Use case · Onboarding
Onboard engineers with the why, not just the what.
The codebase shows what was built. The reasons are buried in old pull requests, Slack threads and docs. KnowWhy lets new teammates ask about that history directly and follow each citation to the original discussion.
Free plan · Read-only access · You choose what gets indexed
Questions you can ask
Plain-language questions, answered from your own tools.
- Why do we run our own job queue instead of a managed one?
- What's the history of the payments service?
- Why are feature flags removed after two releases?
- Where is the decision record for the monorepo move?
Example questions. Answers depend on what your connected sources contain.
Where answers come from
GitHub, Slack and Notion, in one answer.
You choose every repository, channel and page that gets indexed. Integrations are read-only.
How answers work
Answers you can check, not just trust.
Every claim is cited
Numbered citations open the exact excerpt and link to the original source. Citations that don't map to real evidence are removed before you see them.
No answer beats a guess
Answers use only indexed sources the asker is allowed to see. When they don't contain the answer, KnowWhy says so.
Understands “last week”
Relative dates resolve in your organization's time zone, and the searched range is shown above the answer.
Decisions vs. proposals
KnowWhy is built to separate what was decided from what was only proposed, and to flag sources that disagree.
Good to know
The limits, up front.
- KnowWhy finds reasoning that was written down somewhere it can read. Context that only lives in someone's head still needs a conversation.
- GitHub history is indexed for 90 days by default; ask an admin to extend it for a connection if you need to go further back.
- Private repositories, private channels and Notion content are visible only to owners and admins until access is granted.
How does KnowWhy help onboard new engineers?
New teammates can ask why something was built a certain way and get an answer drawn from pull requests, Slack threads and Notion pages, with a citation to each source, instead of interrupting colleagues or digging through history.
What will a new teammate be able to see?
Only indexed sources they are allowed to see. Private repositories, private channels and Notion content stay restricted to owners and admins until an admin grants access.
How far back does GitHub history go?
90 days by default, configurable per connection.
Is there a free plan?
Yes, there is a free plan with 300 questions a month and up to 2 members, with GitHub, Slack and Notion all included. The Team plan is $15 per member / month, or $150 per member / year, and Enterprise is available on request.
Ask your first question in minutes.
Create a workspace, connect a tool and choose what gets indexed. The free plan includes GitHub, Slack and Notion.