← All writing

Tag

Retrieval

3 posts tagged Retrieval.

Self-RAG: What Adaptive Retrieval Actually Means in Production

Standard RAG retrieves on every request, whether or not the model needs it. Self-RAG teaches the model to decide — and to grade its own output. The mechanism is more interesting than the leaderboard numbers.

HNSW: What the Vector Similarity Search Paper Actually Says

Every vector database runs HNSW under the hood. Most engineers tune M and ef_construction without understanding what they're actually trading off. The paper rewards a close read.

RAG in Production: The Failure Modes Nobody Puts in the Pitch Deck

RAG is in every AI pitch deck. The failure modes rarely are — retrieval collapse, frozen encoders, approximate MIPS. Here's what actually breaks it in production.