Langchain RAG

LangChainOfficialPublished by LangChain

Skill
Tool integration
Data and AI
MIT
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From the author

INVOKE THIS SKILL when building ANY retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) system. Covers document loaders, RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter, embeddings (OpenAI), and vector stores (Chroma, FAISS, Pinecone).

— the description by LangChain

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

This skill provides a structured approach to building Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems. It covers the end-to-end pipeline including document loading, text splitting, embedding generation, and vector store management. It provides implementation patterns for common tools like Chroma, FAISS, and Pinecone, along with best practices for chunking, metadata filtering, and retrieval strategies.

What it does

Demonstrates end-to-end RAG pipeline construction in Python and TypeScript.
Provides patterns for loading data from PDFs, web pages, and local directories.
Explains text splitting strategies using RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter.
Details vector store integration for Chroma, FAISS, and Pinecone.
Offers guidance on retrieval techniques including similarity search and MMR.
Provides troubleshooting patterns for common RAG implementation errors.

When to use it

When building a RAG system to enhance LLM responses with external data.
When integrating document ingestion and vector search into an AI application.
When troubleshooting issues related to chunking, embedding consistency, or vector store persistence.
When implementing metadata-based filtering for more precise document retrieval.

Advantages

Provides consistent implementation patterns for both Python and TypeScript.
Includes clear guidance on avoiding common pitfalls like dimension mismatches and deserialization risks.
Offers modular examples for different stages of the RAG lifecycle.
Supports various storage backends ranging from in-memory to persistent disk and cloud options.

Usage examples

“How do I load a PDF and store it in a FAISS vector store?”: The agent provides code to initialize a PyPDFLoader, split the text, create embeddings, and save the resulting FAISS index to a local directory.
“What is the best way to split text for RAG?”: The agent explains the use of RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter with recommended chunk sizes and overlap percentages to maintain context.
“How can I filter my search results by metadata?”: The agent demonstrates how to attach metadata to documents during ingestion and apply filter parameters during a similarity search.
“Why is my RAG system losing data after a restart?”: The agent identifies the use of an in-memory vector store and provides the code to switch to a persistent storage solution like Chroma.

Install

Download the skill as a ZIP:
https://autogineer.com/agent-skills/langchain-ai/langchain-rag/download

Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:

mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip langchain-rag.zip -d .agents/skills

Documentation by LangChain

<overview> Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) enhances LLM responses by fetching relevant context from external knowledge sources.

Pipeline:

Index: Load → Split → Embed → Store
Retrieve: Query → Embed → Search → Return docs
Generate: Docs + Query → LLM → Response

Key Components:

Document Loaders: Ingest data from files, web, databases
Text Splitters: Break documents into chunks
Embeddings: Convert text to vectors
Vector Stores: Store and search embeddings
</overview>

<vectorstore-selection>

Vector Store	Use Case	Persistence
InMemory	Testing	Memory only
FAISS	Local, high performance	Disk
Chroma	Development	Disk
Pinecone	Production, managed	Cloud

</vectorstore-selection>

Complete RAG Pipeline

<ex-basic-rag-setup> <python> End-to-end RAG pipeline: load documents, split into chunks, embed, store, retrieve, and generate a response.

from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI, OpenAIEmbeddings
from langchain_community.vectorstores import InMemoryVectorStore
from langchain_text_splitters import RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter
from langchain_core.documents import Document

# 1. Load documents
docs = [
    Document(page_content="LangChain is a framework for LLM apps.", metadata={}),
    Document(page_content="RAG = Retrieval Augmented Generation.", metadata={}),
]

# 2. Split documents
splitter = RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter(chunk_size=500, chunk_overlap=50)
splits = splitter.split_documents(docs)

# 3. Create embeddings and store
embeddings = OpenAIEmbeddings(model="text-embedding-3-small")
vectorstore = InMemoryVectorStore.from_documents(splits, embeddings)

