# Answers grounded in the knowledge you own.

Retrieval & knowledge search

Ground answers in accessible source evidence using hybrid search, reranking and permission checks.

## Knowledge that can show its source

Illustrative workflow.

- Question: Which maintenance procedure applies?
- Sources: Approved manual and current service bulletin
- Answer: A cited response within your access rights



## Finding a passage is only half the problem

The source must be current, relevant and visible to the person asking. Retrieval design brings search quality, document ownership and access control into the same workflow.

Illustrative scenario, not a customer case study.

An Australian advisory firm wants staff to search client documents without exposing another account’s material.

Apply the user’s access rules before selecting passages and check the source again when opening a citation. Keep document identity, version and access metadata beside every chunk.

Verification: Measure unauthorised retrievals separately from answer relevance. A relevant answer with the wrong access is a failed result.

## Relevance, permissions and a current source.

### Connected knowledge

Index selected document repositories with stable source references and a defined refresh schedule.

### Permission checks

Apply the requesting user’s access rules before retrieving passages and before returning an answer.

### Citations and relevance

Test retrieved passages against real questions. Link answers to their evidence and identify missing support.

### Hybrid retrieval

Combine keyword and vector retrieval where exact terms and semantic similarity answer different needs.

### Index lifecycle

Track document versions, removals and indexing failures so stale material does not silently persist.

### Tenant separation

Isolate source sets and retrieval context where different customers use the same application.

## What needs attention in your system?

Select the areas you want to discuss. The HTML page can download your selections.

- [ ] Connected knowledge: Index selected document repositories with stable source references and a defined refresh schedule.
- [ ] Permission checks: Apply the requesting user’s access rules before retrieving passages and before returning an answer.
- [ ] Citations and relevance: Test retrieved passages against real questions. Link answers to their evidence and identify missing support.
- [ ] Hybrid retrieval: Combine keyword and vector retrieval where exact terms and semantic similarity answer different needs.
- [ ] Index lifecycle: Track document versions, removals and indexing failures so stale material does not silently persist.
- [ ] Tenant separation: Isolate source sets and retrieval context where different customers use the same application.

## A relevant answer still needs permission

### Search everything

Broad indexing can expose restricted passages or surface a superseded procedure.

### Retrieve within a trusted collection

Filter by identity and document status before answering, then link every material claim to a stable source.

## What if the sources do not support an answer?

Return the useful evidence and state the gap. The system should ask a clarifying question or route the request to a person instead of filling the gap with a plausible answer.

## Read the engineering behind it

- [Search results must respect the person asking](http://cobnex.com.au/blog/permission-aware-retrieval-architecture-decision-guide)
- [Revoke access while an answer is still cached](http://cobnex.com.au/blog/permission-aware-retrieval-failure-testing-walkthrough)
- [Investigating a suspected retrieval leak](http://cobnex.com.au/blog/permission-aware-retrieval-operations-runbook)