What the documents look like
Cold-chain receiving at a store is organized around the delivery batch. The records produced for each batch are the refrigerated vehicle temperature log, the arrival inspection sheet, the rejection note, and the supplier delivery note. These records are updated per batch, and the receiving and quality inspection steps each produce new versions. Product information and selection questions in this category typically ask about the temperature range of a specific arrival, the inspection conclusion, or the reason for rejection. An answer is expected to point back to the wording of a specific document.
The difference from fruit procurement is that receiving focuses on transport temperature and the condition of the arriving batch. Origin price inquiry does not belong to this step. Citation tracing addresses whether the content cited in an answer corresponds to the documents of that batch, and what state those documents are currently in.
Constraints at the citation tracing step
The knowledge base search node selects one or more knowledge bases that share the same vector model, and outputs cited content as an array, which may have a length of zero. An empty array means the search path completed without a hit, and the downstream design must be able to handle that case. Whether cited content is adopted depends on a business-side check against the source document; retrieval by itself does not confirm the validity of a document.
Hypothetical drill sample: a store received a cold-chain delivery on 12 March 2025. The supplier delivery note states "arrival batch B-0312, item chilled pork, quantity 40 boxes." The cold-chain temperature log states "transport temperature 2-6°C, recorded period 03-12 06:00 to 09:00." The arrival inspection sheet states "inspection conclusion: passed, inspector has signed." A draft sentence is to be assessed: "The transport temperature for this batch met requirements, inspection passed, and it can be put into storage directly." The assessment needs to check whether the temperature log covers the whole journey, the signature state on the inspection sheet, and whether a separate authorization record exists for the storage action. The sample provides no storage authorization material, so that part remains pending verification.
After the search output is passed to the answering step, each answer is checked against the cited original text. Citation display checks use a traceable sample compared against the original wording, and do not substitute a reasoning process or fluent answer for source evidence. Document currency checks use current and historical versions of the document to test the source; whether a citation is adopted still depends on review of the effective version.
Configuration and implementation checks
| Configuration item | Setting or check relevant to this page | Relation to the sample |
|---|---|---|
| Associated knowledge bases | Select one or more knowledge bases that share the same vector model | Sample documents must sit in the selected bases and the vector model must match |
| Search mode | Semantic search, full-text search, or hybrid search | Batch-number queries suit full-text search; temperature descriptions suit semantic search |
| Citation limit | Each search cites at most n tokens of content | Hypothetical trial starting point set to cover the full text of one batch's documents, then adjusted after comparison with the length of a single inspection sheet |
| Minimum relevance | A 0-1 value, effective only in semantic search or with result reranking | Used to filter low-relevance fragments; does not determine document state |
| Result reranking | Runs when a ReRank model is available and enabled by configuration | Secondary ordering when candidates are many; the score can be used for filtering |
| Cited content output | Array format, length may be zero | When the array is empty, the downstream design must have an explicit handling branch |
The hypothetical trial starting point for the citation limit is set to cover the full text of one batch's documents, because a single batch in this category has limited length. That starting point is compared with the actual length of a single inspection sheet before adjustment. This value is a hypothetical trial starting point for this page and is not an official default.
Three common errors
- Treating a retrieval hit as confirmation of document validity. Input is the temperature log and inspection sheet in the sample; comparison is between the retrieval output and the signature state of the document; the observable error is that the answer states inspection passed and storage can proceed directly, while the sample provides no storage authorization material. The correct action is to mark it pending verification.
- Replacing source checking with a similarity score. Input is the draft sentence and the cited array; comparison is between the cited original wording and the draft sentence; the observable error is that the answer says "met requirements" while the cited original only states a recorded period and does not cover the whole journey. A high or low score does not change that gap.
- Associating knowledge bases with different vector models. Input is the vector model identifiers of two knowledge bases; comparison is whether the two identifiers match; the observable error is that retrieval is executed without checking the identifiers. The correct action is to check identifiers first, exclude those that do not match, and record the actual observation.
How to verify the setup
- Input the temperature log original text and the draft sentence from the sample; compare the draft phrase "transport temperature met requirements" with the original "transport temperature 2-6°C, recorded period 03-12 06:00 to 09:00"; observe whether the answer keeps the period qualification. If the answer omits the period, the condition is not met.
- Input the inspection sheet original text and the draft sentence from the sample; compare "inspection passed" with "inspector has signed"; observe whether the answer separates the signature state from storage authorization. If the answer merges the two into direct storage, the condition is not met.
- Input an explicit paper empty result []; compare whether the downstream handling design processes an empty array; observe whether the search path completes and whether the downstream has an explicit branch. This check does not claim that a fictional rule search will necessarily return [].
These checks are paper drills and were not actually executed. Retrieval does not constitute authorization; a form collecting a value does not equal business verification or a database write, and those actions require their corresponding downstream implementation.