The Evidence Path

The Evidence Path

A field notebook of retrieval-augmented generation—from first principles to the 2026 frontier.

Reading order

  1. Prologue — The answer is not the beginning2,293 words
  2. The Shape of a Search3,806 words
  3. The Answer Must Touch the Evidence2,968 words
  4. The Retrieval Agent at the Boundary3,682 words
  5. Measuring the Answering Machine4,245 words
  6. Epilogue — A system that can show its work1,642 words