Introduction We shipped our first retrieval-augmented application (LLM + vector db + metadata store) in three weeks. It felt glorious — until production traffic hit and everything slowed down. Here’s what we learned the hard way: low-latency, high-recall retrieval at scale is not just about picking a vector DB. It’s an operational system with cost,…

Introduction We shipped our first retrieval-augmented application (LLM + vector db + metadata store) in three weeks. It felt glorious — until production traffic hit and everything slowed down. Here’s what we learned the hard way: low-latency, high-recall retrieval at scale is not just about picking a vector DB. It’s an operational system with cost,…

Introduction We shipped our first retrieval-augmented application (LLM + vector db + metadata store) in three weeks. It felt glorious — until production traffic hit and everything slowed down. Here’s what we learned the hard way: low-latency, high-recall retrieval at scale is not just about picking a vector DB. It’s an operational system with cost,…

Introduction We shipped our first retrieval-augmented application (LLM + vector db + metadata store) in three weeks. It felt glorious — until production traffic hit and everything slowed down. Here’s what we learned the hard way: low-latency, high-recall retrieval at scale is not just about picking a vector DB. It’s an operational system with cost,…