What the documents look like
Fresh-food weighing and sorting happens inside the warehouse fulfilment step, and the records revolve around weight and specification. A sorting task order records the item and the target weight range for an order. An electronic scale produces the actual weighed value. A weighing label carries the specification and weight information. A short-weight compensation form and quality inspection records support the after-sales question-answering scenario. These materials come from the WMS, electronic scales, the order system and inspection photos, and they update per order and per day.
For the order fulfilment and after-sales question-answering task, knowledge base retrieval and recall must handle mixed queries across these four document types. A sorter asks about the weighing standard for one specification. A service agent checks the conditions that apply to short-weight compensation. An inspection supervisor pulls historical inspection records. The quality of the retrieval terms varies widely. A specification number on a weighing label is a precise query, while a short-weight complaint description is a natural-language query, and the two query types place different demands on the search mode.
Constraints at the retrieval step
The knowledge base search node can associate one or more knowledge bases that use the same vector model. Knowledge bases using different vector models cannot be associated together; the model identifier must be checked first and non-matching bases excluded. The same-vector-model requirement for retrieval bases does not extend to external systems.
Search modes are compared against test questions across semantic, full-text and hybrid retrieval, and no single mode is assumed to suit all materials. The reference limit is measured in tokens, and content completeness is tested with actual materials of different lengths. The minimum relevance score takes effect only in semantic retrieval or when result re-ranking is used. Question optimization performs coreference resolution and question expansion, and the subject must be checked for unintended changes.
Hybrid retrieval merges multiple result paths through RRF, and RRF is a fusion process rather than a toggle. Image retrieval requires a corresponding image input and model capability. Re-ranking requires a model and must be enabled according to its settings. The optional paths shown in the overall flow diagram do not mean every request executes all of them. Referenced content is output as an array, and its length can be 0.
Hypothetical paper test case
Material text for checking: sorting task order SG-20250612-047 states the item as loose red grapes, the target weight range as 480g to 520g, the sorter as Zhang San, and the date as 12 June 2025. The weighing label template specifies that a short-weight compensation process is triggered when the actual weighed value is below 480g. Short-weight compensation form BZ-20250612-011 records order suffix 7742, an actual weight of 465g, a difference of 15g, and a status of pending review.
Draft sentence to be judged: this order has completed short-weight compensation, and the compensation amount has been paid out.
Materials needed for the judgment: the short-weight compensation form shows a status of pending review, and the materials do not state approval, amount payment or a completion time. Pending review does not constitute evidence of completed compensation, and the draft sentence is not supported.
Configuration and implementation checks
The table below lists officially documented settings or implementation check items relevant to this feature and the primary task, using the sample above.
| Configuration item | Hypothetical starting point for this trial | Reason for the choice and comparison method |
|---|---|---|
| Associated knowledge bases | Sorting task order base and weighing label base | Both bases use the same vector model; associate after checking the identifier |
| Search mode | Hybrid retrieval | Specification numbers need full-text hits, complaint descriptions need semantic recall |
| Reference limit | Hypothetical starting point of 2000 tokens for this trial | Test content completeness with actual materials of different lengths, compared with 1000 tokens |
| Minimum relevance score | Hypothetical starting point of 0.3 for this trial | Label relevant and irrelevant samples first, then compare filtering against 0.5 |
| Question optimization | Enabled | Compare subject consistency between the original and optimized question across multi-turn follow-ups |
| Result re-ranking | Enabled according to its settings | Compare ranking before and after re-ranking when candidate results are numerous |
Three common errors
- Treating retrieval results as authorized execution. Short-weight compensation form BZ-20250612-011 has a status of pending review, and retrieving that form does not mean the compensation has been approved or paid. The error is equating recalled content with business approval; the check is to compare the form's status field with the draft sentence.
- Associating knowledge bases across different vector models. If the sorting task order base and the quality inspection record base use different vector models, they cannot be associated together. The error is associating them directly while ignoring the vector model identifier; the check is to verify each base's vector model identifier, exclude non-matching bases, and record the actual observation.
- Treating RRF as a toggle. Hybrid retrieval merges multiple result paths through RRF, and that process does not offer a separate enable option. The error is looking for an RRF switch or setting it to an enabled state; the check is to confirm that fusion occurs once hybrid retrieval is selected as the search mode.
How to verify the setup
- Input the material text and draft sentence from the hypothetical paper test case above, compare the completed compensation stated in the draft sentence with the pending-review status on the short-weight compensation form, and observe whether the retrieval result includes that form and whether the draft sentence is judged unsupported. The expected phenomenon is that a mismatch between the status field and the draft sentence yields an unsupported judgment; no claim is made that this was actually tested.
- Input the specification number from sorting task order SG-20250612-047, compare the recalled content from full-text retrieval and semantic retrieval, and observe whether the number is hit precisely. The expected phenomenon is that full-text retrieval hits the specification number while semantic retrieval may miss it; the failure branch is to record the gap when no mode hits the number.
- Input a query with no corresponding material, compare the length of the referenced content array, and observe whether an empty array is returned. The expected phenomenon is that the output length can be 0 when no material matches, and the downstream design accommodates an empty result; no claim is made that a fabricated rule retrieval necessarily returns an empty array.