Validate the client's problem
Potential clients are small manufacturers or service firms with many manual versions. Test whether support staff can find applicable models, troubleshooting and page numbers rather than first selling an all-knowing bot. Dify retrieval references provide background; this service design is ours.
A bounded delivery inventory
Start with one authorized family, organizing models, versions, dates and pages. Deliver file and term indexes, sourced answer examples and unanswered questions. Client-appointed specialists confirm safe operation, repairs and parameter changes; models cannot replace on-site judgment.
Study acquisition and costs
Ask support contacts about retrieval, demonstrating with public manuals without collecting irrelevant internal information. Estimate cleaning, terminology, tests and per-version maintenance separately, with poor scans scoped additionally.
Decide when to stop or expand
Fix missing documents and unclear procedures before automated answers. Expand only after users find correct evidence more quickly. Related: retrieval question sets.