How to manage document versions in a knowledge base
Document versions in a knowledge base start by naming which file is current and who may mark the previous draft superseded, then the assistant cites only the current file. A file with no current mark is not cited as the rule.
On this page
- Keep versions apart from setup and from permissions
- The standard is about creating and managing records
- One store, one current file
- The owner marks the previous file superseded
- The assistant cites only the current file
- Drafts are not cited
- Read access stays with the file store
- When the assistant should not cite
Keep versions apart from setup and from permissions
How to choose which files may stand as the rule, and who may read them, is covered in How to build an enterprise knowledge base. Which role may read which material is covered in How to set permissions for an enterprise AI assistant. This note covers only which file is current after the documents are already in the knowledge base, and which file the assistant may cite.
The delivery scope sits under Internal knowledge base and assistant. When a PDF in chat and a file on the shared drive disagree, mark the current file before deciding whether the assistant should answer. If neither file is marked current, the assistant does not cite either as the rule.
The standard is about creating and managing records
ISO 15489-1:2016, Information and documentation — Records management — Part 1: Concepts and principles, is edition 2. The catalogue page gives the publication date as April 2016, and the life-cycle table marks 7 April 2016 as the date the international standard was published. The page says this edition was reviewed and confirmed in 2021, so this version remains current. The stage is International Standard confirmed (90.93), and the life-cycle table marks 9 November 2021 as the confirmation.
The abstract says the standard defines the concepts and principles from which approaches to the creation, capture and management of records are developed. It describes records, metadata for records and records systems; policies, assigned responsibilities, monitoring and training; recurrent analysis of business context and the identification of records requirements; records controls; and processes for creating, capturing and managing records. It applies to records regardless of structure or form, in all types of business and technological environments, over time. The public page does not name a version-number format, and it does not describe how an assistant cites a file. This note does not quote a price, and it does not add a format the page does not state. The marks and the citation below are the way a buyer manages versions after the files are already in the knowledge base.
One store, one current file
Each policy names one store the team already uses, and only one file in that store is marked current. The current file names its title, its version, the date it became current, and the owner. A copy in chat, in email, or on a laptop is not a second current file.
When two files are both marked current, the assistant does not cite that policy as the rule until the owner leaves one current and marks the other superseded. This note does not add a second numbering scheme beside the store you already use.
The owner marks the previous file superseded
The person who may mark a previous file superseded is the owner already named on the current file. In the same edit that makes the new text current, the owner marks the previous file superseded, writes the date, and points to the new current version. The superseded file stays readable for later comparison. It is not deleted without a record.
Until a chat message that says to use a file is written in that edit, the previous file stays current. When the owner is absent, nobody else in the room applies the mark. The author of a draft may propose which file should become current. The owner still applies the current mark and the superseded mark.
The assistant cites only the current file
When the assistant cites a passage as the rule, the citation names the current file title, the version, and the passage. If the citation cannot name those three, that passage is not sent as the rule.
When retrieval hits a superseded file, the answer says that file is superseded and points to the current version, or it does not answer from that file. This note does not treat “the assistant should know which file is newer” as a judgment it can make without a mark. The mark on the store is the basis.
Drafts are not cited
A draft sits beside the current file, marked as a draft, with the author and the date. The assistant does not cite a draft as the rule. A draft may be shown to the owner for review. A sentence still under review is not the current text.
A draft becomes current only when the owner, in the same edit, marks it current and marks the previous file superseded. Copying the draft into chat does not change the current mark on the store.
Read access stays with the file store
Who may read which file stays in the permissions note: the assistant inherits only the read access that person already has in the file store. A version mark does not add a reader. If the current file sits in a folder that person cannot read, the assistant does not cite it to them.
Marking a file superseded does not widen who may read it. Someone who needs the old text still has to be a person who could already read that file. This note does not change the permission model. It only requires that a citation sent as the rule is a current file the reader can already open.
When the assistant should not cite
When a file has no current mark, two files for the same policy are both marked current, or the owner is still blank, the assistant does not cite those files as the rule. Add the mark or name the owner first. A later date in chat does not replace the mark on the store.
This note does not state a retention period, a response time, or a service level. If you set a retention period, it comes from your own rule, with a date. This note does not fill one in. The ISO catalogue date is April 2016, the life-cycle table marks publication on 7 April 2016, and it marks confirmation on 9 November 2021. Until a current mark exists, check versions by whether each policy has one current file, whether the owner marks the previous file superseded in the same edit, and whether a citation names the title, the version, and the passage.