Search First, Then Answer

RAG boils down to a single rule: hold the document in hand before you answer. Open your mouth without holding the page first, and it's not RAG anymore.

Let's think about it this way for a second

The loop is short: 1) listen to the question, 2) find the relevant section, 3) read that section, 4) answer using only that text, 5) stop. Unlike an agent loop, it doesn't need five different tools. Get the search step wrong and the answer will be wrong too — so "the right page" matters more than "a good-sounding answer." It's like a chef tasting a dish before it goes out, rather than just plating and serving on a guess.

Let's connect it to everyday life

Question: "Can I use my phone during class?" Search: find "Phones must be off during class" in handbook.md. Answer: "No, according to the document" — and quote that line. A bad RAG setup skips the search and confidently says "Sure, modern schools allow it." Confidence isn't the same as being correct — the actual line of text is what's correct.

• Search before you answer
• Put a short quoted line next to the answer
• If there's no text, stop

Let's try it hands-on together

step 1  hear:  Can I use a phone in class?
step 2  find:  handbook.md / phones paragraph
step 3  read:  “စာသင်ချိန်မှာ ဖုန်းပိတ်ရမည်”
step 4  answer: No, according to that line
step 5  stop

You'll be able to trace through the 5 steps of the RAG loop in words.