Create a knowledge base in Azure AI Search

• Required Azure.Search.Documents package:

  • For 2026-08-01-preview features, the latest preview package: dotnet add package Azure.Search.Documents --prerelease

  • For 2026-04-01 features, the latest stable package: dotnet add package Azure.Search.Documents

• For keyless authentication, the Azure.Identity package: dotnet add package Azure.Identity

• Required azure-search-documents package:

  • For 2026-08-01-preview features, the latest preview package: pip install --pre azure-search-documents

  • For 2026-04-01 features, the latest stable package: pip install azure-search-documents

• For keyless authentication, the azure-identity package: pip install azure-identity

• Required Search Service REST API version:

  • For preview features: 2026-08-01-preview

  • For generally available features: 2026-04-01

• For keyless authentication, include a Microsoft Entra ID token in the Authorization header of each HTTP request.

// List knowledge bases by name
using Azure.Search.Documents.Indexes;

var indexClient = new SearchIndexClient(new Uri(searchEndpoint), credential);
var knowledgeBases = indexClient.GetKnowledgeBasesAsync();

Console.WriteLine("Knowledge Bases:");

await foreach (var kb in knowledgeBases)
{
    Console.WriteLine($"  - {kb.Name}");
}

Reference: SearchIndexClient

# List knowledge bases by name
from azure.identity import DefaultAzureCredential
from azure.search.documents.indexes import SearchIndexClient

index_client = SearchIndexClient(endpoint = "<search-endpoint>", credential = DefaultAzureCredential())

for kb in index_client.list_knowledge_bases():
    print(f"  - {kb.name}")

Reference: SearchIndexClient

# List knowledge bases
GET {{search-endpoint}}/knowledgebases?api-version={{api-version}}&$select=name
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer {{search-access-token}}

Reference: Knowledge Bases - List

using Azure.Search.Documents.Indexes;
using System.Text.Json;

var indexClient = new SearchIndexClient(new Uri(searchEndpoint), credential);

// Specify the knowledge base name to retrieve
string kbNameToGet = "earth-knowledge-base";

// Get a specific knowledge base definition
var knowledgeBaseResponse = await indexClient.GetKnowledgeBaseAsync(kbNameToGet);
var kb = knowledgeBaseResponse.Value;

// Serialize to JSON for display
string json = JsonSerializer.Serialize(kb, new JsonSerializerOptions { WriteIndented = true });
Console.WriteLine(json);

Reference: SearchIndexClient

# Get a knowledge base definition
from azure.identity import DefaultAzureCredential
from azure.search.documents.indexes import SearchIndexClient
import json

index_client = SearchIndexClient(endpoint = "<search-endpoint>", credential = DefaultAzureCredential())

kb = index_client.get_knowledge_base("<knowledge-base-name>")
print(json.dumps(kb.as_dict(), indent = 2))

Reference: SearchIndexClient

# Get knowledge base
GET {{search-endpoint}}/knowledgebases/{{knowledge-base-name}}?api-version={{api-version}}
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer {{search-access-token}}

Reference: Knowledge Bases - Get

using System;
using Azure.Identity;
using Azure.Search.Documents;
using Azure.Search.Documents.Indexes;
using Azure.Search.Documents.Indexes.Models;
using Azure.Search.Documents.Models;

string searchEndpoint = "<search-endpoint>";

var options = new SearchClientOptions(
    SearchClientOptions.ServiceVersion.V2026_08_01_Preview);
var indexClient = new SearchIndexClient(
    new Uri(searchEndpoint),
    new DefaultAzureCredential(),
    options);

var knowledgeBase = new KnowledgeBase(
    "your-knowledge-base",
    new[] { new KnowledgeSourceReference("your-knowledge-source") })
{
    Description = "A knowledge base for product support content.",
    RetrieveDefaults = new KnowledgeBaseRetrieveDefaults
    {
        MaxRuntimeInSeconds = 45,
        MaxOutputDocuments = 8,
        MaxOutputSizeInTokens = 12000
    }
};

await indexClient.CreateOrUpdateKnowledgeBaseAsync(knowledgeBase);