# 4. Create retriever
retriever = vectorstore.as_retriever(search_kwargs={"k": 4})

# 5. Use in RAG
model = ChatOpenAI(model="gpt-4.1")
query = "What is RAG?"
relevant_docs = retriever.invoke(query)

context = "\n\n".join([doc.page_content for doc in relevant_docs])
response = model.invoke([
    {"role": "system", "content": f"Use this context:\n\n{context}"},
    {"role": "user", "content": query},
])

</python> <typescript> End-to-end RAG pipeline: load documents, split into chunks, embed, store, retrieve, and generate a response.

import { ChatOpenAI, OpenAIEmbeddings } from "@langchain/openai";
import { MemoryVectorStore } from "@langchain/classic/vectorstores/memory";
import { RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter } from "@langchain/textsplitters";
import { Document } from "@langchain/core/documents";

// 1. Load documents
const docs = [
  new Document({ pageContent: "LangChain is a framework for LLM apps.", metadata: {} }),
  new Document({ pageContent: "RAG = Retrieval Augmented Generation.", metadata: {} }),
];

// 2. Split documents
const splitter = new RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter({ chunkSize: 500, chunkOverlap: 50 });
const splits = await splitter.splitDocuments(docs);

// 3. Create embeddings and store
const embeddings = new OpenAIEmbeddings({ model: "text-embedding-3-small" });
const vectorstore = await MemoryVectorStore.fromDocuments(splits, embeddings);

// 4. Create retriever
const retriever = vectorstore.asRetriever({ k: 4 });

// 5. Use in RAG
const model = new ChatOpenAI({ model: "gpt-4.1" });
const query = "What is RAG?";
const relevantDocs = await retriever.invoke(query);

const context = relevantDocs.map(doc => doc.pageContent).join("\n\n");
const response = await model.invoke([
  { role: "system", content: `Use this context:\n\n${context}` },
  { role: "user", content: query },
]);

</typescript> </ex-basic-rag-setup>

Document Loaders

<ex-loading-pdf> <python> Load a PDF file and extract each page as a separate document.

from langchain_community.document_loaders import PyPDFLoader

loader = PyPDFLoader("./document.pdf")
docs = loader.load()
print(f"Loaded {len(docs)} pages")

</python> <typescript> Load a PDF file and extract each page as a separate document.

import { PDFLoader } from "@langchain/community/document_loaders/fs/pdf";

const loader = new PDFLoader("./document.pdf");
const docs = await loader.load();
console.log(`Loaded ${docs.length} pages`);

</typescript> </ex-loading-pdf>

<ex-loading-web-pages> <python> Fetch and parse content from a web URL into a document.

from langchain_community.document_loaders import WebBaseLoader

loader = WebBaseLoader("https://docs.langchain.com")
docs = loader.load()

</python> <typescript> Fetch and parse content from a web URL into a document using Cheerio.

import { CheerioWebBaseLoader } from "@langchain/community/document_loaders/web/cheerio";

const loader = new CheerioWebBaseLoader("https://docs.langchain.com");
const docs = await loader.load();

</typescript> </ex-loading-web-pages>

<ex-loading-directory> <python> Load all text files from a directory using a glob pattern.

from langchain_community.document_loaders import DirectoryLoader, TextLoader

# Load all text files from directory
loader = DirectoryLoader(
    "path/to/documents",
    glob="**/*.txt",  # Pattern for files to load
    loader_cls=TextLoader
)
docs = loader.load()

</python> </ex-loading-directory>

Text Splitting

<ex-text-splitting> <python> Split documents into chunks using RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter with configurable size and overlap.

from langchain_text_splitters import RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter

splitter = RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter(
    chunk_size=1000,        # Characters per chunk
    chunk_overlap=200,      # Overlap for context continuity
    separators=["\n\n", "\n", " ", ""],  # Split hierarchy
)

splits = splitter.split_documents(docs)

</python> </ex-text-splitting>

Vector Stores

<ex-chroma-vectorstore> <python> Create a persistent Chroma vector store and reload it from disk.

from langchain_chroma import Chroma
from langchain_openai import OpenAIEmbeddings

vectorstore = Chroma.from_documents(
    documents=splits,
    embedding=OpenAIEmbeddings(),
    persist_directory="./chroma_db",
    collection_name="my-collection",
)

