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A question leads to a magnifying glass selecting one document from a mixed collection. The chosen items pass to a connected-dot brain, which then produces an answer bubble.
Reviewed visual · version 1

RS Glossary

Retrieval-Augmented Generation

Retrieval-augmented generation is a pattern in which a system retrieves relevant external material at use time and supplies it to a generative model as context for producing an answer.

Review state
Reviewed in POC
Freshness
Current
Version
2
  • Retrieval-Augmented Generation
  • RAG

Remember it this wayRetrieve first; generate with what was found.

In plain language

The model does not rely only on what it learned during training. The surrounding application searches a document collection or data source, selects material, and includes that material with the request.

Why it matters

RAG can improve relevance and freshness, but results still depend on source quality, retrieval quality, context limits, instructions, and whether the response accurately reflects the retrieved material.

Example

An employee asks about travel reimbursement, and the application retrieves the current policy sections before the model drafts an answer with citations.

Common misconception

RAG does not guarantee grounded or correct answers. The system can retrieve the wrong passage, omit important context, or misstate what the source says.

Related terms

Sources

Learn more

  • Examine retrieval quality through [[evidence-selection|Evidence Selection]] and output quality through [[verification|Verification]].

Public history

45 recorded events · 45 public summaries

  1. A potential shared concept was discussed and selected for initial glossary drafting.

  2. The captured candidate received a complete initial draft and entered section-level human review.

  3. Radar reviewed the initial definition draft for human consideration.

  4. Radar reviewed the initial plain-language-explanation draft for human consideration.

  5. Radar reviewed the initial why-it-matters draft for human consideration.

  6. Radar reviewed the initial example draft for human consideration.

  7. Radar reviewed the initial common-misconception draft for human consideration.

  8. Radar reviewed the initial remember-it-this-way draft for human consideration.

  9. Radar reviewed the initial related-terms draft for human consideration.

  10. Radar reviewed the initial sources draft for human consideration.

  11. Radar reviewed the initial learn-more draft for human consideration.

  12. A proposal was opened for section-level human review while preserving the current version.

  13. A human reviewer opened a proposed revision while preserving the current approved or captured version.

  14. definition approved by a human reviewer.

  15. plain-language-explanation approved by a human reviewer.

  16. why-it-matters approved by a human reviewer.

  17. example approved by a human reviewer.

  18. common-misconception approved by a human reviewer.

  19. remember-it-this-way approved by a human reviewer.

  20. related-terms approved by a human reviewer.

  21. sources returned for revision.

  22. learn-more approved by a human reviewer.

  23. Requested wording was prepared without changing approved or existing sections.

  24. Radar reviewed the pending sources section for human consideration.

  25. Radar must rereview the complete retrieval-augmented-generation term after an accepted text change.

  26. Radar must rereview the complete retrieval-augmented-generation term after an accepted text change.

  27. Radar must rereview the complete retrieval-augmented-generation term after an accepted text change.

  28. Radar must rereview the complete retrieval-augmented-generation term after an accepted text change.

  29. Radar must rereview the complete retrieval-augmented-generation term after an accepted text change.

  30. Radar must rereview the complete retrieval-augmented-generation term after an accepted text change.

  31. Radar must rereview the complete retrieval-augmented-generation term after an accepted text change.

  32. Radar must rereview the complete retrieval-augmented-generation term after an accepted text change.

  33. Radar must rereview the complete retrieval-augmented-generation term after an accepted text change.

  34. sources approved by a human reviewer.

  35. sources approved wording became the current section text.

  36. All section gates are approved; content version 2 is now a fully approved term.

  37. Radar rereviewed the human-approved definition wording for this exact version.

  38. Radar rereviewed the human-approved plain-language-explanation wording for this exact version.

  39. Radar rereviewed the human-approved why-it-matters wording for this exact version.

  40. Radar rereviewed the human-approved example wording for this exact version.

  41. Radar rereviewed the human-approved common-misconception wording for this exact version.

  42. Radar rereviewed the human-approved remember-it-this-way wording for this exact version.

  43. Radar rereviewed the human-approved related-terms wording for this exact version.

  44. Radar rereviewed the human-approved sources wording for this exact version.

  45. Radar rereviewed the human-approved learn-more wording for this exact version.

Source: vault/Glossary/terms/retrieval-augmented-generation/term.md · sha256:29dfcc2c598da57bd86a4ece9739ad03a87dd67204e1b95e947840c1c489f9ef · Release: rs-glossary-glossary-team-poc-0.5.5-2026-09-02