rotoslider Engineering Knowledge Graph (ForgeRAG)
Search engineering handbooks, standards, and specifications. The knowledge graph contains materials, processes, standards, equipment, formulas, reference tables, and their relationships extracted from ingested PDF documents — with paragraph-level structural chunking, LLM-generated chunk summaries, RRF hybrid retrieval (BGE-M3 dense + BM25 + cross-encoder reranker), fuzzy entity matching, OCR typo tolerance, community weighting, and a circuit breaker for reliability.
When to Use
| Tool | Use when… |
|---|---|
ask_engineering_question |
The user wants a synthesized answer with citations. Uses RRF hybrid + VLM reading of page images. Primary tool. |
find_relevant_chunks |
You need precise evidence to quote (a specific paragraph, table, or equation). Returns raw chunk text + summary without the VLM synthesis step. Faster than ask_engineering_question. |
search_engineering_docs (mode="keyword") |
Looking up a specific code, alloy designation, clause number, or standard (C12000, QW-451.1, NFPA 70, SEMI S2). Supports fuzzy: true for OCR typo tolerance. |
search_engineering_docs (mode="visual") |
Finding pages by visual similarity — charts, tables, diagrams, schematics. Uses Nemotron ColEmbed. |
smart_search |
General-purpose entry point when unsure which mode is best. Auto-detects: codes/designations -> keyword, questions -> answer, else -> hybrid/RRF. |
get_forgerag_status |
Check ForgeRAG capabilities, live stats (documents, pages, entities, communities), and service health before searching. |
query_knowledge_graph |
How entities relate to each other — what standards govern a material, what materials are compatible with a process, which standards cross-reference. |
explore_entity |
Everything connected to one specific entity (N-hop neighborhood). |
list_knowledge_collections |
Discovery — what engineering databases are available. |
Tool selection patterns
- "What does ASTM A36 require for…" →
ask_engineering_question(narrative answer) - "Quote the exact text of QW-451.1" →
find_relevant_chunks(precise quotation) - "Find the tap drill table" →
find_relevant_chunkswith chunk_type="table" - "What formula is used for beam deflection?" →
find_relevant_chunkswith chunk_type="equation", thenask_engineering_questionif more context needed - "Show me the torque chart" →
search_engineering_docswith mode="visual" (page images) - "Tell me about Alloy 625" →
smart_search(auto-routes to the best strategy) - "Find C1200O in scanned docs" →
search_engineering_docswith mode="keyword" andfuzzy: true(OCR typo tolerance) - "What collections and entities are available?" →
get_forgerag_status(live stats and capabilities)
Important
ask_engineering_questionis the primary synthesis tool — RRF hybrid retrieval + VLM reading pages + graph context → answer with [Page N] citationsfind_relevant_chunksreturns paragraph/table-precise results with LLM summaries — use it for precise quoting or when you want to inspect the raw evidence before synthesizing- For specific alloy codes (C12000, A36) or clause IDs (QW-451.1, NFPA 70-15A §7.2.3), keyword search often nails exact matches faster than the hybrid retriever
- The graph stores Materials, Processes, Standards, Equipment, Formulas, and RefTables — use
explore_entityto discover cross-references and relationships - Standards have BOTH a short
code(e.g., "SEMI S2") and atitle(e.g., "Environmental, Health, and Safety Guideline for Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment") — queries resolve either form - Collections organize documents by domain (asm_references, mechanical_design, firearms, etc.) — specify a collection to narrow searches
- Page-level
topic_tagsclassify content topically (tap-drill-chart, fastener-torque, conductor-ampacity, etc.) — helpful for filtering - Answers include page numbers — cite them when reporting findings
- The system reads actual page images via a VLM, so it can interpret tables, charts, and diagrams that text extraction misses