RAG Module

RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) enhances the ability of Large Language Models (LLMs) to generate responses by referencing external authoritative knowledge bases. This method allows the LLM to access domain-specific knowledge without retraining, improving the relevance, precision, and practicality of the output.

This article focuses on the RAG functions provided by the current MetaGPT:

Data input, supports various file formats (including pdf/docx/md/csv/txt/ppt), Python objects.
Retrieval, supports Faiss/BM25/ChromaDB/ES, and mixed retrieval.
Post-retrieval, supports LLM Rerank/ColbertRerank, reordering the retrieved content to get more accurate data.
Data update, addition of text and Python objects.
Data storage and recovery, vectorization is not required each time.

For more examples, please see rag_pipeline and rag_search

Prepare

Installation

shell

# from pypi
pip install metagpt[rag]

# from pypi
pip install metagpt[rag]

shell

# from source code
pip install -e .[rag]

# from source code
pip install -e .[rag]

Note：
Some modules are quite large and use lazy loading, requiring manual installation. For example, to use ColbertRerank, you need to install llama-index-postprocessor-colbert-rerank.

Set embedding

yaml

# openai
embedding:
  api_type: "openai"
  base_url: "YOU_BASE_URL"
  api_key: "YOU_API_KEY"

# azure
embedding:
  api_type: "azure"
  base_url: "YOU_BASE_URL"
  api_key: "YOU_API_KEY"
  api_version: "YOU_API_VERSION"

# gemini
embedding:
  api_type: "gemini"
  api_key: "YOU_API_KEY"

# ollama
embedding:
  api_type: "ollama"
  base_url: "YOU_BASE_URL"
  model: "YOU_MODEL"

# openai
embedding:
  api_type: "openai"
  base_url: "YOU_BASE_URL"
  api_key: "YOU_API_KEY"

# azure
embedding:
  api_type: "azure"
  base_url: "YOU_BASE_URL"
  api_key: "YOU_API_KEY"
  api_version: "YOU_API_VERSION"

# gemini
embedding:
  api_type: "gemini"
  api_key: "YOU_API_KEY"

# ollama
embedding:
  api_type: "ollama"
  base_url: "YOU_BASE_URL"
  model: "YOU_MODEL"

Note：
For backward compatibility, if the embedding is not set and the llm's api_type is either openai or azure, the llm's config will be used.
If llm is ollama, there might be an error message "context size was not non-negative". In this case, you need to set the max_token in llm, for example, 2048.

1. Data input

Example 1.1: files or directory

python

import asyncio

from metagpt.rag.engines import SimpleEngine
from metagpt.const import EXAMPLE_DATA_PATH

DOC_PATH = EXAMPLE_DATA_PATH / "rag/travel.txt"

async def main():
    engine = SimpleEngine.from_docs(input_files=[DOC_PATH])
    answer = await engine.aquery("What does Bob like?")
    print(answer)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

import asyncio

from metagpt.rag.engines import SimpleEngine
from metagpt.const import EXAMPLE_DATA_PATH

DOC_PATH = EXAMPLE_DATA_PATH / "rag/travel.txt"

async def main():
    engine = SimpleEngine.from_docs(input_files=[DOC_PATH])
    answer = await engine.aquery("What does Bob like?")
    print(answer)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

In this example, we use the simplest configuration, input a file, receive a question, and print out the search results.

Example 1.2: Python objects

python

import asyncio

from pydantic import BaseModel

from metagpt.rag.engines import SimpleEngine


class Player(BaseModel):
    name: str
    goal: str

    def rag_key(self):
        return f"{self.name}'s goal is {self.goal}."


async def main():
    objs = [Player(name="Jeff", goal="Top One"), Player(name="Mike", goal="Top Three")]
    engine = SimpleEngine.from_objs(objs=objs)
    answer = await engine.aquery("What is Jeff's goal?")
    print(answer)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

import asyncio

from pydantic import BaseModel

from metagpt.rag.engines import SimpleEngine


class Player(BaseModel):
    name: str
    goal: str

    def rag_key(self):
        return f"{self.name}'s goal is {self.goal}."


async def main():
    objs = [Player(name="Jeff", goal="Top One"), Player(name="Mike", goal="Top Three")]
    engine = SimpleEngine.from_objs(objs=objs)
    answer = await engine.aquery("What is Jeff's goal?")
    print(answer)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

In this example, with the simplest configuration, we define the Player object, wherein the most important is that the custom object must meet the interface (for details, refer to RAGObject).

