Retrieval Beyond Vectors

Lecture 8.3

• RAG = Retrieval-Augmented Generation; vector search is one retrieval mechanism among many
• Web search as retrieval (Brave, Tavily, Google Custom Search) — live info, broad topics
• Database queries as retrieval — structured data, exact lookups
• File reads and API calls as retrieval — known resources, specific locations
• The model's own training data as parametric retrieval
• When to choose which: comparison across vector DB, web search, database, file/API
• Composition: real agents use multiple retrieval modes (Claude Code reads files AND searches the web AND uses training data)
• The unifying principle: any tool that gets external information into the context is a retrieval mechanism

Additional Resources

• Lecture slides