Knowledge Item Types

A Knowledge Item Type is a template that defines a configurable capability in the system. While Knowledge Feature Types describe what you know about documents, Knowledge Item Types describe what you can do - such as customizing extraction prompts, applying validation rules, or modifying processing behavior.

When Do You Need Item Types?

Create a Knowledge Item Type when you want to:

Allow customization of extraction prompts for specific data elements
Define validation rules that can be selectively applied
Create processing behaviors that can be configured per document type
Enable business users to customize system behavior without code changes

How Item Types Work

Define the Type - Create a Knowledge Item Type that describes a capability (e.g., “Prompt Override”)
Create Items - Create configured instances with specific values (e.g., “Use this prompt for invoice totals”)
Connect via Sets - Knowledge Sets link Features to Items, triggering behaviors based on document characteristics

Item Type Structure

Field	Purpose	Example
`slug`	Unique identifier	`prompt-override`
`name`	Display name	`Prompt Override`
`description`	What this capability does	`Customize the extraction prompt for a data element`
`options`	Configuration parameters users can set	`targetField`, `promptText`, `model`

Options Define Configuration

Options specify what parameters users can configure when creating items:

options:
  - name: targetField
    type: string
    label: Target Field
    description: The data element this prompt applies to
    required: true
  - name: promptText
    type: text
    label: Prompt Text
    description: The custom prompt to use for extraction
    required: true
  - name: temperature
    type: number
    label: Temperature
    description: LLM temperature setting (0-1)
    default: 0.1

Creating an Item Type

Via YAML (GitOps)

Create a file in kodexa-resources/knowledge-item-types/:

# kodexa-resources/knowledge-item-types/prompt-override.yaml
slug: prompt-override
name: Prompt Override
description: Customize the extraction prompt for a specific data element

options:
  - name: targetField
    type: string
    label: Target Field
    description: The taxon path this prompt applies to
    required: true

  - name: promptText
    type: text
    label: Prompt Text
    description: The custom prompt to use for extraction
    required: true

  - name: includeExamples
    type: boolean
    label: Include Examples
    description: Whether to include few-shot examples
    default: true

Add to your manifest:

# manifests/main.yaml
resources:
  knowledge-item-types:
    - prompt-override

Deploy:

kdx sync deploy

Via API

curl -X POST "https://platform.kodexa.ai/api/knowledgeItemTypes" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $KODEXA_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "slug": "prompt-override",
    "name": "Prompt Override",
    "description": "Customize the extraction prompt for a specific data element",
    "options": [
      {
        "name": "targetField",
        "type": "string",
        "label": "Target Field",
        "required": true
      },
      {
        "name": "promptText",
        "type": "text",
        "label": "Prompt Text",
        "required": true
      }
    ]
  }'

Via Kodexa UI

Navigate to Knowledge in the sidebar
Click Item Types
Click Create Item Type
Fill in name, slug, description
Add options to define configurable parameters
Save

Creating Knowledge Items

Once you have an Item Type, create configured items:

Via YAML

# Knowledge Item configuration
title: SEC 10K Extraction Prompt
description: Specialized prompt for extracting data from SEC 10K filings
knowledgeItemType: prompt-override
active: true

properties:
  targetField: "financial/revenue"
  promptText: |
    Extract the total revenue figure from this SEC 10K filing.
    Look for "Total Revenue", "Net Revenue", or "Total Sales" in the
    financial statements section. Return the most recent fiscal year value.
  includeExamples: true

Via API

curl -X POST "https://platform.kodexa.ai/api/knowledgeItems" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $KODEXA_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "title": "SEC 10K Extraction Prompt",
    "description": "Specialized prompt for extracting data from SEC 10K filings",
    "knowledgeItemTypeSlug": "prompt-override",
    "active": true,
    "properties": {
      "targetField": "financial/revenue",
      "promptText": "Extract the total revenue figure from this SEC 10K filing...",
      "includeExamples": true
    }
  }'

Connecting Items to Features via Knowledge Sets

Knowledge Items don’t do anything on their own - they need to be connected to documents through Knowledge Sets. A Knowledge Set says “when a document has these features, apply these items.” See Knowledge Sets for details on creating sets.

Common Item Type Examples

Validation Rule

slug: validation-rule
name: Validation Rule
description: Apply custom validation logic to extracted data

options:
  - name: targetField
    type: string
    label: Target Field
    required: true

  - name: ruleType
    type: select
    label: Rule Type
    options:
      - value: required
        label: Required Field
      - value: range
        label: Numeric Range
      - value: pattern
        label: Regex Pattern
      - value: custom
        label: Custom Expression

  - name: ruleExpression
    type: string
    label: Rule Expression
    description: The validation expression or pattern

  - name: errorMessage
    type: string
    label: Error Message
    description: Message shown when validation fails

Field Ignore Rule

slug: field-ignore
name: Field Ignore Rule
description: Skip extraction for specific fields under certain conditions

options:
  - name: targetField
    type: string
    label: Target Field
    required: true

  - name: reason
    type: string
    label: Reason
    description: Why this field should be ignored

Processing Priority

slug: processing-priority
name: Processing Priority
description: Adjust processing priority for specific document types

options:
  - name: priority
    type: select
    label: Priority Level
    options:
      - value: high
        label: High Priority
      - value: normal
        label: Normal
      - value: low
        label: Low Priority

  - name: slaHours
    type: number
    label: SLA (Hours)
    description: Target processing time in hours

Item Types vs Feature Types

Aspect	Feature Type	Item Type
Purpose	Capture metadata about documents	Define configurable behaviors
Direction	Information FROM documents	Actions applied TO documents
Examples	Vendor, Document Type, Language	Prompt Override, Validation Rule
Persistence	Features are reused across documents	Items are applied via Knowledge Sets
Created by	Often by agents during processing	Typically by developers/admins

Next Steps

Knowledge Feature Types - Define document metadata categories
Customizing Extraction - End-to-end guide using Item Types
Adding Validation Rules - Practical validation example

Introduction

Activity

Knowledge System

Organization & Projects

Resources

Modules

When Do You Need Item Types?

How Item Types Work

Item Type Structure

Options Define Configuration

Creating an Item Type

Via YAML (GitOps)

Via API

Via Kodexa UI

Creating Knowledge Items

Via YAML

Via API

Connecting Items to Features via Knowledge Sets

Common Item Type Examples

Validation Rule

Field Ignore Rule

Processing Priority

Item Types vs Feature Types

Next Steps

​When Do You Need Item Types?

​How Item Types Work

​Item Type Structure

​Options Define Configuration

​Creating an Item Type

​Via YAML (GitOps)

​Via API

​Via Kodexa UI

​Creating Knowledge Items

​Via YAML

​Via API

​Connecting Items to Features via Knowledge Sets

​Common Item Type Examples

​Validation Rule

​Field Ignore Rule

​Processing Priority

​Item Types vs Feature Types

​Next Steps

When Do You Need Item Types?

How Item Types Work

Item Type Structure

Options Define Configuration

Creating an Item Type

Via YAML (GitOps)

Via API

Via Kodexa UI

Creating Knowledge Items

Via YAML

Via API

Connecting Items to Features via Knowledge Sets

Common Item Type Examples

Validation Rule

Field Ignore Rule

Processing Priority

Item Types vs Feature Types

Next Steps