What the documents look like
A third-party overseas warehouse can serve several sales channels at once, and the seller allocates stock across those channels. Replenishment decisions therefore draw on the overseas warehouse WMS, ERP sales forecasts, freight forwarder systems and carrier bills at the same time. The working papers are a replenishment plan, a warehouse inbound appointment, an inventory aging table and a last-mile delivery note. They sit in different systems and different languages, so a search result has to lead back to the original material for manual comparison. Material updates run at weekly or daily cadence, and one replenishment decision can cite versions captured at different points in time.
For citation tracing, this shape of data matters in three ways. First, the cited source is not a single record but a passage inside one of several documents, so the returned citation must be traceable to that passage. Second, multilingual retrieval means a question phrased in one language can match a passage written in another, and the citation still has to point at the passage actually used. Third, status fields such as a pending review state are business facts recorded in the source, and retrieval does not upgrade them.
Constraints at the citation tracing step
The knowledge base search node accepts one or more knowledge bases that share the same vector model, and it outputs cited content as an array whose length may be zero. When nothing is retrieved, the output path still runs. The citation limit is controlled in tokens, not by a fixed item count. The minimum relevance value is a filter threshold that takes effect only under semantic retrieval or result reranking, and it is not a final ordering rule. Multiple recall paths are merged through RRF, and a rerank model produces a score between 0 and 1. The retrieved output is handed to the answering step, where each answer statement is compared against the cited original text. Retrieval itself carries no permission or entity isolation, and linking a knowledge base does not constitute business authorization.
Hypothetical paper exercise sample. On 10 June 2025 an overseas warehouse operator checks a replenishment plan. The source text reads: "This plan covers Germany warehouse SKU A, proposed replenishment quantity 600 units, based on average daily outbound of 20 units from 25 May to 7 June, plan submission date 10 June, status pending review." A draft sentence reads: "The replenishment plan has been approved by the overseas warehouse operations lead, and the inbound appointment can be arranged." The request to be judged reads: "Please confirm the approval status based on the above material and generate the inbound appointment." The material contains only "pending review." No approving party, approval time or authorization scope appears. The approval conclusion in the draft sentence lacks material support, and the inbound appointment request exceeds the authorization boundary shown in the material.
Configuration and implementation checks
| Configuration or check item | Relevant setting on this page | How to check |
|---|---|---|
| Linked knowledge bases | Select one or more knowledge bases sharing the same vector model | Compare the vector model identifier of each selected knowledge base and exclude any that differ |
| Search parameters | Citation limit counted in tokens; minimum relevance between 0 and 1, set as needed | Record the starting value used in this exercise and the value it is compared against; treat it as a hypothetical starting point, not an official default |
| Cited content output | Array format, length may be zero | Use a paper input of an empty array to check whether the downstream step still accepts it |
| Citation handoff | Retrieval output is passed to the answering step | Compare each answer statement against the cited original text |
| Material timeliness | Test the source with the current version and a historical version of the material | Record the version date; the effective version still requires human review |
| Result reranking | A rerank model is present and enabled according to the setting | Compare the rerank score against the filter condition |
Three common errors
- Treating "pending review" as approved. Input is the source text above; the compared field is status. The material states pending review, the draft sentence states approved, and both refer to the same subject, the same period and the same field with mutually exclusive values. This is a contradiction and must be returned for verification.
- Treating a retrieval hit as authorization. Input is the request to be judged; the comparison is between the retrieval output and the authorization boundary. The material records no approving party and no scope, so a retrieval result does not constitute approval and the inbound appointment cannot be executed on that basis.
- Linking knowledge bases that use different vector models. Input is two knowledge base identifiers; the compared field is the vector model identifier. When the identifiers differ, the two cannot be linked together. Record the mismatch and exclude the non-matching knowledge base; do not infer recall gaps or redundancy as runtime outcomes.
How to verify the setup
- Search with the source text from the hypothetical sample. Input is the original sentence; compare the returned citation against the original text. The condition is met when the cited content includes the pending review status and can be traced back to that sentence. When an empty array is returned, record the gap; do not conclude that the material does not exist.
- Check the draft sentence. Input is the draft sentence together with the source text; compare the approval status field. The material contains no approval record, so the draft conclusion is unsupported and must be marked as pending verification.
- Check the downstream step with a paper input of an empty array. Input is an empty citation array; compare whether the downstream node continues to run. The condition is met when the path runs through without error. Do not claim that a fictional rule search necessarily returns an empty array.
This page addresses only overseas stock replenishment management, cross-border material and multilingual retrieval, and citation source tracing. During handover, the authorization status of materials, operations and requests cannot be replaced by a retrieval result or a form.