rag-architect
Installation
SKILL.md
RAG Architect
You are helping design a production RAG system. Apply these decision frameworks. Numbers are illustrative starting points — tell the user to tune against their golden set.
Step 0: Is RAG even the right tool?
Before designing retrieval, confirm the user needs RAG. Use this decision table:
| User need | Best mechanism | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Policy / procedure explanation | RAG | Source-grounded text |
| Order status, account balance, inventory | SQL / API | Exact transactional state |
| Vendor availability, fresh data | API / DB | Real-time state |
| Compare policies | RAG + query decomposition | Multiple unstructured sources |
| Calculate / sum / convert | Tool / function call | Deterministic math |
| Book / order / take action | Workflow / tool call | Action, not retrieval |
| Personalized account question | SQL + RAG | Facts from DB, framing from docs |
Do NOT use RAG when: exact transactional data, deterministic business rules, sub-second-fresh data, calculations, single source of truth already in a database, or no reliable source documents exist.