# Load existing
vectorstore = Chroma(
    persist_directory="./chroma_db",
    embedding_function=OpenAIEmbeddings(),
    collection_name="my-collection",
)

</python> <typescript> Create a Chroma vector store connected to a running Chroma server.

import { Chroma } from "@langchain/community/vectorstores/chroma";
import { OpenAIEmbeddings } from "@langchain/openai";

const vectorstore = await Chroma.fromDocuments(
  splits,
  new OpenAIEmbeddings(),
  { collectionName: "my-collection", url: "http://localhost:8000" }
);

</typescript> </ex-chroma-vectorstore>

<ex-faiss-vectorstore> <python> Create a FAISS vector store, save it to disk, and reload it.

from langchain_community.vectorstores import FAISS

vectorstore = FAISS.from_documents(splits, embeddings)
vectorstore.save_local("./faiss_index")

# Only load FAISS indexes that you created and fully control.
# The Python FAISS loader uses pickle-backed metadata, so never load
# downloaded, shared, or otherwise untrusted index directories.
loaded = FAISS.load_local(
    "./faiss_index",
    embeddings,
    allow_dangerous_deserialization=True,
)

</python> <typescript> Create a FAISS vector store, save it to disk, and reload it.

import { FaissStore } from "@langchain/community/vectorstores/faiss";

const vectorstore = await FaissStore.fromDocuments(splits, embeddings);
await vectorstore.save("./faiss_index");

const loaded = await FaissStore.load("./faiss_index", embeddings);

</typescript> </ex-faiss-vectorstore>

Retrieval

<ex-similarity-search> <python> Perform similarity search and retrieve results with relevance scores.

# Basic search
results = vectorstore.similarity_search(query, k=5)

# With scores
results_with_score = vectorstore.similarity_search_with_score(query, k=5)
for doc, score in results_with_score:
    print(f"Score: {score}, Content: {doc.page_content}")

</python> <typescript> Perform similarity search and retrieve results with relevance scores.

// Basic search
const results = await vectorstore.similaritySearch(query, 5);

// With scores
const resultsWithScore = await vectorstore.similaritySearchWithScore(query, 5);
for (const [doc, score] of resultsWithScore) {
  console.log(`Score: ${score}, Content: ${doc.pageContent}`);
}

</typescript> </ex-similarity-search>

<ex-mmr-search> <python> Use MMR (Maximal Marginal Relevance) to balance relevance and diversity in search results.

# MMR balances relevance and diversity
retriever = vectorstore.as_retriever(
    search_type="mmr",
    search_kwargs={"fetch_k": 20, "lambda_mult": 0.5, "k": 5},
)

</python> </ex-mmr-search>

<ex-metadata-filtering> <python> Add metadata to documents and filter search results by metadata properties.

# Add metadata when creating documents
docs = [
    Document(
        page_content="Python programming guide",
        metadata={"language": "python", "topic": "programming"}
    ),
]

# Search with filter
results = vectorstore.similarity_search(
    "programming",
    k=5,
    filter={"language": "python"}  # Only Python docs
)

</python> </ex-metadata-filtering>

<ex-rag-with-agent> <python> Create an agent that uses RAG as a tool for answering questions.

from langchain.agents import create_agent
from langchain.tools import tool

@tool
def search_docs(query: str) -> str:
    """Search documentation for relevant information."""
    docs = retriever.invoke(query)
    return "\n\n".join([d.page_content for d in docs])

agent = create_agent(
    model="gpt-4.1",
    tools=[search_docs],
)

result = agent.invoke({
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "How do I create an agent?"}]
})

</python> <typescript> Create an agent that uses RAG as a tool for answering questions.

import { createAgent } from "langchain";
import { tool } from "@langchain/core/tools";
import { z } from "zod";

const searchDocs = tool(
  async (input) => {
    const docs = await retriever.invoke(input.query);
    return docs.map(d => d.pageContent).join("\n\n");
  },
  {
    name: "search_docs",
    description: "Search documentation for relevant information.",
    schema: z.object({ query: z.string() }),
  }
);

const agent = createAgent({
  model: "gpt-4.1",
  tools: [searchDocs],
});

const result = await agent.invoke({
  messages: [{ role: "user", content: "How do I create an agent?" }],
});

</typescript> </ex-rag-with-agent>

<boundaries> ### What You CAN Configure

Chunk size/overlap
Embedding model
Number of results (k)
Metadata filters
Search algorithms: Similarity, MMR

What You CANNOT Configure

Embedding dimensions (per model)
Mix embeddings from different models in same store
</boundaries>

<fix-chunk-size> <python> Chunk size 500-1500 is typically good.