2. Retrieval

Example 2.1: faiss

python

import asyncio

from metagpt.rag.engines import SimpleEngine
from metagpt.rag.schema import FAISSRetrieverConfig
from metagpt.const import EXAMPLE_DATA_PATH

DOC_PATH = EXAMPLE_DATA_PATH / "rag/travel.txt"


async def main():
    engine = SimpleEngine.from_docs(input_files=[DOC_PATH], retriever_configs=[FAISSRetrieverConfig()])
    answer = await engine.aquery("What does Bob like?")
    print(answer)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

import asyncio

from metagpt.rag.engines import SimpleEngine
from metagpt.rag.schema import FAISSRetrieverConfig
from metagpt.const import EXAMPLE_DATA_PATH

DOC_PATH = EXAMPLE_DATA_PATH / "rag/travel.txt"


async def main():
    engine = SimpleEngine.from_docs(input_files=[DOC_PATH], retriever_configs=[FAISSRetrieverConfig()])
    answer = await engine.aquery("What does Bob like?")
    print(answer)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

In this example, we use faiss for retrieval, where more parameters can be viewed in FAISSRetrieverConfig.

Example 2.2: faiss and bm25 hybrid retrieval

python

import asyncio

from metagpt.rag.engines import SimpleEngine
from metagpt.rag.schema import FAISSRetrieverConfig, BM25RetrieverConfig
from metagpt.const import EXAMPLE_DATA_PATH

DOC_PATH = EXAMPLE_DATA_PATH / "rag/travel.txt"


async def main():
    engine = SimpleEngine.from_docs(input_files=[DOC_PATH], retriever_configs=[FAISSRetrieverConfig(), BM25RetrieverConfig()])
    answer = await engine.aquery("What does Bob like?")
    print(answer)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

import asyncio

from metagpt.rag.engines import SimpleEngine
from metagpt.rag.schema import FAISSRetrieverConfig, BM25RetrieverConfig
from metagpt.const import EXAMPLE_DATA_PATH

DOC_PATH = EXAMPLE_DATA_PATH / "rag/travel.txt"


async def main():
    engine = SimpleEngine.from_docs(input_files=[DOC_PATH], retriever_configs=[FAISSRetrieverConfig(), BM25RetrieverConfig()])
    answer = await engine.aquery("What does Bob like?")
    print(answer)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

In this example, we use faiss and bm25 for mixed retrieval, combining the results from both retrievals after deduplication.

3. Post-retrieval

Example 3.1: LLM re-ranking

python

import asyncio

from metagpt.rag.engines import SimpleEngine
from metagpt.rag.schema import FAISSRetrieverConfig, LLMRankerConfig
from metagpt.const import EXAMPLE_DATA_PATH

DOC_PATH = EXAMPLE_DATA_PATH / "rag/travel.txt"


async def main():
    engine = SimpleEngine.from_docs(input_files=[DOC_PATH], retriever_configs=[FAISSRetrieverConfig()], ranker_configs=[LLMRankerConfig()])
    answer = await engine.aquery("What does Bob like?")
    print(answer)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

import asyncio

from metagpt.rag.engines import SimpleEngine
from metagpt.rag.schema import FAISSRetrieverConfig, LLMRankerConfig
from metagpt.const import EXAMPLE_DATA_PATH

DOC_PATH = EXAMPLE_DATA_PATH / "rag/travel.txt"


async def main():
    engine = SimpleEngine.from_docs(input_files=[DOC_PATH], retriever_configs=[FAISSRetrieverConfig()], ranker_configs=[LLMRankerConfig()])
    answer = await engine.aquery("What does Bob like?")
    print(answer)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

In this example, we first use faiss for retrieval, then apply LLMRanker to re-rank the retrieved results, and obtain the final search outcome.

