Key concepts
The main ideas behind Knovas, and the technical terms used in these docs.
Your private space
Every customer gets their own private space for documents (technically called a tenant). Nothing you upload is ever mixed with another customer’s data, and searches only ever look inside your space.
Your digital ID
Instead of a username and password, your software proves who it is with a certificate: a small file that works like a digital ID card, together with a secret private key. Knovas reads your certificate on every request and automatically opens your space. That is why you never send a customer number: the certificate already says who you are.
Documents, identifiers and parts
- A document is any text you want to search: a contract, a report, an email, a web page.
- You give every document an identifier, which is your own name for it, such as
contracts/2026/acme.pdf. Search results use this name (calledpointerin results), so you always know which document was found. Uploading again with the same identifier replaces the old version. - Large documents are sent in parts: pieces of text, for example one paragraph or one page each.
Search by meaning
Knovas turns each piece of text into a list of numbers that describes what it is about. Texts with a similar meaning get similar numbers. When you search, your question is turned into numbers the same way, and Knovas finds the closest texts. It also checks the exact words, so names and numbers are still found reliably.
Results
A search returns a ranked list of documents. Each result tells you the document’s identifier, how well it matches, and where in the document the best passage is (page and sentence number, if you sent them).
Who may see what
Inside your space, you can optionally label documents with access groups such as HR or Legal. Your software then tells Knovas which groups the current user belongs to, and Knovas only shows that user the documents they are allowed to see. See Access control.
Glossary
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| API | The way two programs talk to each other. Your software sends a request, Knovas sends an answer. |
| Endpoint | One specific address in the API, for example /secured/query for searching. |
| JSON | A simple text format for data, like {"Input": "my question"}. All requests and answers use it. |
| curl | A command-line tool for sending requests. Every request example in these docs is also shown in Python. |
| Certificate | A file that works like a digital ID card for your software. |
| Private key | The secret that belongs to your certificate. Whoever has it can act as you, so keep it safe. |
| CA root | Knovas’ own certificate. Your software uses it to check that it really talks to Knovas. |
| mTLS | “Mutual” secure connection: both sides show a certificate, so both know who they talk to. |
| CSR | A “certificate signing request”: a request to get a new certificate for a key you created yourself. |
| Tenant | Your private space inside Knovas. |
| Identifier / pointer | Your own name for a document. You choose it at upload; results call it pointer. |
| Access group | A label such as HR that controls which of your users may see a document. |
| RBAC | “Role-based access control”: showing each user only what their groups allow. See Access control. |
| Rate limit | A speed limit: how many requests you can send per minute. |
| Knowledge graph | An optional way to organise documents by person, case or project. See Knowledge graph. |
Questions? Write to contact@knovas.ch.
This page describes Knovas 1.3.0. Last updated .