Knowledge One
Knowledge One is the unified Knowledge widget in the Salesforce Classic agent console, predecessor of the Lightning Knowledge Sidebar.
Definition
Knowledge One is the unified Knowledge widget in the Salesforce Classic agent console, predecessor of the Lightning Knowledge Sidebar. It combined article search, article attach, and article share into a single sidebar panel inside the Classic Service Console. Knowledge One let agents see articles relevant to the active case, attach them, and send them to customers without leaving the case context. It was the original implementation of the agent-facing Knowledge integration that Lightning Knowledge later modernized.
Knowledge One is a Classic-era term. In Lightning Experience, the equivalent is the Knowledge Sidebar component placed through Lightning App Builder. Most current Service Cloud deployments run Lightning Experience and use the Sidebar component; Knowledge One persists primarily in legacy Classic implementations that have not migrated. The term still appears in Salesforce Help documentation and older Trailhead modules, so understanding it helps when reading legacy material or supporting customers on older orgs. New deployments should use Lightning Knowledge with the Knowledge Sidebar instead.
How Knowledge One worked and how Lightning Knowledge Sidebar replaced it
What Knowledge One actually did
Knowledge One was a widget in the Salesforce Classic agent console that surfaced Knowledge articles relevant to the active case. It ran a search query against the case fields, displayed ranked results, and offered Attach, Send Email, and View actions on each. The widget sat in the Classic Console sidebar (left or right depending on configuration), persistent across case tabs in the console workspace. The functionality is essentially identical to the modern Lightning Knowledge Sidebar; the difference is the underlying platform and the page configuration mechanism.
Lightning Knowledge Sidebar as the modern replacement
When Salesforce shipped Lightning Experience, the Knowledge One widget was redesigned as the Knowledge Sidebar component. The Sidebar runs on the Lightning App Builder framework, supports Lightning Knowledge data model, and integrates with modern features like Einstein Reply Recommendations. The two components have feature parity for the basic flow (search, attach, share) but the Sidebar is the only one supported on the modern stack. Knowledge One does not run inside Lightning Experience; it is a Classic-only widget.
Classic Console vs Lightning Service Console
The broader context: Classic Console is the predecessor of Lightning Service Console. Both have a tabbed workspace where agents handle multiple cases simultaneously. Classic Console hosted Knowledge One. Lightning Service Console hosts the Knowledge Sidebar. The frameworks are different, the configuration tooling is different, and the underlying Aura vs Lightning Web Components architecture is different. Customers running Lightning Service Console have moved on from Knowledge One whether they realize it or not.
Why the term still matters
Knowledge One is a term you encounter mainly in legacy Salesforce Help articles, older Trailhead modules, and documentation aimed at orgs that have not yet migrated to Lightning Experience. Understanding the term helps when reading material that references it. For new admins learning Salesforce today, the practical answer is "Knowledge One was the Classic version of the Knowledge Sidebar; use the Sidebar in modern deployments". The conceptual model is the same.
Migration path: Classic Knowledge to Lightning Knowledge
The Knowledge One widget consumed the Classic Knowledge data model (one __kav object per article type). Lightning Knowledge consolidated this into KnowledgeArticleVersion with record types. Customers migrating from Classic to Lightning are simultaneously migrating Knowledge One to the Lightning Knowledge Sidebar. The migration is a multi-step process: enable Lightning Knowledge in a sandbox, convert articles, rebuild Apex references to use the new object, update page layouts, configure the Sidebar in Lightning App Builder. The cost is real, but the architectural improvement is real too.
Article actions in Knowledge One vs Sidebar
Both widgets supported similar actions: Attach (link the article to the case), Send Email (insert the article into an outbound email), Send Chat (insert into the chat publisher), Link (copy the article URL). The Lightning Sidebar adds modern actions: Share via Messaging, Mark Helpful, Open in New Tab, custom Quick Actions. The expanded action set is one of the reasons to migrate from Classic to Lightning, beyond the data model improvements.
Classic Console deprecation timeline
Salesforce has been transitioning customers off Classic for years. New orgs created since 2019 cannot enable Classic Console. Existing Classic orgs are not forced to migrate but receive no new feature investment. Knowledge One falls into this maintenance-mode bucket. Plan migration based on the org's broader Lightning Experience adoption timeline; once Lightning is the standard agent surface, Knowledge One ceases to be reachable.
Configuring Knowledge One in Classic Console or migrating to Lightning
For customers still on Classic Console, configuring Knowledge One is a console-specific setup. For Lightning-era customers, the modern path is the Knowledge Sidebar component in Lightning App Builder.
- For Classic Console: open the console layout
Setup, Console, Service Console, click the console layout. The Knowledge sidebar is one of the available widgets.
- Add the Knowledge One widget to the console
Drag the Knowledge widget into the right rail of the console. Configure auto-suggest fields and default filters.
- Confirm Classic Knowledge is enabled
Knowledge One requires Classic Knowledge to be enabled and the agent profiles to have read access.
- For modern deployments: migrate to Lightning
Plan a migration to Lightning Experience. Enable Lightning Knowledge, convert articles, replace Knowledge One with the Lightning Knowledge Sidebar.
- Configure the Lightning Knowledge Sidebar
Lightning App Builder, edit the case page, drag Knowledge component into the right rail. Configure auto-suggest fields.
- Decommission Classic Console after Lightning rollout
Once Lightning Service Console is the standard agent surface, decommission the Classic Console configuration and remove Knowledge One from agent workflows.
The Aura-based predecessor of Lightning Service Console where Knowledge One ran as a sidebar widget.
The modern Lightning component that replaces Knowledge One in Lightning Experience deployments.
The case fields used to generate the article suggestion query. Same concept in both Knowledge One and the Sidebar.
Attach, Send Email, Link, Share. Lightning Sidebar adds Messaging and custom Quick Actions.
Enable Lightning Knowledge, convert articles, replace Knowledge One with the Sidebar component in Lightning App Builder.
- Knowledge One is Classic-only. It does not run in Lightning Experience. Customers on Lightning use the Knowledge Sidebar component instead.
- New orgs created since 2019 cannot enable Classic Console. Knowledge One is not available to new customers.
- Classic Knowledge data model (one __kav object per type) is incompatible with the modern Lightning data model. Migration is a one-way conversion with code rewrites.
- The term Knowledge One persists in older documentation. Map it mentally to the Knowledge Sidebar when reading legacy material.
- Customers running Classic Console for legacy reasons should plan a Lightning migration timeline. Salesforce has stopped investing in Classic features, including Knowledge One.
Trust & references
Straight from the source - Salesforce's reference material on Knowledge One.
- Knowledge OneSalesforce Help
- Knowledge Sidebar (Lightning)Salesforce Help
- Migrate to Lightning KnowledgeSalesforce Help
About the Author
Dipojjal Chakrabarti is a B2C Solution Architect with 29 Salesforce certifications and over 13 years in the Salesforce ecosystem. He runs salesforcedictionary.com to help admins, developers, architects, and cert/interview candidates sharpen their fundamentals. More about Dipojjal.
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