# WRONG: Too small (loses context) or too large (hits limits)
splitter = RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter(chunk_size=50)
splitter = RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter(chunk_size=10000)

# CORRECT
splitter = RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter(chunk_size=1000, chunk_overlap=200)

</python> <typescript> Chunk size 500-1500 is typically good.

// WRONG: Too small or too large
const splitter = new RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter({ chunkSize: 50 });

// CORRECT
const splitter = new RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter({ chunkSize: 1000, chunkOverlap: 200 });

</typescript> </fix-chunk-size>

<fix-chunk-overlap> <python> Use overlap (10-20% of chunk size) to maintain context at boundaries.

# WRONG: No overlap - context breaks at boundaries
splitter = RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter(chunk_size=1000, chunk_overlap=0)

# CORRECT: 10-20% overlap
splitter = RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter(chunk_size=1000, chunk_overlap=200)

</python> </fix-chunk-overlap>

<fix-persist-vectorstore> <python> Use persistent vector store instead of in-memory to avoid data loss.

# WRONG: InMemory - lost on restart
vectorstore = InMemoryVectorStore.from_documents(docs, embeddings)

# CORRECT
vectorstore = Chroma.from_documents(docs, embeddings, persist_directory="./chroma_db")

</python> <typescript> Use persistent vector store instead of in-memory to avoid data loss.

// WRONG: Memory - lost on restart
const vectorstore = await MemoryVectorStore.fromDocuments(docs, embeddings);

// CORRECT
const vectorstore = await Chroma.fromDocuments(docs, embeddings, { collectionName: "my-collection" });

</typescript> </fix-persist-vectorstore>

<fix-consistent-embeddings> <python> Use the same embedding model for indexing and querying.

# WRONG: Different embeddings for index and query - incompatible!
vectorstore = Chroma.from_documents(docs, OpenAIEmbeddings(model="text-embedding-3-small"))
retriever = vectorstore.as_retriever(embeddings=OpenAIEmbeddings(model="text-embedding-3-large"))

# CORRECT: Same model
embeddings = OpenAIEmbeddings(model="text-embedding-3-small")
vectorstore = Chroma.from_documents(docs, embeddings)
retriever = vectorstore.as_retriever()  # Uses same embeddings

</python> <typescript> Use the same embedding model for indexing and querying.

const embeddings = new OpenAIEmbeddings({ model: "text-embedding-3-small" });
const vectorstore = await Chroma.fromDocuments(docs, embeddings);
const retriever = vectorstore.asRetriever();  // Uses same embeddings

</typescript> </fix-consistent-embeddings>

<fix-faiss-deserialization> <python> Only opt in to FAISS deserialization for trusted local indexes. Python FAISS indexes include pickle-backed metadata, and untrusted pickle files can execute arbitrary code during loading.

# WRONG: Loading a downloaded, shared, cloud-hosted, or third-party-controlled
# FAISS index with dangerous deserialization enabled.
loaded_store = FAISS.load_local(
    "./untrusted_faiss_index",
    embeddings,
    allow_dangerous_deserialization=True,
)

# CORRECT: Only opt in when the index directory was created by you and has
# remained under your control.
loaded_store = FAISS.load_local(
    "./faiss_index",
    embeddings,
    allow_dangerous_deserialization=True,
)

If you cannot guarantee the provenance of a persisted index, do not load it with allow_dangerous_deserialization=True. Rebuild the index from trusted source documents or use a vector store/backend that does not require pickle deserialization for untrusted files. </python> </fix-faiss-deserialization>

<fix-dimension-mismatch> <python> Ensure embedding dimensions match the vector store index dimensions.

