Claude “Knowledge Bases Feature Is Not Enabled” Error: What It Means and What’s Actually Happening

If you’ve opened one of your Claude Projects recently and seen a red banner saying:

“Knowledge bases feature is not enabled”

you’re not alone.

Many users have reported this message appearing at the top of their projects, along with a smaller toast notification inside the chat area. In most cases, this started appearing suddenly — without any settings being changed.

So what’s going on? Is your project broken? Are your uploaded documents inaccessible? Or is this just a temporary glitch?

Claude “Knowledge Bases Feature Is Not Enabled” Error: What It Means and What’s Actually Happening

Let’s break it down.

What Users Are Reporting

Across macOS app and the web app (claude.ai), users have noticed:

A red banner stating “Knowledge bases feature is not enabled”
The same message appearing inside the chat area
Projects still loading normally
No changes made to account settings
Previously working setups now showing warnings

For many, this is alarming — especially if you rely on Projects to access dozens of uploaded documents and maintain persistent context.

If you’ve uploaded 50+ documents and suddenly see this banner, it feels like a serious issue.

Is Claude Still Accessing Your Project Files?

Here’s the important part:

In many cases, Claude can still access your uploaded project documents.

Some users tested this by asking Claude to search specific documents inside their project. The results confirmed:

Files were searchable
Content was retrievable
Persistent context was functioning normally

This suggests that for many users, the banner may not reflect a true loss of functionality.

What Is the “Knowledge Bases” Feature?

The banner appears to reference a newer feature called Knowledge Bases, which is separate from standard Project file uploads.

There are two key systems involved:

Project Files – The traditional way Claude stores and accesses uploaded documents inside Projects.
Knowledge Bases – A newer, more structured retrieval system Anthropic appears to be rolling out.

The error message likely refers to the newer Knowledge Bases system not being enabled on your account — not the original Project document system.

In other words, your current Projects may still work normally even though this new feature isn’t active.

Is This a Widespread Issue?

Yes.

Multiple users have reported:

The same banner appearing at the same time
Errors starting around the same day
Other unusual behavior such as:
- “Compacting unexpectedly failed” loops
- Login inconsistencies
- Performance slowdowns

This points toward a broader backend update or service adjustment rather than an individual account problem.

Possible Explanation: Feature Rollout

The prevailing theory among users is that Anthropic is rolling out updates related to knowledge management and structured retrieval.

During these rollouts:

Temporary banners may appear
Backend systems may partially initialize
Cosmetic errors may surface
Some accounts may see transitional states

This is common during feature migrations.

Does the Banner Always Mean Something Is Broken?

Not necessarily.

There seem to be three scenarios:

Cosmetic Only
The banner appears, but everything functions normally.
Minor Instability
Occasional file retrieval glitches, but mostly operational.
Major Retrieval Failure
In rare cases, Claude fails to access project files properly.

Your experience may vary.

How to Test If Your Project Is Actually Affected

Instead of relying on the banner alone, try this:

Ask Claude to retrieve a specific file you uploaded.
Ask it to summarize a document inside your Project.
Search for a known phrase inside your files.

If Claude can successfully retrieve and reference your content, your Project is likely working normally.

What About the Mac App vs Web App?

Some users report seeing the error more frequently in the macOS desktop app.

If you’re unsure:

Test your Project in the web app (claude.ai)
Compare behavior between desktop and browser

Sometimes desktop clients lag slightly behind backend changes.

Should You Be Concerned?

If:

Your documents are accessible
Claude can search project files
There are no hallucinations replacing file content

Then this may simply be a temporary or cosmetic issue.

However, if:

Claude cannot retrieve files
Context appears missing
Responses ignore uploaded documents

Then it may indicate a deeper service issue.

What You Can Do Right Now

Refresh the project.
Log out and back in.
Test from a different browser.
Try accessing the project via web instead of the desktop app.
Monitor official announcements for feature updates.

If the issue persists and impacts retrieval, contacting support may be necessary.

Why Some Users Are Frustrated

Users paying for higher-tier plans expect stability. Repeated service glitches, even temporary ones, can erode trust — especially when Projects are used for mission-critical workflows.

Persistent context is one of the primary reasons people use Claude Projects. Any disruption in document access is understandably concerning.

Final Verdict

The “Knowledge bases feature is not enabled” banner appears to be:

Widespread
Likely related to feature rollout
Often cosmetic
Not necessarily a sign your files are inaccessible

Before assuming your Project is broken, test retrieval directly.