What the documents look like
Regional dealer stock replenishment runs on daily rolling orders. It differs from seasonal centralized ordering events. The document surface for this category includes replenishment requests, inventory turnover tables, outbound delivery notes, and payment collection plans. Data sources named in the brief are the dealer ERP, the brand ordering system, warehouse inventory, and sales receipts. Material updates follow weekly and monthly cycles, so citation tracing must check the currently effective version of each document.
Product information and selection Q&A draws on these materials to answer questions about replenishment quantity, model selection, and shipment timing. The citation tracing step must connect each answer back to a specific source document. A knowledge base search node returns citations as an array, and that array can have a length of zero. An empty array does not mean the workflow has thrown an error or stopped. Knowledge bases that share the same vector model can be linked together for vector search; knowledge bases with different vector models cannot be linked for the same search. Before retrieval, the selected knowledge bases and material versions must be checked so that replenishment requests, inventory turnover tables, outbound delivery notes, and payment collection plans fall inside the intended retrieval scope.
Semantic retrieval and relevance scores do not perform permission isolation or entity filtering. Hybrid retrieval combines multiple recall paths through RRF, and result reranking requires a ReRank model and must be enabled according to its settings. Image retrieval requires image input and matching model capability. Citation tracing compares each answer against the source text; the thinking process or the fluency of an answer does not replace source evidence.
Hypothetical paper exercise sample: in a regional dealer replenishment scenario, a brand channel manager receives a replenishment request form (number HYP-2024-001) stating "request to replenish model A, quantity 200 units, request date March 1, 2024, requester sales back-office staff Zhang." A separate inventory turnover table shows "model A current stock 50 units, weekly average shipment 30 units." A draft sentence reads: "According to replenishment request form HYP-2024-001, model A has been approved for replenishment of 200 units, with shipment expected on March 5." The question is whether this draft sentence is supported by the materials.
Constraints at the citation tracing step
The knowledge base search node outputs citations as an array whose length can be zero, and an empty array still allows the downstream path to run. Linked knowledge bases must use the same vector model; vector models that differ cannot be linked together. Before retrieval, the selected knowledge bases and material versions must be checked to confirm that replenishment requests, inventory turnover tables, outbound delivery notes, and payment collection plans are inside the target retrieval scope. Semantic retrieval and relevance scores do not carry out permission isolation or entity filtering. Hybrid retrieval merges multiple recall paths through RRF, and reranking requires a ReRank model and must be enabled according to its settings. Image retrieval requires corresponding image input and model capability. Citation tracing compares each answer against the original text line by line; the thinking process or the fluency of an answer does not replace source evidence.
The draft sentence in the hypothetical sample claims that model A "has been approved for replenishment of 200 units, with shipment expected on March 5." The request form records a request for 200 units dated March 1, 2024, and does not record approval or a shipment date. The inventory turnover table records current stock and average weekly shipment, and does not record approval or shipment scheduling. Under the comparison method of same subject, same period, and same field, the draft sentence introduces a status and a date that the supplied materials do not state. The correct finding is that the draft sentence is not supported by the materials, and the evidence gap remains open. A pending request is not an approval, and an offered option is not an execution.
Configuration and implementation checks
| Configuration item | Setting or verification action | Relation to the sample |
|---|---|---|
| Linked knowledge bases | Select knowledge bases containing replenishment requests, inventory turnover tables, outbound delivery notes, and payment collection plans; confirm the vector model identifier is the same | Sample materials must be inside the selected knowledge bases to be retrievable |
| Search mode | Choose semantic retrieval, full-text retrieval, or hybrid retrieval; hybrid retrieval merges through RRF | Model A and similar identifiers suit full-text retrieval |
| Citation limit | Set the citation content limit in tokens; for this exercise assume a starting value of 2000 tokens because the sample materials are short, then compare against other values and adjust | Controls the length of returned citation content |
| Minimum relevance | Set a 0-1 threshold; it takes effect only under semantic retrieval or result reranking | Filters low-relevance results; it does not perform permission filtering |
| Result reranking | Enable when a ReRank model is available; filter by rerank score | Second-pass ordering when candidates are numerous |
| Citation content output | Check whether the output array contains the original sample material text; when the length is zero the downstream path still runs | Verifies whether the draft sentence has original-text support |
Three common errors
- Treating retrieval output as authorized execution. Error: reading the citation content returned by knowledge base search as proof that a replenishment request has been approved or that shipment has been executed. Check: input the original sample material text and the draft sentence, compare whether the draft sentence contains statuses such as "has been approved" or "shipment expected" that the original text does not state, and observe whether the draft sentence exceeds the original text's scope.
- Linking knowledge bases across vector models. Error: linking knowledge bases with different vector models and inferring a runtime result. Check: verify the vector model identifier of each knowledge base, exclude those whose identifiers do not match, and record the actual observation without inventing missed recalls or redundant results.
- Substituting a relevance score for permission or entity filtering. Error: assuming the minimum relevance setting can exclude unrelated business or unauthorized records. Check: input the sample materials together with an unrelated query, compare whether the returned citations contain content outside the sample, and observe whether the relevance setting changes any permission boundary.
How to verify the setup
- Input the original replenishment request form text from the hypothetical exercise sample together with the draft sentence, and compare the draft sentence "has been approved for replenishment of 200 units, with shipment expected on March 5" against the original text "request to replenish model A, quantity 200 units, request date March 1, 2024." The original text states only a request and does not state approval or a shipment date. If the draft sentence claims approval or an expected shipment, it is not supported by the original text, and the evidence gap must be recorded.
- Input the sample materials together with an unrelated query, and compare whether the returned citation array contains content outside the sample. If the returned array is empty or contains only the sample materials, the citation source and retrieval scope are consistent; if it contains content outside the sample, the knowledge base links and search parameters must be checked.
- Input an explicit paper-form empty array [] and check whether the downstream node runs through. If the downstream node accepts the empty array normally, the empty-citation output condition is satisfied; if the downstream node raises an error, the downstream design must be checked. Do not claim that a fabricated rule search will necessarily return [].