Seven operational questions I ask before a RAG system goes live
Retrieval systems usually look ready before they are actually ready. The main questions are rarely glamorous: does chunking match the source material, can retrieval results be explained clearly, what happens when context is thin, where do permissions stop, and do logs show enough to debug failures?
I also want a clear update path for the knowledge base. Without it, the index becomes a stale archive disguised as a live system.
These details decide whether a retrieval workflow feels dependable after launch.