Definition
An augmented prompt is the final input payload sent to a Large Language Model (LLM) that fuses the user's original query with external, retrieved context to ensure the model's response is grounded in factual, domain-specific data. The primary architectural trade-off involves balancing context density for accuracy against increased inference latency and potential 'lost-in-the-middle' performance degradation as the prompt nears the context window limit.
It is the specific output of the 'Augmentation' phase in RAG, distinct from static prompt engineering or system messages.
"An open-book exam where the student is handed the specific textbook page relevant to the question just before they answer."
- Retrieval(Prerequisite)
- Context Window(Constraint)
- Grounding(Outcome)
- Few-Shot Prompting(Component)
Conceptual Overview
An augmented prompt is the final input payload sent to a Large Language Model (LLM) that fuses the user's original query with external, retrieved context to ensure the model's response is grounded in factual, domain-specific data. The primary architectural trade-off involves balancing context density for accuracy against increased inference latency and potential 'lost-in-the-middle' performance degradation as the prompt nears the context window limit.
Disambiguation
It is the specific output of the 'Augmentation' phase in RAG, distinct from static prompt engineering or system messages.
Visual Analog
An open-book exam where the student is handed the specific textbook page relevant to the question just before they answer.