What the documents look like
Peak-sale warehouse and delivery scheduling centers on short-term peak capacity and the arrangement of people, vehicles, and space. The working materials for this category include the peak-sale forecast table, staff scheduling, the courier support plan, and the exception daily report. These materials update by event and by day. An answer given during order fulfillment and after-sales support needs to trace back to a specific material version.
Citation tracing addresses a narrow question: which material, which version, and which scope the quoted text came from, and what state that material held at handover. A forecast table may carry a version number and a date range. A scheduling sheet may list a headcount that still awaits warehouse manager confirmation. A courier support plan may state a pickup commitment while the plan itself remains under review. The tracing task records these states rather than resolving them.
The category differs from multi-warehouse inventory synchronization, which turns on stock consistency across locations. Peak-sale scheduling turns on short-term peak capacity and the movement of people and vehicles. Errors here produce warehouse overflow, late dispatch, and a drop in activity rating. The materials refresh each event and each day, so a citation that omits the version or date range cannot be matched to the right production window.
Constraints at the citation tracing step
The knowledge base search node may associate one or more knowledge bases that share the same vector model, used for vector search. Its output is an array of cited content, and the length may be zero. Even when no content is found, this output path still runs through. Retrieved results pass through similarity filtering and a citation cap before becoming cited content. Hybrid retrieval merges multiple result paths through RRF. Reranking requires a model and runs according to its setting. Image retrieval requires an image input and matching model capability; it does not execute on every request. The overall retrieval flow lists optional paths, and not every path runs each time.
Retrieval does not constitute authorization. A retrieval hit does not mean a material has been approved or that a handover has completed. A pending review is not approval. An offered option is not execution. An unsigned termination is not a completed termination.
Hypothetical drill sample: the material text reads, "Peak-sale forecast table (version 3, October 20 to October 25 event): East China warehouse peak capacity estimated at an average of 80,000 orders per day. Staff scheduling sheet (October 20 to October 25): 120 temporary staff arrived on site, pending warehouse manager confirmation. Courier support plan: a courier commits pickup capacity for this event; the plan is under review." The draft sentence to be judged reads, "Temporary staff for this event are confirmed on site, courier pickup capacity is in effect, and peak order volume can be accepted."
The sample carries a subject, an object, a state, and a valid range. The forecast table names a version and a date range. The scheduling sheet names a headcount and a confirmation state. The courier plan names a commitment and a review state. The draft sentence asserts states the source text does not record.
Configuration and implementation checks
| Configuration or check item | Hypothetical trial starting point | Reason and comparison object |
|---|---|---|
| Associated knowledge bases | Only this event's warehouse and delivery material base is selected | First check each base's vector model identifier; only matching models may be associated together |
| Search mode | Hybrid retrieval | Compare recall differences against semantic retrieval and full-text retrieval separately |
| Citation cap | Starting point set at 3000 tokens | This is a trial starting point only; compare citation completeness against 1500 and 6000 |
| Minimum relevance | Starting point set at 0.4 | This is a trial starting point only; compare filtered result counts against 0.2 and 0.6 |
| Reranking | Enabled according to its setting | Reranking requires a model; compare ordering against the disabled state |
| Citation handoff | Retrieval output passed to the answering step | Check each answer sentence against the cited source text |
The citation cap uses the documented token unit. The minimum relevance value applies only under semantic retrieval or when reranking is used. A relevance score is not a category, entity, or permission filter. It does not exclude unrelated businesses or unauthorized records. The requirement that associated knowledge bases share a vector model applies to knowledge base association; it does not extend to business registration sites or other external systems.
Three common errors
- Treating a retrieval hit as proof that a material has been approved. The input is the courier support plan under review. The comparison object is the material's state field. The observable result is that the source text records only "under review," so the draft sentence "in effect" is not supported by the source.
- Writing pending staff as confirmed. The input is the scheduling sheet entry "120 temporary staff arrived on site, pending warehouse manager confirmation." The comparison object is the confirmation state. The observable result is that the source text does not record a completed confirmation, so the draft sentence conflicts with the source wording.
- Associating knowledge bases with different vector models. The input is two bases with different vector model identifiers. The comparison object is the model identifier. The observable result is that the identifiers do not match, so the base should be excluded and the observation recorded, without running cross-model retrieval.
How to verify the setup
- Input the material text above and the draft sentence. Compare the state words in the draft sentence against the state fields in the source text. The condition is satisfied when the draft sentence contains "confirmed" or "in effect" that the source text does not record; such a draft does not satisfy the condition.
- Input a paper empty citation array []. Compare whether the downstream answering step still runs through. The condition is satisfied when the path runs through and the answer does not fabricate a source. This check does not claim that any particular retrieval returns [].
- Input two versions of the forecast table for the same event. Compare the version and date range shown in the citation. The condition is satisfied when the citation traces to a specific version and range. Whether that version is adopted still depends on valid-version review.
A missing field in the source remains unknown. Where the source text records only a related stage, the draft is unsupported or pending verification, not negated or in conflict. A pending review does not demonstrate a lack of operating authority. Signing, reaching cooperation, and contract effectiveness are three distinct facts. A quotation validity period does not indicate a supply period. Do not supply authorization or effectiveness clauses to obtain a definite answer; record the evidence gap as it stands.