Answer With Citations

Answer with Citations

Steps

1. For each sentence you write, decide which retrieved chunk(s) support it. If none do, either: (a) don't write that sentence, or (b) flag it explicitly as not-from-corpus.
2. Inline-cite each factual sentence with the chunk_id in square brackets at the end: "Revenue grew 12% in Q3 [a1b2c3]."
3. Build the citations array — one entry per cited chunk_id with the chunk's source and a 1-line snippet for the user to verify.
4. Return {"answer": "...", "citations": [...], "schema_version": 1}.
5. If chunks contradict each other, surface the contradiction — do not silently pick one.

Output shape (Pydantic-validated)

{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "answer": "Revenue grew 12% in Q3 [a1b2c3]. Margins held flat [d4e5f6].",
  "citations": [
    {"chunk_id": "a1b2c3", "source": "reports/q3.md", "snippet": "..."},
    {"chunk_id": "d4e5f6", "source": "reports/q3.md", "snippet": "..."}
  ]
}

Validation

harness verify --check schema validates the JSON; --check citations cross-checks the inline tokens against the citations array (both directions). Both must pass for the answer to ship.

Failure modes to avoid

• Fake citation IDs — never invent chunk_ids. If you didn't see the chunk in retrieval output, you can't cite it.
• Citation-orphaning — listing a chunk_id in citations[] but never using it in the answer is also a failure (the verifier catches it).
• One-citation-per-paragraph — readers can't verify which sentence came from where. Cite per sentence.