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RAG copilot bug: LLM shouldn't count, database should

By PulseAugur Editorial · [1 sources] ·

A user encountered an issue with a retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) copilot designed for document search. When asked to count documents authored by a specific person, the copilot provided an incorrect, lower number because it counted only the visible results after filtering and deduplication, rather than the true total from the database. This occurred because a single state field was used to store both the database's total count and the UI's displayed count, leading to the latter overwriting the former. The fix involved introducing a separate, immutable field to hold the authoritative database count, ensuring the LLM only narrates the number provided by the system of record. AI

IMPACT Highlights a common pitfall in RAG systems where LLMs incorrectly perform aggregations, necessitating careful state management.

RANK_REASON Article describes a bug in a specific software tool and its fix.

Read on dev.to — LLM tag →

AI-generated summary · Google Gemini · from 1 sources. How we write summaries →

RAG copilot bug: LLM shouldn't count, database should

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Article describes a bug in a specific software tool and its fix.
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52 days old
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  1. dev.to — LLM tag TIER_1 English(EN) · Rodrigo Diego ·

    Your RAG copilot can't count — stop letting it try

    <h1> Your RAG copilot can't count — stop letting it try </h1> <p>A user asked our document-search copilot a completely reasonable question: how many documents a specific person authored. The copilot answered with a number. Confidently. With a nice sentence around it.</p> <p>The r…

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