What the documents look like
Returned-goods inspections handle reverse parcels and product grading. They do not handle outbound picking for new orders. The working records come from the WMS returns module, platform after-sales cases, carrier return parcels, and the inspection bench. The documents in daily use are the return inbound receipt, inspection photographs, the grade decision table, and the resale listing sheet. Each returned item is scanned, its condition is judged, and a decision is made to resell or scrap it. Record updates occur per item and per day.
For product-information and selection questions, the answer must return to the grade basis, the photograph source, and any listing restriction for a specific returned item. Citation tracing determines whether an answer can be tied back to a specific document and a specific field.
Constraints at the citation tracing step
The knowledge-base search node accepts one or more knowledge bases that share the same vector model. Its citation output is an array, and the length may be zero. When the array is empty, the output path still runs through. Semantic retrieval, full-text retrieval, hybrid retrieval, result reranking, and image retrieval are optional paths. A single request does not necessarily execute all of them. Image retrieval requires a corresponding image input and model capability. Reranking requires a rerank model and must be enabled by configuration.
Minimum relevance takes effect only under semantic retrieval or when result reranking is used. It is a filtering threshold. It does not perform permission or entity isolation. The citation limit is measured in tokens and is a different field from a thinking budget. The retrieval step does not complete an authorization decision. Return-receipt status, inspection conclusions, and listing permission must be implemented downstream or checked by a person.
Hypothetical drill sample: an after-sales warehouse received return inbound receipt HT-2026-0310-07 on 10 March 2026. The receipt states "Product A, quantity 1 item, inspection conclusion is surface scratch, grade decision is B, resale listing sheet not yet issued." The same day's inspection photograph is annotated "scratch located at front upper left." The draft sentence under review is "Product A has completed resale listing." Comparing the draft sentence with the source: the subject is the same, the period is the same, and the resale listing sheet field in the source reads "not yet issued" while the draft sentence states "completed." These are mutually exclusive values on the same field. The authorization boundary is that the inspector may enter a grade and the inventory administrator may review listing. This sample contains no listing review record.
Configuration and implementation checks
| Configuration or check item | Value or action for this page | Basis and boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Linked knowledge bases | Select the knowledge bases holding return inbound receipts, inspection photograph notes, and grade decision tables | Multiple knowledge bases must share the same vector model; verify identifiers first and exclude those that do not match |
| Search mode | Hypothetical drill starting point is hybrid retrieval | Receipt-number questions can use full-text retrieval; this starting point is a page-level sample choice, observed against semantic retrieval |
| Citation limit | Hypothetical drill starting point is 2000 tokens | This value is a hypothetical starting point for comparing citation-count changes against 4000 tokens; it is not an official default |
| Minimum relevance | Hypothetical drill starting point is 0.3 | Takes effect only under semantic retrieval or result reranking; compared with 0.5 to observe filtered results |
| Result reranking | Executes when a rerank model is available and enabled by configuration | When not enabled, this path is not entered; no ordering result is inferred |
| Citation output handoff | Pass the citation array to the answering step and check each answer sentence against the cited source text | An empty array must be handled as length zero and is not treated as a workflow error |
Three common errors
- Reading "resale listing sheet not yet issued" as "listing completed." The input is the source text of return inbound receipt HT-2026-0310-07. The comparison field is the status of the resale listing sheet. The observable result is that the source and the draft sentence hold mutually exclusive values on the same field, so the draft sentence is unsupported.
- Treating a retrieval hit as authorization. The input is a grade decision table fragment returned by the knowledge base. The comparison object is the inventory administrator review record. The observable result is that the retrieval output contains no review field, so the authorization state remains unstated.
- Treating minimum relevance as a permission filter. The input is a search setting with minimum relevance 0.3. The comparison object is the owning-warehouse field of the return receipt. The observable result is that this setting affects relevance filtering only and does not exclude records from other warehouses.
How to verify the setup
- Input the source text of return inbound receipt HT-2026-0310-07 and the draft sentence "Product A has completed resale listing." Compare the value of the resale listing sheet field. The observable result is that the source value "not yet issued" and the draft value "completed" are mutually exclusive, so the draft sentence is judged unsupported and the gap remains open until a listing review record appears.
- Input two knowledge base identifiers and their respective vector model identifiers. Compare whether the two are the same. The observable result is that when they differ, the knowledge bases must not be linked together; record only the identifier difference and do not run a cross-model retrieval to compare missed recalls.
- Input a paper citation array of length zero, written as []. Compare whether the downstream answering step continues under length zero. The observable result is that the path runs through and produces no source citation. This input is a paper check and does not assert that a retrieval under invented rules must return an empty array.