RAG vs. Context Engineering

Retrieval is one tool in context engineering, not the whole job.

Most "RAG problems" are actually context-engineering problems: wrong granularity, wrong source, wrong ordering, wrong refresh policy. Picking RAG before you've decided what context the model actually needs is putting the engine before the chassis.

When to use this skill

• The user is sketching a knowledge-grounded agent and reaches for embeddings reflexively.
• The user is debugging "the model gives wrong answers" and has not measured retrieval quality independently.
• The user is choosing between RAG, long-context-stuffing, structured tool calls, or fine-tuning.
• The user is mid-build and asking why their RAG isn't working.

Decision flow