Reference: SearchIndexClient, SearchClientOptions.ServiceVersion, KnowledgeBase

from azure.identity import DefaultAzureCredential
from azure.search.documents.indexes import SearchIndexClient
from azure.search.documents.indexes.models import (
    KnowledgeBase,
    KnowledgeBaseRetrieveDefaults,
    KnowledgeSourceReference,
)

search_endpoint = "<search-endpoint>"
index_client = SearchIndexClient(
    endpoint=search_endpoint,
    credential=DefaultAzureCredential(),
    api_version="2026-08-01-preview",
)

knowledge_base = KnowledgeBase(
    name="your-knowledge-base",
    description="A knowledge base for product support content.",
    knowledge_sources=[
        KnowledgeSourceReference(name="your-knowledge-source"),
    ],
    retrieve_defaults=KnowledgeBaseRetrieveDefaults(
        max_runtime_in_seconds=45,
        max_output_documents=8,
        max_output_size_in_tokens=12000,
    ),
)

index_client.create_or_update_knowledge_base(knowledge_base)

Reference: SearchIndexClient, KnowledgeBase

PUT {{search-endpoint}}/knowledgebases/your-knowledge-base?api-version=2026-08-01-preview
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer {{search-access-token}}

{
  "name": "your-knowledge-base",
  "description": "A knowledge base for product support content.",
  "knowledgeSources": [
    {
      "name": "your-knowledge-source"
    }
  ],
  "retrieveDefaults": {
    "maxRuntimeInSeconds": 45,
    "maxOutputDocuments": 8,
    "maxOutputSizeInTokens": 12000
  }
}

Reference: Knowledge Bases - Create or Update

using Azure.Identity;
using Azure.Search.Documents.Indexes;
using Azure.Search.Documents.Indexes.Models;

var indexClient = new SearchIndexClient(new Uri(searchEndpoint), new DefaultAzureCredential());

var knowledgeBase = new KnowledgeBase(
    name: "browser-chat-kb",
    knowledgeSources: new[] { new KnowledgeSourceReference("product-docs-ks") }
)
{
    Description = "A knowledge base that allows one browser app origin.",
    CorsOptions = new CorsOptions(new[] { "https://myapp.example.com" })
    {
        MaxAgeInSeconds = 300
    }
};

await indexClient.CreateOrUpdateKnowledgeBaseAsync(knowledgeBase);

Reference: CorsOptions, KnowledgeBase

from azure.identity import DefaultAzureCredential
from azure.search.documents.indexes import SearchIndexClient
from azure.search.documents.indexes.models import (
    CorsOptions,
    KnowledgeBase,
    KnowledgeSourceReference,
)

index_client = SearchIndexClient(endpoint="<search-endpoint>", credential=DefaultAzureCredential())

knowledge_base = KnowledgeBase(
    name="browser-chat-kb",
    description="A knowledge base that allows one browser app origin.",
    knowledge_sources=[KnowledgeSourceReference(name="product-docs-ks")],
    cors_options=CorsOptions(
        allowed_origins=["https://myapp.example.com"],
        max_age_in_seconds=300,
    ),
)

index_client.create_or_update_knowledge_base(knowledge_base)

Reference: CorsOptions, KnowledgeBase

PUT {{search-endpoint}}/knowledgebases/browser-chat-kb?api-version=2026-08-01-preview
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer {{search-access-token}}

{
  "name": "browser-chat-kb",
  "description": "A knowledge base that allows one browser app origin.",
  "knowledgeSources": [
    {
      "name": "product-docs-ks"
    }
  ],
  "corsOptions": {
    "allowedOrigins": [
      "https://myapp.example.com"
    ],
    "maxAgeInSeconds": 300
  }
}

// Delete a knowledge base
using Azure.Search.Documents.Indexes;
var indexClient = new SearchIndexClient(new Uri(searchEndpoint), credential);

await indexClient.DeleteKnowledgeBaseAsync(knowledgeBaseName);
System.Console.WriteLine($"Knowledge base '{knowledgeBaseName}' deleted successfully.");

Reference: SearchIndexClient

# Delete a knowledge base
from azure.identity import DefaultAzureCredential
from azure.search.documents.indexes import SearchIndexClient

index_client = SearchIndexClient(endpoint = "<search-endpoint>", credential = DefaultAzureCredential())
index_client.delete_knowledge_base("<knowledge-base-name>")
print(f"Knowledge base deleted successfully.")

Reference: SearchIndexClient

# Delete a knowledge base
DELETE {{search-endpoint}}/knowledgebases/{{knowledge-base-name}}?api-version={{api-version}}
Authorization: Bearer {{search-access-token}}

Reference: Knowledge Bases - Delete