# WRONG: Index has 1536 dimensions but using 512-dim embeddings
pc.create_index(name="idx", dimension=1536, metric="cosine")
vectorstore = PineconeVectorStore.from_documents(
    docs, OpenAIEmbeddings(model="text-embedding-3-small", dimensions=512), index=pc.Index("idx")
)  # Error: dimension mismatch!

# CORRECT: Match dimensions
embeddings = OpenAIEmbeddings()  # Default 1536

</python> </fix-dimension-mismatch>

Files

ATTRIBUTION.mdAdded by AutoGineer888 B
LICENSELicence file added by AutoGineer1.0 KiB
SKILL.md15.1 KiB

SKILL.md

<overview> Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) enhances LLM responses by fetching relevant context from external knowledge sources.

Pipeline:

Index: Load → Split → Embed → Store
Retrieve: Query → Embed → Search → Return docs
Generate: Docs + Query → LLM → Response

Key Components:

Document Loaders: Ingest data from files, web, databases
Text Splitters: Break documents into chunks
Embeddings: Convert text to vectors
Vector Stores: Store and search embeddings
</overview>

<vectorstore-selection>

Vector Store	Use Case	Persistence
InMemory	Testing	Memory only
FAISS	Local, high performance	Disk
Chroma	Development	Disk
Pinecone	Production, managed	Cloud

</vectorstore-selection>

Complete RAG Pipeline

<ex-basic-rag-setup> <python> End-to-end RAG pipeline: load documents, split into chunks, embed, store, retrieve, and generate a response.

from langchain_openai import ChatOpenAI, OpenAIEmbeddings
from langchain_community.vectorstores import InMemoryVectorStore
from langchain_text_splitters import RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter
from langchain_core.documents import Document

# 1. Load documents
docs = [
    Document(page_content="LangChain is a framework for LLM apps.", metadata={}),
    Document(page_content="RAG = Retrieval Augmented Generation.", metadata={}),
]

# 2. Split documents
splitter = RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter(chunk_size=500, chunk_overlap=50)
splits = splitter.split_documents(docs)

# 3. Create embeddings and store
embeddings = OpenAIEmbeddings(model="text-embedding-3-small")
vectorstore = InMemoryVectorStore.from_documents(splits, embeddings)

# 4. Create retriever
retriever = vectorstore.as_retriever(search_kwargs={"k": 4})

# 5. Use in RAG
model = ChatOpenAI(model="gpt-4.1")
query = "What is RAG?"
relevant_docs = retriever.invoke(query)

context = "\n\n".join([doc.page_content for doc in relevant_docs])
response = model.invoke([
    {"role": "system", "content": f"Use this context:\n\n{context}"},
    {"role": "user", "content": query},
])

</python> <typescript> End-to-end RAG pipeline: load documents, split into chunks, embed, store, retrieve, and generate a response.

import { ChatOpenAI, OpenAIEmbeddings } from "@langchain/openai";
import { MemoryVectorStore } from "@langchain/classic/vectorstores/memory";
import { RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter } from "@langchain/textsplitters";
import { Document } from "@langchain/core/documents";

// 1. Load documents
const docs = [
  new Document({ pageContent: "LangChain is a framework for LLM apps.", metadata: {} }),
  new Document({ pageContent: "RAG = Retrieval Augmented Generation.", metadata: {} }),
];

// 2. Split documents
const splitter = new RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter({ chunkSize: 500, chunkOverlap: 50 });
const splits = await splitter.splitDocuments(docs);

// 3. Create embeddings and store
const embeddings = new OpenAIEmbeddings({ model: "text-embedding-3-small" });
const vectorstore = await MemoryVectorStore.fromDocuments(splits, embeddings);

// 4. Create retriever
const retriever = vectorstore.asRetriever({ k: 4 });

