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A query-serving workstation in a bright index-build room, its screens labelling six rack positions down the aisle behind it, with the farthest position's status light still amber and not yet settled to green

What Actually Happens Between a Query and an Answer in RAG

Retrieval-augmented generation is usually described as one step: ask, then answer. In production it is six separate stages, each with its own literature, its own failure mode, and its own knob to turn.

By Brecht Corbeel · August 11, 2026 · 17 min read

A run of shallow oak herbarium drawers pulled open along a bench, pressed specimens on blank pale card, one sheet caught hovering between two open drawers

AI Agents & Systems

Embeddings and the Geometry of Similarity

An embedding is a filing decision, not a fact about meaning. Its geometry guarantees far less than the systems built on top of it assume, and every surprising retrieval failure follows from that gap.

By Brecht Corbeel · August 8, 2026 · 17 min read

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