KNOWLEDGE LAB / LEARN RAG THROUGH PRACTICE

What do you want
your knowledge to do?

Choose a use case. Get a step-by-step reading plan built from practical lessons, source files, parameter experiments, and troubleshooting experience.

01 Choose a scenario02 Follow your plan03 Learn from examples

Start with your application.

The goal shapes your learning path. Your document format comes next.

01Customer & product supportAnswer product and service questions with the right source and limitation.“How long can I book a meeting room?”02Internal knowledge assistantHelp people find current policies and procedures they are allowed to read.“Which booking policy is current, and who may read it?”03Technical documentation assistantExplain procedures without losing prerequisites, code context, or exceptions.“Which steps apply to this version, including its exceptions?”04Multi-document research assistantCompare sources and explain which evidence supports each conclusion.“How did the booking rule change between versions 1 and 2?”

What will you learn with? Optional

A reading plan with optional exercises. No uploads, service connections, or account required.

Real practice behind every step.

Start with the fictional Harbor Studio FAQ: find its 60-minute booking rule, trace a printer citation, handle an unanswered parking question, compare Top K, and verify the updated 90-minute rule. Keep the examples beside you as you study.

Start with a one-file example Explore runnable concept labs

THE PRACTICE LIBRARY

Practice one skill at a time.

Read worked examples with source files, expected outcomes, and troubleshooting checks. Browse independently or follow your learning plan.

Six practical lessons

Lesson 1 · About 15 min

Build a tiny RAG with one file

Prepare a practice file, run local retrieval, and connect the returned evidence to your chosen answer model.

Lesson 2 · About 7 min

Show the source behind an answer

Carry source IDs through search and generation, then validate each citation against the passage.

Lesson 3 · About 7 min

Handle questions your documents cannot answer

Add a no-evidence path and test it beside a covered question.

Lesson 4 · About 8 min

Find a fact your RAG keeps missing

Trace one question from source text to index, search result, model input, and final answer.

Lesson 5 · About 8 min

Change just one setting: Top K

Compare one returned passage with three while keeping documents and questions fixed.

Lesson 6 · About 8 min

Update a document without keeping the old answer

Replace a 60-minute rule with 90 minutes and remove the old version from searchable results.

GO DEEPER WHERE YOU NEED TO

Document guides, model choices & agent settings.

Explore document preparation, model and database choices, agent behavior, and fair comparisons.

Models & settings · 9 min read

Choose embedding and answer models separately

Use the printer and parking exercises to separate retrieval failures from answer-model failures, then record a reproducible model choice.

Storage & indexing · 10 min read

Choose a RAG database and understand its settings

Compare a local baseline, PostgreSQL with pgvector, and a dedicated vector service using source records, version updates, and access-filter exercises.

Agents & orchestration · 9 min read

Choose a RAG workflow or agent, then set its boundaries

Separate the answer model from its workflow, compare direct orchestration with LangGraph, and study a bounded multi-search example.

Start here · 7 min read

Build your first RAG knowledge base

Go from a small document set to a cited answer, with a check at every stage.

FAQs & catalogs · 5 min read

Make product FAQs answer the right question

Keep product identifiers, exceptions, and versions attached to the answer.

Manuals & policies · 6 min read

Keep context intact in long manuals

Compare section boundaries and parent-child retrieval without losing conditions or exceptions.

Document preparation · 5 min read

Fix scanned PDFs before tuning RAG

Verify OCR, reading order, and table structure before spending time on retrieval settings.

Evaluate & improve · 7 min read

Know whether a RAG change actually helped

Use paired questions, source checks, and measured usage to compare two configurations.

References & optional worksheets

Use these when a lesson calls for a closer look at configuration, a failure, or a measured comparison.