What the documents look like
Multi-store matrix operations draw on several record families: store authorization lists, price control tables, cross-territory complaint forms, and monthly sales reports. These sit alongside platform merchant back ends, ERP channel prices, brand anti-counterfeit systems, and dealer reports. Records update daily or monthly, and that cadence does not change how retrieval behaves. Three properties of the material shape after-sales and order-fulfillment retrieval. First, authorization status, price, and channel attribution for several stores under one brand frequently require comparison across separate documents. Second, an authorization list and a price control table use different field systems, so a retrieval hit in one does not mean the store carries a matching state in the other. Third, complaint forms and monthly sales reports are retrospective records, and citing them for a current order question requires separating the recorded period from the present state.
The retrieval step returns reference content from associated knowledge bases. It does not perform authorization verification, price adjudication, or inventory coordination. Authorization status, price validity ranges, and complaint handling stages found in the material need separate confirmation by a person or a downstream system after a hit.
Constraints at the retrieval step
The knowledge base search node can associate one or more knowledge bases that use the same vector model. Bases built on different vector models cannot be associated together. When identifiers disagree, check the vector model identifier, exclude the non-matching base, and record the actual observation; do not run a cross-model search to compare missed recalls. The node outputs references as an array whose length can be zero, and the empty-result path still completes, so downstream design must accept an empty reference array.
Semantic search, full-text search, and hybrid search suit different material. Identifiers, model numbers, and proper nouns fit full-text or hybrid search; natural-language questions fit semantic or hybrid search. Hybrid search merges multiple result channels through RRF, which is a fusion process and not a switch. Result reranking requires an available model and must be enabled in settings; the rerank score can drive filtering. The minimum relevance value takes effect only under semantic search or when result reranking is used. It is a filtering threshold and does not perform permission or entity isolation, so it cannot exclude unauthorized stores or unrelated business records. The reference limit is measured in tokens and caps how much content each search may quote. Question optimization adds one model call before retrieval for coreference resolution and question expansion.
Image retrieval requires image input and matching model capability. The optional paths shown in the overall flow diagram do not mean every request executes all of them.
Hypothetical paper exercise sample
The following is paper review material, not a real customer record.
Material one (store authorization list excerpt): Store S-101, authorization period 2024-01-01 to 2024-12-31, authorization status valid, authorized category household cleaning. Material two (price control table excerpt): Store S-101, household cleaning category, suggested retail price range registered, registration month 2024-03. Material three (cross-territory complaint form excerpt): Complaint T-207, complained store S-101, complaint month 2024-04, handling status pending verification.
Draft sentence to assess: In April 2024 order fulfillment and after-sales support for the household cleaning category, store S-101 holds a valid authorization status and complete price registration.
Configuration and implementation checks
| Configuration or check item | Hypothetical starting point for this exercise | Reason and comparison method |
|---|---|---|
| Associated knowledge bases | Associate only bases with matching vector model identifiers | Check identifiers first, exclude non-matching bases, and do not run cross-model search |
| Search mode | Hybrid search | Compare reference content for the same test question against semantic search and full-text search separately |
| Reference limit | Starting value set to cover one authorization list excerpt plus one price control table excerpt in tokens | Test with actual material of different lengths to see whether content stays complete, then adjust |
| Minimum relevance | Label relevant and irrelevant samples first, then set the threshold | Takes effect only under semantic search or result reranking, and is not used for permission filtering |
| Question optimization | Enable for multi-turn follow-ups and short questions | Compare the original question with the optimized question and check whether the subject was altered |
| Result reranking | Enable per settings when a model is available | Compare candidate order before and after reranking, and observe score and filtering effects |
Three common errors
- Treating a retrieval hit as authorization confirmation. Input the draft sentence and material one, compare whether the returned authorization list excerpt covers S-101's valid status in 2024-04, and observe that the authorization period in material one covers that month while the status field still needs checking against the current list; retrieval itself does not complete verification.
- Using minimum relevance to exclude unrelated stores. Input a query containing S-101 and another store, compare whether returned references are trimmed by the similarity threshold, and observe that the threshold only affects relevance filtering and unauthorized records are not systematically excluded by it.
- Describing the RRF fusion in hybrid search as a switch. Input the same test question through semantic search and full-text search, compare the two result sets with the merged reference order, and observe that fusion changes ordering and produces no permission or entity filtering effect.
How to verify the setup
- Input material one, material two, and the draft sentence. Compare whether "authorization status valid" in the draft matches material one on the same subject, same period, and same field. The clause is supported when the authorization period covers 2024-04 and the status field reads valid; otherwise record it as pending verification.
- Input material three and the draft sentence. Compare whether "complete price registration" has corresponding field evidence. Material two registers only a suggested retail price range and a registration month and states no price validity period, so the clause is unsupported and the evidence gap remains.
- Input an explicit paper input of an empty array and compare the downstream design for accepting an empty reference array. The path completes and downstream handles it as an empty result; do not claim that a fabricated rule makes retrieval always return an empty array.