Chunking
Also: chunks
Cutting a long document into smaller pieces so they can be searched and fed to the model.
The fuller definition
Chunking divides documents into smaller units for indexing or processing, often with overlap or preserved structure.
Delivery may be possible in April.
Subject to inspection.
Delivery may be possible in April. Subject to inspection.
source_id: A01
page: 2
version: original
This fictional example keeps a condition beside the proposition it qualifies. Extraction and chunking should preserve enough context to inspect what the source actually says.
A concrete example
A long contract is divided by clauses while keeping each chunk's document ID and section reference.
The distinction that matters
Bad boundaries can separate a rule from its exception or detach a passage from its heading.
Related terms
RAG — Retrieval-augmented generation
Letting the model look things up in your documents before answering, and show where the answer came from. Like an open-book exam.
Documents & retrievalMetadata
Information about a file rather than its contents, such as its author, date, and page count.
FoundationsContext window
How much text the model can hold in mind at once: your question, the documents you added, and the conversation so far. Anything outside it is invisible to the model.
Where it is taught
How document-grounded AI answers workSource and further reading
Sentence Transformers · Semantic searchThe definition and example are written for this library. The link gives background, official documentation or legal authority as labelled. Legal scope depends on the jurisdiction and current text; product features depend on release and settings.