// 5. Use in RAG
const model = new ChatOpenAI({ model: "gpt-4.1" });
const query = "What is RAG?";
const relevantDocs = await retriever.invoke(query);

const context = relevantDocs.map(doc => doc.pageContent).join("\n\n");
const response = await model.invoke([
  { role: "system", content: `Use this context:\n\n${context}` },
  { role: "user", content: query },
]);

</typescript> </ex-basic-rag-setup>

Document Loaders

<ex-loading-pdf> <python> Load a PDF file and extract each page as a separate document.

from langchain_community.document_loaders import PyPDFLoader

loader = PyPDFLoader("./document.pdf")
docs = loader.load()
print(f"Loaded {len(docs)} pages")

</python> <typescript> Load a PDF file and extract each page as a separate document.

import { PDFLoader } from "@langchain/community/document_loaders/fs/pdf";

const loader = new PDFLoader("./document.pdf");
const docs = await loader.load();
console.log(`Loaded ${docs.length} pages`);

</typescript> </ex-loading-pdf>

<ex-loading-web-pages> <python> Fetch and parse content from a web URL into a document.

from langchain_community.document_loaders import WebBaseLoader

loader = WebBaseLoader("https://docs.langchain.com")
docs = loader.load()

</python> <typescript> Fetch and parse content from a web URL into a document using Cheerio.

import { CheerioWebBaseLoader } from "@langchain/community/document_loaders/web/cheerio";

const loader = new CheerioWebBaseLoader("https://docs.langchain.com");
const docs = await loader.load();

</typescript> </ex-loading-web-pages>

<ex-loading-directory> <python> Load all text files from a directory using a glob pattern.

from langchain_community.document_loaders import DirectoryLoader, TextLoader

# Load all text files from directory
loader = DirectoryLoader(
    "path/to/documents",
    glob="**/*.txt",  # Pattern for files to load
    loader_cls=TextLoader
)
docs = loader.load()

</python> </ex-loading-directory>

Text Splitting

<ex-text-splitting> <python> Split documents into chunks using RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter with configurable size and overlap.

from langchain_text_splitters import RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter

splitter = RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter(
    chunk_size=1000,        # Characters per chunk
    chunk_overlap=200,      # Overlap for context continuity
    separators=["\n\n", "\n", " ", ""],  # Split hierarchy
)

splits = splitter.split_documents(docs)

</python> </ex-text-splitting>

Vector Stores

<ex-chroma-vectorstore> <python> Create a persistent Chroma vector store and reload it from disk.

from langchain_chroma import Chroma
from langchain_openai import OpenAIEmbeddings

vectorstore = Chroma.from_documents(
    documents=splits,
    embedding=OpenAIEmbeddings(),
    persist_directory="./chroma_db",
    collection_name="my-collection",
)

# Load existing
vectorstore = Chroma(
    persist_directory="./chroma_db",
    embedding_function=OpenAIEmbeddings(),
    collection_name="my-collection",
)

</python> <typescript> Create a Chroma vector store connected to a running Chroma server.

import { Chroma } from "@langchain/community/vectorstores/chroma";
import { OpenAIEmbeddings } from "@langchain/openai";

const vectorstore = await Chroma.fromDocuments(
  splits,
  new OpenAIEmbeddings(),
  { collectionName: "my-collection", url: "http://localhost:8000" }
);

</typescript> </ex-chroma-vectorstore>

<ex-faiss-vectorstore> <python> Create a FAISS vector store, save it to disk, and reload it.

from langchain_community.vectorstores import FAISS

vectorstore = FAISS.from_documents(splits, embeddings)
vectorstore.save_local("./faiss_index")

# Only load FAISS indexes that you created and fully control.
# The Python FAISS loader uses pickle-backed metadata, so never load
# downloaded, shared, or otherwise untrusted index directories.
loaded = FAISS.load_local(
    "./faiss_index",
    embeddings,
    allow_dangerous_deserialization=True,
)

</python> <typescript> Create a FAISS vector store, save it to disk, and reload it.

import { FaissStore } from "@langchain/community/vectorstores/faiss";

const vectorstore = await FaissStore.fromDocuments(splits, embeddings);
await vectorstore.save("./faiss_index");

const loaded = await FaissStore.load("./faiss_index", embeddings);

</typescript> </ex-faiss-vectorstore>

Retrieval

<ex-similarity-search> <python> Perform similarity search and retrieve results with relevance scores.

