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Chunking decides everything
Split a datasheet in the middle of a table and every answer built on it will be wrong. Chunk along document structure — headings, table rows, sections — not by a blind character count. This unglamorous step determines most of your final quality.
Retrieval, then generation
If the right chunk is not retrieved, the best model on earth will confidently make something up. Measure retrieval separately: for 50 real questions, is the correct passage in the top five? Fix that before you touch prompts.
Always cite, always allow 'no'
Every answer should link the source document, and the system must be allowed to say it does not know. An assistant that invents a torque value is worse than no assistant — someone will tighten a bolt to it.
Keep your data in your house
Quotes, prices and customer names are not training material for someone else's model. Use an endpoint with a no-training guarantee, or self-host — and write down which data leaves the building. Your DPO will ask.
- Chunk along structure, never by character count.
- Measure retrieval before you tune prompts.
- An assistant that cannot say 'I don't know' is dangerous.
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