All Things Microsoft AI

Retrieval ‑ Augmented Generation (RAG) has become one of the most important design patterns in modern AI because it gives language models direct access to external knowledge. Instead of relying solely on what a model has memorized during training, RAG systems retrieve relevant information from documents, databases, or other sources and feed it into the model at generation time. This idea dramatically improves accuracy, reduces hallucinations, and allows AI systems to stay current without constant retraining.   RAG has evolved into a rich ecosystem of architectural layers, addressing different challenges: Core Retrieval layer focuses on improving how information is found, from basic vector search to more advanced techniques like query expansion and hierarchical retrieval. Structure ‑ Aware layer organizes and interprets data based on relationships, formats, or time, enabling retrieval from graphs, tables, or multimodal sources. Reasoning ‑ Enhanced layer st...

I recently had a .NET solution where I wanted to use the same App.config in 2 different projects.  I wanted to always ensure that changes made in the App.config of the original project would be reflected in other project(s) automatically.  Listed below are the steps I used to facilitate that process. 1.      Right-click your project in Solution Explorer 2.      Select "Add" -> "Existing Item..." 3.      Navigate to the file that you want to add to the solution 4.      [Important]  Instead of hitting Enter or clicking the Add button, you want to click the down-arrow icon at the right edge of the Add button, and select "Add As Link".    

Q: Can we upload documents like pdf as input and configure the agents to retrieve the required content that is expected   A: The short answer is yes, but with some configuration.  Working in the Agent Playground, you have the option to “Add” Knowledge.  This knowledge can be from a variety of different data sources as seen below. As stated below “Currently only a single instance per each type of data source is supported.”  In my scenario, I had a single text file setup when I configured my agent, before being published.   Another option would be to utilize the Azure AI Search to index multiple documents from a data store, where documents can be uploaded after the agent is published.  As of today, there are 6 other options available for accessing documents