Adaptive RAG Strategy: Query Classification & Retrieval

n8n AI Data Management Productivity

Contributed by Sabrina Ramonov 🍄. From the community directory at agents.sabrina.dev, republished with permission and full credit.

This n8n workflow implements a version of the Adaptive Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) framework. It recognizes that the best way to retrieve information often depends on the type of question asked. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, this workflow adapts its strategy based on the user's query intent.

How it WorksReceive Query: Takes a user query as input (along with context like a chat session ID and Vector Store collection ID if used as sub-workflow).

Classify Query: First, the workflow classifies the query into a predefined category. This template uses four examples:

- Factual: For specific facts.

- Analytical: For deeper explanations or comparisons.

- Opinion: For subjective viewpoints.

- Contextual: For questions relying on specific background.

Select & Adapt Strategy: Based on the classification, it selects a corresponding strategy to prepare for information retrieval. The example strategies aim to:

- Factual: Refine the query for precision.

- Analytical: Break the query into sub-questions for broad coverage.

- Opinion: Identify different viewpoints to look for.

- Contextual: Incorporate implied or user-specific context.

Retrieve Info: Uses the output of the selected strategy to search the specified knowledge base (Qdrant vector store - change as needed) for relevant documents.

Generate Response: Constructs a response using the retrieved documents, guided by a prompt tailored to the original query type.

By adapting the retrieval strategy, this workflow aims to provide more relevant results tailored to the user's intent.

RequirementsCredentials: You will need API credentials configured in your n8n instance for:

- Google Gemini (AI Models)

- Qdrant (Vector Store)

Tools used: Google Gemini, Qdrant

Download the workflow template (JSON)

Original tutorial

Want this running in your business? KOBA42 builds and operates automations like this one.