# Basic search
results = vectorstore.similarity_search(query, k=5)

# With scores
results_with_score = vectorstore.similarity_search_with_score(query, k=5)
for doc, score in results_with_score:
    print(f"Score: {score}, Content: {doc.page_content}")

</python> <typescript> Perform similarity search and retrieve results with relevance scores.

// Basic search
const results = await vectorstore.similaritySearch(query, 5);

// With scores
const resultsWithScore = await vectorstore.similaritySearchWithScore(query, 5);
for (const [doc, score] of resultsWithScore) {
  console.log(`Score: ${score}, Content: ${doc.pageContent}`);
}

</typescript> </ex-similarity-search>

<ex-mmr-search> <python> Use MMR (Maximal Marginal Relevance) to balance relevance and diversity in search results.

# MMR balances relevance and diversity
retriever = vectorstore.as_retriever(
    search_type="mmr",
    search_kwargs={"fetch_k": 20, "lambda_mult": 0.5, "k": 5},
)

</python> </ex-mmr-search>

<ex-metadata-filtering> <python> Add metadata to documents and filter search results by metadata properties.

# Add metadata when creating documents
docs = [
    Document(
        page_content="Python programming guide",
        metadata={"language": "python", "topic": "programming"}
    ),
]

# Search with filter
results = vectorstore.similarity_search(
    "programming",
    k=5,
    filter={"language": "python"}  # Only Python docs
)

</python> </ex-metadata-filtering>

<ex-rag-with-agent> <python> Create an agent that uses RAG as a tool for answering questions.

from langchain.agents import create_agent
from langchain.tools import tool

@tool
def search_docs(query: str) -> str:
    """Search documentation for relevant information."""
    docs = retriever.invoke(query)
    return "\n\n".join([d.page_content for d in docs])

agent = create_agent(
    model="gpt-4.1",
    tools=[search_docs],
)

result = agent.invoke({
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "How do I create an agent?"}]
})

</python> <typescript> Create an agent that uses RAG as a tool for answering questions.

import { createAgent } from "langchain";
import { tool } from "@langchain/core/tools";
import { z } from "zod";

const searchDocs = tool(
  async (input) => {
    const docs = await retriever.invoke(input.query);
    return docs.map(d => d.pageContent).join("\n\n");
  },
  {
    name: "search_docs",
    description: "Search documentation for relevant information.",
    schema: z.object({ query: z.string() }),
  }
);

const agent = createAgent({
  model: "gpt-4.1",
  tools: [searchDocs],
});

const result = await agent.invoke({
  messages: [{ role: "user", content: "How do I create an agent?" }],
});

</typescript> </ex-rag-with-agent>

<boundaries> ### What You CAN Configure

Chunk size/overlap
Embedding model
Number of results (k)
Metadata filters
Search algorithms: Similarity, MMR

What You CANNOT Configure

Embedding dimensions (per model)
Mix embeddings from different models in same store
</boundaries>

<fix-chunk-size> <python> Chunk size 500-1500 is typically good.

# WRONG: Too small (loses context) or too large (hits limits)
splitter = RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter(chunk_size=50)
splitter = RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter(chunk_size=10000)

# CORRECT
splitter = RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter(chunk_size=1000, chunk_overlap=200)

</python> <typescript> Chunk size 500-1500 is typically good.

// WRONG: Too small or too large
const splitter = new RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter({ chunkSize: 50 });

// CORRECT
const splitter = new RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter({ chunkSize: 1000, chunkOverlap: 200 });

</typescript> </fix-chunk-size>

<fix-chunk-overlap> <python> Use overlap (10-20% of chunk size) to maintain context at boundaries.

# WRONG: No overlap - context breaks at boundaries
splitter = RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter(chunk_size=1000, chunk_overlap=0)

# CORRECT: 10-20% overlap
splitter = RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter(chunk_size=1000, chunk_overlap=200)

</python> </fix-chunk-overlap>

<fix-persist-vectorstore> <python> Use persistent vector store instead of in-memory to avoid data loss.

