Knowledge Base Article

Turns support notes into a plain-language US knowledge base article with sources, review dates and accessibility notes. Written for US support leads, technical writers and customer success teams who own a help center or an internal knowledge base.

Use this skill when someone asks for:

• knowledge base article template
• help center article writer
• internal support doc template
• plain language how to guide
• article review checklist

The job

Support articles are copied between products, so the limits, the timing and the steps in them are often wrong, and nobody can tell which version a customer read this morning.

What you get

1. Collect the notes, the question the article answers, the product version it applies to and the reviewer who owns it.
2. Turn the notes into a digest with one section for each question a customer actually asks.
3. Write the answer in plain language, with the steps in order and the expected result after each one.
4. Attach the source for every limit, price, time and policy statement, and mark the ones with no source.
5. Set the review date, the owner and the accessibility notes, then hand the draft to the editor for publishing.

Output contract:

• article - the drafted article with a summary, the prerequisites, the steps, the expected results and the related articles
• source_gaps - each limit, price, timing or policy statement with the source it needs or the gap marked
• review_block - the owner, the version, the last reviewed date and the next review date
• accessibility_notes - the heading order, the link text, the alt text and the table notes for the editor
• publication_checklist - what the editor has to do before the article goes live

US specifics that matter

• The FTC's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials (16 CFR part 465) took effect on October 21, 2024 and bans giving an incentive that is conditioned on the sentiment of a review, so an article cannot offer a perk for a positive review.
• The statement of basis for that same rule says review gating can still violate Section 5 of the FTC Act (15 USC 45), so the safe practice is to ask for a review with no condition attached to it.
• Section 5 of the FTC Act makes deceptive claims unlawful, and a support article that repeats a performance or savings claim is still an advertising claim, so the source has to be attached to it.
• The FTC's Endorsement Guides (16 CFR part 255) require a material connection to be disclosed, so a company-authored article that quotes a customer has to say who wrote the piece.
• US state privacy laws differ: California's CCPA as amended by the CPRA, Colorado's CPA (Colo. Rev. Stat. 6-1-1306) and Virginia's VCDPA each define personal data and consumer rights on their own terms, so a data request section names the state it covers.
• HIPAA's de-identification standard (45 CFR 164.514(b)) lists 18 identifiers that have to be removed before health information counts as de-identified, so an example cannot carry a real patient's name, dates or record numbers.
• Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires federal agencies and their suppliers to make information technology accessible, which is why most US help centers target WCAG 2.1 Level AA.

Guardrails (hard rules)

• Never put a real customer's personal information, account number, order number, ticket text or health information into the article; use an anonymized example.
• Never publish the article to a help center, a website or an internal wiki; the knowledge base owner publishes it.
• Never state a price, a limit, a processing time or a policy term that the notes do not support; leave it as a marked gap.
• Never copy another company's help content or a screenshot from a third-party product; write the steps from the product facts supplied.

Quickstart

1. Fill in the brief

templates/kb-article.yaml is the starting point. Copy it, fill in your own numbers, and keep the field names - the script reads them by name.

2. Run the script

python3 scripts/build_article_digest.py --input kb-article.yaml --out ./out

The script is standalone: Python 3 standard library only, no install step, no network calls, no API keys.

3. Check the result against the reference

references/kb-article-standards.md holds the limits, the US rules and the checklist the output has to satisfy. Read it before you send anything to a customer or a platform.

Reviews, incentives and solicitation

• 16 CFR part 465, effective October 21, 2024, bans incentives that are conditioned on the sentiment of a review.
• The rule's statement of basis notes that review gating can still violate Section 5 of the FTC Act.
• An article that asks for feedback should ask for it plainly, with no condition attached to any remedy.
• FTC Act Section 5 also covers a claim repeated in a support article, so a savings or performance claim needs a source.

Attribution and endorsement

• 16 CFR part 255 requires a material connection to be disclosed in an endorsement or a testimonial.
• A company-written article that quotes a customer has to make the author of the article clear.
• An article should not present an employee or a customer quote as an independent opinion without that disclosure.
• Keep the source of every quoted phrase next to the quote in the draft.

Privacy and data request content

• California (CCPA and CPRA), Colorado (6-1-1306) and Virginia (VCDPA) each set their own definitions and rights.
• Colorado requires a controller to honor a universal opt-out signal for targeted advertising and the sale of personal data from July 1, 2024.
• An article that explains how to ask for a deletion has to name the state it covers and where the request goes.
• Under 45 CFR 164.514(b), 18 identifiers have to be removed before health information is de-identified.

Accessibility and editorial review

• Most US help centers target WCAG 2.1 Level AA, and Section 508 requires accessible technology from federal suppliers.
• Use one H1, ordered headings, descriptive link text and alt text on every image.
• Plain language means short sentences and a step a first-time user can follow without help.
• Every article carries an owner, a version and a next review date, and the editor publishes it.

The Windows app (optional)

The workflow above runs anywhere Python 3 runs. If you also want the publisher's Windows desktop app with several AI models in one window, it is a separate download. This bundle does not contain it, does not install it, and never runs it - you decide whether to fetch it.

Check the download before you run it. PowerShell:

Get-FileHash .\ModelBox-Windows-x64.zip -Algorithm SHA256

The hash must match the value in the table. Then extract the archive and start ModelBox-Windows-x64.exe.

The program is not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen shows Unknown publisher. Run it only if you accept an unsigned program, keep it in a folder of its own, and do not run it as administrator unless you have a reason to.

Files in this bundle

• SKILL.md - this file
• references/kb-article-standards.md - US rules and standards for support articles
• templates/kb-article.yaml - the brief to fill in
• scripts/build_article_digest.py - the working script

Verify the bundle

python3 scripts/build_article_digest.py --input kb-article.yaml --out ./out

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