4. Data update

Example 4.1: Adding text and Python objects

python

import asyncio

from pydantic import BaseModel
from metagpt.rag.engines import SimpleEngine
from metagpt.rag.schema import FAISSRetrieverConfig
from metagpt.const import EXAMPLE_DATA_PATH

DOC_PATH = EXAMPLE_DATA_PATH / "rag/travel.txt"


class Player(BaseModel):
    name: str
    goal: str

    def rag_key(self):
        return f"{self.name}'s goal is {self.goal}"


async def main():
    engine = SimpleEngine.from_objs(retriever_configs=[FAISSRetrieverConfig()])

    engine.add_docs([DOC_PATH])
    answer = await engine.aquery("What does Bob like?")
    print(answer)

    engine.add_objs([Player(name="Jeff", goal="Top One")])
    answer = await engine.aquery("What is Jeff's goal?")
    print(answer)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

import asyncio

from pydantic import BaseModel
from metagpt.rag.engines import SimpleEngine
from metagpt.rag.schema import FAISSRetrieverConfig
from metagpt.const import EXAMPLE_DATA_PATH

DOC_PATH = EXAMPLE_DATA_PATH / "rag/travel.txt"


class Player(BaseModel):
    name: str
    goal: str

    def rag_key(self):
        return f"{self.name}'s goal is {self.goal}"


async def main():
    engine = SimpleEngine.from_objs(retriever_configs=[FAISSRetrieverConfig()])

    engine.add_docs([DOC_PATH])
    answer = await engine.aquery("What does Bob like?")
    print(answer)

    engine.add_objs([Player(name="Jeff", goal="Top One")])
    answer = await engine.aquery("What is Jeff's goal?")
    print(answer)


if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

In this example, after creating an engine, we can add documents or objects. Most importantly, if a custom retriever is needed, one must implement the interface ModifiableRAGRetriever.

5. Data storage and recovery

Example 5.1

python

import asyncio

from metagpt.rag.engines import SimpleEngine
from metagpt.rag.schema import FAISSRetrieverConfig, FAISSIndexConfig
from metagpt.const import EXAMPLE_DATA_PATH

DOC_PATH = EXAMPLE_DATA_PATH / "rag/travel.txt"


async def main():
    persist_dir = "./tmp_storage"
    retriever_configs = [FAISSRetrieverConfig()]

    # 1. save index
    SimpleEngine.from_docs(input_files=[DOC_PATH], retriever_configs=retriever_configs).persist(persist_dir)

    # 2. load index
    engine = SimpleEngine.from_index(index_config=FAISSIndexConfig(persist_path=persist_dir), retriever_configs=retriever_configs)

    # 3. query
    answer = await engine.aquery("What does Bob like?")
    print(answer)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

import asyncio

from metagpt.rag.engines import SimpleEngine
from metagpt.rag.schema import FAISSRetrieverConfig, FAISSIndexConfig
from metagpt.const import EXAMPLE_DATA_PATH

DOC_PATH = EXAMPLE_DATA_PATH / "rag/travel.txt"


async def main():
    persist_dir = "./tmp_storage"
    retriever_configs = [FAISSRetrieverConfig()]

    # 1. save index
    SimpleEngine.from_docs(input_files=[DOC_PATH], retriever_configs=retriever_configs).persist(persist_dir)

    # 2. load index
    engine = SimpleEngine.from_index(index_config=FAISSIndexConfig(persist_path=persist_dir), retriever_configs=retriever_configs)

    # 3. query
    answer = await engine.aquery("What does Bob like?")
    print(answer)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

In this example, we first save the vectorized data in persist_dir, then query after restoring from persist_dir.

Configuration

Data Interpreter

Environment

RAG Module

Prepare

1. Data input

Example 1.1: files or directory

Example 1.2: Python objects

2. Retrieval

Example 2.1: faiss

Example 2.2: faiss and bm25 hybrid retrieval

3. Post-retrieval

Example 3.1: LLM re-ranking

4. Data update

Example 4.1: Adding text and Python objects

5. Data storage and recovery

Example 5.1

Data Interpreter

RAG Module ​

Prepare ​

1. Data input ​

Example 1.1: files or directory ​

Example 1.2: Python objects ​

2. Retrieval ​

Example 2.1: faiss ​

Example 2.2: faiss and bm25 hybrid retrieval ​

3. Post-retrieval ​

Example 3.1: LLM re-ranking ​

4. Data update ​

Example 4.1: Adding text and Python objects ​

5. Data storage and recovery ​

Example 5.1 ​

RAG Module

Prepare

1. Data input

Example 1.1: files or directory

Example 1.2: Python objects

2. Retrieval

Example 2.1: faiss

Example 2.2: faiss and bm25 hybrid retrieval

3. Post-retrieval

Example 3.1: LLM re-ranking

4. Data update

Example 4.1: Adding text and Python objects

5. Data storage and recovery

Example 5.1