Lecture Notes: Implementing RAG with Watson Explose Engine

Introduction to RAG

• RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) is an efficient method for leveraging LLMs (Large Language Models) in a business setting.
• Deploying RAG at scale involves complexities beyond the development environment (e.g., Jupyter notebook).
• Key challenges include standing up vector databases, managing embeddings, creating authenticated APIs, and handling large data volumes and many users.

Three Steps to RAG Implementation

Step 1: Installation

• Objective: Install Watson Explose engine.
• Process:
  • Download the installer and use the command to install.
  • Verify installation by running wxflows --version on MacBook.
  • Additional command: wxflows --help for command overview.

Step 2: Authentication

• Objective: Authenticate with Watson Explose.
• Process:
  • Run wxflows login to start the authentication.
  • Required inputs: environment, domain, and admin key.
  • Use wxflows whoami to verify authentication details (domain, environment, admin key, API key).

Step 3: Data Upload and Deployment

• Objective: Upload data and deploy a RAG flow.
• Process:
  • Run wxflows init --interactive to initiate data chunking.
  • Provide data location (e.g., IBM's annual report in markdown) and chunking parameters.
  • Post chunking, receive three new files.
  • Customize the RAG flow by altering steps in the flow.
    • Options include adding prompt templates, hallucination score steps, distance metrics.
  • Deploy vector store using wxflows collection deploy.
  • Choose and uncomment the desired RAG flow in the toml file.
  • Deploy the flow using wxflows flows deploy.
  • Retrieve an API endpoint for enterprise RAG application.

Outcomes

• Successful deployment includes querying capabilities, receiving completions, groundedness warnings, hallucination metrics, and source documents.

Conclusion

• Implementing RAG with Watson Explose engine simplifies the deployment process while automating complex tasks like tokenization, retrieval, and setting up guardrails.