• INDEXED
  • UPDATED
  • CLEANED
  • MANUAL

How to manage knowledge collections with your AI

Connect Glean to your AI client to organize, update, and prune the specific sets of information your agent uses to answer questions.

Ask AI about this page

Short answer

How can I manage my Glean knowledge collections with AI?

You can use your AI to list existing collections, add new documents, or remove outdated files. This keeps your agent's knowledge base accurate and relevant. You'll see how the AI handles these updates below.

Data states.

Where your information lands.

The AI moves information between these states based on your instructions.

INDEXED

Current knowledge base

The AI uses list_collections to see what's already available. This is the source of truth for your agent's answers.

UPDATED

Fresh content added

When you feed it new files, the AI adds them to specific groups. Your agent immediately sees these new details.

CLEANED

Outdated info removed

The AI can strip out old or incorrect documents. This prevents your agent from hallucinating based on stale data.

MANUAL

Human review needed

The AI won't decide which collections to delete on its own. You decide when a group of data is no longer useful.

The workflow

What your AI does when you request a change.

The AI acts as a bridge between your chat interface and your Glean data.

  1. Audit existing data

    The AI checks which information groups are currently active in Glean.

    list_collections

  2. Inspect specific groups

    It looks inside a specific collection to see what's already there.

    get_collection

  3. Add new information

    The AI pushes new files or bulk sets of data into your chosen collections.

    index_documentbulk_index_documents

  4. Remove old files

    It deletes specific documents that are no longer relevant to your work.

    delete_document

Try it

Copy these to start.

Use these prompts to trigger actions in Glean.

Starting points

Swap out the bracketed text for your actual collection names or file paths.

Glean Connector

You're all set. Choose your MCP client and follow the setup instructions.

Connector linkhttps://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_lMfGFESPtGUfMbppNkUCSFtY6hpuymopiHHrJaK6/mcp

Claude Desktop

Follow the steps below to connect in seconds.

  1. 1In Claude Desktop, open Settings → Connectors.
  2. 2Click “Add custom connector” and paste the connector link above as the remote MCP server URL.
  3. 3Click Add and start a new chat — Glean capabilities are ready to use.
Configuration · claude_desktop_config.jsonCopy
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "glean-alternative-mcp": {
      "url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_lMfGFESPtGUfMbppNkUCSFtY6hpuymopiHHrJaK6/mcp"
    }
  }
}
Copy into chat04

  • List all my current knowledge collections in Glean.

  • Show me what is inside the 'Engineering Handbook' collection.

  • Add this new project spec to the 'Product Roadmap' collection.

  • Remove the outdated '2023 Benefits' document from my collections.

  • Claude
  • ChatGPT
  • Cursor
  • VS Code
  • Windsurf
  • Claude Code
  • JetBrains
  • Cline

Start here

Connect Glean once, then ask.

One connection links your AI to Glean. Your credentials stay encrypted, and you can start managing data immediately.

Connect Glean to your AI

FAQ

How this task behaves.

  • 01

    Can the AI create a brand new collection?

    No. The AI can only manage, list, and update existing collections.

  • 02

    Will the AI delete my entire database?

    No. The AI can only delete specific documents that you identify.

  • 03

    Does the AI need to re-index everything every time I add a file?

    No. It only indexes the specific documents you tell it to add.

  • 04

    Can I see a list of all documents in a collection?

    Yes, by asking the AI to look inside a specific collection.

  • 05

    Can the AI change the permissions of a collection?

    No. Permission and access management must be handled through the Glean interface.

  • More questions about Glean? See everything the Glean Connector can do

Connect Glean to Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT & more