Citations only appear when Stella draws on a dataset that has Searchable in Stella enabled. See Knowledge Base Overview for how to make documents available to Stella.
Where a Citation Links
Each Knowledge Base citation resolves to the best available destination for that document. Stella picks the link in this order:| Order | Document type | Citation opens | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Imported from an external source | The original source URL captured when the document was imported | An Intercom Help Center article opens on your help center |
| 2 | Uploaded file (PDF, Word) | The in-app dataset view in Statisfy, where you can find the cited document | Knowledge Base → your dataset |
| 3 | Fallback (no dataset available) | The main Knowledge Base list | Knowledge Base |
External Sources — Links to the Original
When a document is brought into your Knowledge Base from a connected source (for example, an Intercom Help Center), Statisfy stores the document’s original web address at import time. Citations for these documents link straight to that original source. This is the preferred behavior — the reader lands on the canonical page they already trust, with the full, up-to-date content and the source’s own formatting.Uploaded Files (PDF, Word) — Links to the In-App View
When you upload a file directly to a dataset — a PDF or Word document — there is no external web address for Stella to link to. The file lives only inside Statisfy. In this case, the citation links to the dataset view inside Statisfy (Knowledge Base → the dataset that contains the document). From there you can open the document the answer was based on.
A citation for an uploaded file points to the dataset, not to a specific page within the file. A dedicated in-app document viewer is on the roadmap; until then, the dataset view is the landing page from which you can locate the cited document.
| Format | Extensions |
|---|---|
.pdf | |
| Word | .docx |
How Citations Appear in Stella
- Citations render as inline 🔗 links within Stella’s answer.
- Hovering a citation shows a tooltip with the source name and the dataset it belongs to.
- Stella shows up to 3 unique source links per answer and removes duplicates, so if the same document supports several points, it is linked once.
- Citations work in both the in-app Stella chat and in Stella’s Slack replies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did a citation open app.statisfy.com instead of my source?
Why did a citation open app.statisfy.com instead of my source?
That citation points to a directly uploaded file (PDF or Word), which has no external source URL — so Stella links to the in-app dataset view inside Statisfy instead. Documents imported from a connected source link to their original URL.
Why does a citation open the dataset and not the exact document?
Why does a citation open the dataset and not the exact document?
For uploaded files, Stella currently links to the dataset that contains the cited document rather than to a single-document viewer (which isn’t built yet). Open the dataset to find the cited file. Documents imported from an external source link directly to the original page.
Stella's answer mentions a document but there's no link
Stella's answer mentions a document but there's no link
A few reasons a link may not appear:
- The dataset isn’t set to Searchable in Stella — enable it in the dataset settings.
- The same source was already linked earlier in the answer (duplicates are removed).
- The answer reached the 3-link limit, so additional citations for the same response aren’t shown as links.
Can Stella cite PowerPoint (PPTX) files?
Can Stella cite PowerPoint (PPTX) files?
Not currently. The Knowledge Base supports PDF and Word (
.docx) uploads, plus documents imported from connected sources. Convert a PowerPoint to PDF before uploading if you want Stella to use and cite it.Does Stella only cite the Knowledge Base?
Does Stella only cite the Knowledge Base?
No. Stella also cites activities (meetings, emails, and other timeline items) and documents it references. This page covers Knowledge Base citations specifically; activity citations link to the relevant account activity, and document citations link to the document in Statisfy.