Domain 5 · lesson
Configuration and Knowledge Management
Learning goal: make the correct context and instructions available at the correct scope while maintaining provenance, permissions, and freshness. S12 S13 S14 S19 S20 S21
Objective 5.1
Configure Projects with instructions and knowledge
Core content
Projects provide a workspace for related chats, project knowledge, and project instructions. Stable rules belong in the persistent configuration when they should apply across new chats. Examples can support instructions, but examples should not be expected to silently encode every rule. S12 S13 S14
Applied example
If a team repeatedly corrects output format inside one chat, move the stable formatting rules into Project instructions and test a fresh chat. Otherwise the working behavior may exist only in conversation history.
Exam decision rule
Test configuration outside the conversation where it was created.
Objective 5.2
Manage documents and connectors
Core content
Understand whether a source is an uploaded copy, retrieved knowledge, or connected live system. Check the authenticated account, permissions, freshness, and action scope. Google Workspace connectors can include write actions, so do not teach connectors as universally read-only. S20 S21
Applied example
An uploaded policy from January does not update when the original Drive document changes in March. A connector may retrieve the current file if the correct account and permissions are active. Reading a file does not imply permission to redistribute it.
Exam decision rule
Before blaming the model, verify source identity, version, account, and permissions.
Objective 5.3
Create persistent instructions at the appropriate scope
Core content
Separate global preferences, Project instructions, local task instructions, and source content. Keep stable behavioral rules where they should persist; keep case-specific constraints in the task. Conflicting instructions should be reduced rather than multiplied. S14
Applied example
A company-wide preference for concise status reports may live in an approved persistent setting, while a single legal memo still requires task-specific audience and citation constraints.
Exam decision rule
Put a rule at the smallest scope that needs to persist reliably, then test for unintended interactions.
Objective 5.4
Maintain knowledge, instructions, and configuration
Core content
Version important knowledge and instructions, define owners and review dates, retire obsolete sources, and run regression cases after changes. Knowledge management is operational maintenance, not a one-time upload. S09 S13
Applied example
If instructions and sources change on the same day and outputs change, separate tests for each variable. Otherwise the team cannot identify whether the change is legitimate or a regression.
Exam decision rule
Preserve versions and expected results so a difference can be explained rather than merely observed.