Designing Our Agentic RAG System: The AI Research Assistant
Understand why a structured design phase is critical for turning a high-level goal into a clear and robust blueprint for implementation.
In our last lesson, we took a crucial step from theory to practice. We saw the fundamental architectural difference between a static RAG pipeline and a flexible agentic RAG system, where the RAG pipeline is “promoted” to a Tool. We built a simple agent with just one tool.
Now, we will take on a more ambitious task. Before we write another line of implementation code, we will first put on the hat of an AI architect. In this lesson, we will design the complete blueprint for our course’s capstone project: a powerful, multi-tool AI research assistant.
The architect’s first rule: Always start with a blueprint
It can be tempting to jump straight into coding, but for a system with multiple interacting parts, such as an agent, this is a recipe for confusion. A design phase is not a delay; it’s an essential step that saves time and ensures a better final product.
The blueprint analogy: You wouldn’t build a house without a blueprint. A design document is our blueprint. It allows us to do the following.
Gain clarity: We are forced to think through the logic of our agent and the flow of information before getting lost in the details of the code. ...