Your Knowledge Hub decides what's available to draw on.
- Your Source Providers decide what's actually used — this time, for this task.
Because the AI only ever works from the sources you point it at, the quality and relevance of what you get back is in your hands. Curate a strong Knowledge Hub, select the right sources each time, and every prompt, activity and transformation starts from solid ground.
Tips and notes
Warning — Source Providers don't persist. Configuring them once does not carry them across the Assistant, your transformations, or the Editor. Select your sources every time you use AI.
Tip. Not sure whether a claim in an answer is grounded? Check the cited-sources list and follow the inline citation back to the source.
Note. In a project you're limited to the Project Library or web search — not the full Knowledge Hub. Connect the Knowledge Hub sources you need to the Project Library first.