Retrieval and Knowledge

Retrieval lets an agent find relevant docs, code, and records when needed instead of stuffing all project knowledge into a prompt.

Good retrieval targets

• API docs and release notes.
• Architecture notes.
• Code symbols and call relationships.
• Historical decisions, OpenSpec changes, and incident notes.
• Log and test failure summaries.

Retrieval quality

Standard	Meaning
Relevance	Result directly supports the current problem
Freshness	Source is not stale
Traceability	Result links back to a file, URL, or commit
Compactness	Summary is short enough for context
Verifiability	Claim can be confirmed by reading or testing

Relationship to MCP

MCP can expose retrieval as a resource or tool:

• Use a resource for stable readable material.
• Use a tool for parameterized search, filtering, or aggregation.

Practice

Design a retrieval strategy for this tutorial site:

1. Which directories should be indexed?
2. How many results should return?
3. What fields does each result need?
4. How do you avoid stale pages and 404 links?

Next: Evaluation and Quality.