Glossary term

RAG

Short for retrieval-augmented generation, but the practical question is whether it improves a real document workflow.

RAG combines a model with a retrieval step that brings in relevant external documents or knowledge before generating an answer. Category: guides Related topics: 0 Related resources: 0

Why this term matters

People reach for RAG early because it sounds like the answer to private documents, but the real value depends on source quality, retrieval relevance, and whether the workflow is worth the stack around it.

Examples

A small team may need only a lightweight document lookup loop, not a full-blown RAG platform.
Hybrid boundaries can still make sense even when the retrieval layer is private.