Vector search isn't the hard part; deciding what to search is
Exploring the importance of metadata and pre-search decisions in AI retrieval systems.
In recent weeks, I redesigned the retrieval pipeline for an AI knowledge system. Initially, the architecture was standard, but as more documents were added, issues like irrelevant chunks and increased costs emerged. The challenge shifted from vector search itself to determining what should be searched beforehand. By extracting structured metadata during ingestion, a more effective retrieval process was established, separating the system into independent stages.