Technique

Chunking

Splitting documents into smaller passages before embedding for retrieval.

Definition

Chunking divides long documents into 200–1000-token passages so each one fits an embedding model's input window and matches user queries' typical scope. Strategies — fixed-size, sentence, recursive, semantic — strongly influence RAG quality.

Common use cases

  • RAG ingestion
  • Search indexing
  • Document QA

Related terms

    Chunking — AI Glossary | Railwail