RAG Failure Modes

Course overview

Analysis of RAG failure modes: missing, wrong, stale or conflicting context. This module defines these failure types, shows how to detect and diagnose them, and equips practitioners to pinpoint sources of error in retrieval-augmented generation pipelines.

Defines contextual failure categories — missing, wrong, stale, conflicting — and how each affects generated outputs.

Details observable signals and diagnostic steps to separate retrieval failures from generation issues and prioritize fixes.

Provides a structured method to record and reproduce failures so teams can iterate on RAG components effectively.