# WRONG: InMemory - lost on restart
vectorstore = InMemoryVectorStore.from_documents(docs, embeddings)

# CORRECT
vectorstore = Chroma.from_documents(docs, embeddings, persist_directory="./chroma_db")

</python> <typescript> Use persistent vector store instead of in-memory to avoid data loss.

// WRONG: Memory - lost on restart
const vectorstore = await MemoryVectorStore.fromDocuments(docs, embeddings);

// CORRECT
const vectorstore = await Chroma.fromDocuments(docs, embeddings, { collectionName: "my-collection" });

</typescript> </fix-persist-vectorstore>

<fix-consistent-embeddings> <python> Use the same embedding model for indexing and querying.

# WRONG: Different embeddings for index and query - incompatible!
vectorstore = Chroma.from_documents(docs, OpenAIEmbeddings(model="text-embedding-3-small"))
retriever = vectorstore.as_retriever(embeddings=OpenAIEmbeddings(model="text-embedding-3-large"))

# CORRECT: Same model
embeddings = OpenAIEmbeddings(model="text-embedding-3-small")
vectorstore = Chroma.from_documents(docs, embeddings)
retriever = vectorstore.as_retriever()  # Uses same embeddings

</python> <typescript> Use the same embedding model for indexing and querying.

const embeddings = new OpenAIEmbeddings({ model: "text-embedding-3-small" });
const vectorstore = await Chroma.fromDocuments(docs, embeddings);
const retriever = vectorstore.asRetriever();  // Uses same embeddings

</typescript> </fix-consistent-embeddings>

# WRONG: Loading a downloaded, shared, cloud-hosted, or third-party-controlled
# FAISS index with dangerous deserialization enabled.
loaded_store = FAISS.load_local(
    "./untrusted_faiss_index",
    embeddings,
    allow_dangerous_deserialization=True,
)

# CORRECT: Only opt in when the index directory was created by you and has
# remained under your control.
loaded_store = FAISS.load_local(
    "./faiss_index",
    embeddings,
    allow_dangerous_deserialization=True,
)

<fix-dimension-mismatch> <python> Ensure embedding dimensions match the vector store index dimensions.

# WRONG: Index has 1536 dimensions but using 512-dim embeddings
pc.create_index(name="idx", dimension=1536, metric="cosine")
vectorstore = PineconeVectorStore.from_documents(
    docs, OpenAIEmbeddings(model="text-embedding-3-small", dimensions=512), index=pc.Index("idx")
)  # Error: dimension mismatch!

# CORRECT: Match dimensions
embeddings = OpenAIEmbeddings()  # Default 1536

</python> </fix-dimension-mismatch>

Requirements and compatibility

Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta

“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.

Needs: Needs Python

Security

No issues found by our static scan· No issues found

A static scan is not a guarantee. Skills are third-party content: review a skill before you let an agent use it.

Attribution and licence

Published by

LangChain

Publisher

LangChain (Official)

Source

langchain-ai/langchain-skills · config/skills/langchain-rag · commit 126c384

Licence

MIT License (redistribution allowed)

LICENSE (added by AutoGineer from LICENSE)
ATTRIBUTION.md (written by AutoGineer)

Synced

2026-11-09

AutoGineer is not affiliated with or endorsed by LangChain or LangChain.

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The ZIP holds the skill’s files, its licence files and an ATTRIBUTION.md. Download langchain-rag.zip

From the author

AutoGineer summary

What it does

When to use it

Advantages

Usage examples

Install

Documentation by LangChain

Complete RAG Pipeline

Document Loaders

Text Splitting

Vector Stores

Retrieval

What You CANNOT Configure

Files

SKILL.md

Complete RAG Pipeline

Document Loaders

Text Splitting

Vector Stores

Retrieval

What You CANNOT Configure

Requirements and compatibility

Security

Attribution and licence

Related skills

Claude API

Transformers

Open Notebook

Vision Sft

LLM Evaluation

Lora Qlora Recipes

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