How to Build a Company Knowledge Base (Full Tutorial)
This tutorial provides a comprehensive guide on building a scalable company knowledge base using Fumadocs as the foundation and integrating Sanity as the Content Operations Platform (COP). The process moves from local Markdown files to a cloud-hosted, editable CMS, enabling advanced features like semantic search and an AI-powered chat widget. Key steps involve setting up the development environment, connecting Sanity via API keys, and deploying the CMS to a live, editable URL.
Key takeaways
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Initial Setup with Fumadocs
Start by setting up the open-source Fumadocs framework using Node.js to create a foundational, beautiful documentation website structure. This establishes the basic content rendering pipeline.
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Integrating Sanity for CMS Functionality
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To enable non-technical content owners to edit content and provide robust search, the local content source must be switched to Sanity. This requires setting up the Sanity project, obtaining the API key and Project ID, and running `npm run Sanity setup` and `npm run import`.
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Advanced Search and AI Chat Widget
Sanity automatically generates embeddings, enabling semantic search (searching by meaning, not just keywords). This foundation allows for the integration of an AI chat widget (using an LLM API key, e.g., OpenAI) that answers questions and links back to source pages.
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Deployment and Scalability
The CMS can be deployed to a hosted URL using the Sanity CLI (`npx Sanity deploy`), providing a cloud-based interface for team members and AI agents to manage content.