Introduction: Initial retrieval casts a wide net—vector search or keyword matching returns candidates that might be relevant. Reranking narrows the focus, using more expensive but accurate models to score each candidate against the query. Cross-encoders process query-document pairs together, capturing fine-grained semantic relationships that bi-encoders miss. This two-stage approach balances efficiency with accuracy: fast retrieval […]
Read more →Tag: LLM
Memory Systems for LLMs: Buffers, Summaries, and Vector Storage
Introduction: LLMs have no inherent memory—each request starts fresh. Building effective memory systems enables conversations that span sessions, personalization based on user history, and agents that learn from past interactions. Memory architectures range from simple conversation buffers to sophisticated vector-based long-term storage with semantic retrieval. This guide covers practical memory patterns: conversation buffers, sliding windows, […]
Read more →LLM Prompt Templates: Building Maintainable Prompt Systems
Introduction: Hardcoded prompts are a maintenance nightmare. When prompts are scattered across your codebase as string literals, updating them requires code changes, testing, and deployment. Prompt templates solve this by separating prompt logic from application code. This guide covers building a robust prompt template system: variable substitution, conditional sections, template inheritance, version control, and A/B […]
Read more →Multi-turn Conversation Design: Building Natural Dialogue Systems with LLMs
Introduction: Multi-turn conversations are where LLM applications become truly useful. Users don’t just ask single questions—they refine, follow up, reference previous context, and expect the assistant to remember what was discussed. Building effective multi-turn systems requires careful attention to context management, history compression, turn-taking logic, and graceful handling of topic changes. This guide covers practical […]
Read more →LLM Application Monitoring: Metrics, Tracing, and Alerting for Production AI Systems
Introduction: LLM applications fail in ways traditional software doesn’t. A model might return syntactically correct but factually wrong responses. Latency can spike unpredictably. Costs can explode without warning. Token usage varies wildly based on input. Traditional APM tools miss these LLM-specific failure modes. This guide covers comprehensive monitoring for LLM applications: tracking latency, tokens, and […]
Read more →LLM Model Selection: Choosing the Right Model for Every Task
Introduction: Choosing the right LLM for your task is one of the most impactful decisions you’ll make. Use a model that’s too small and you’ll get poor quality. Use one that’s too large and you’ll burn through budget while waiting for slow responses. The landscape changes constantly—new models launch monthly, pricing shifts, and capabilities evolve. […]
Read more →