ModelRefs / Sentence Window Retrieval — AI Glossary
Sentence Window Retrieval — AI Glossary
Indexing individual sentences for precise retrieval but expanding the retrieved window to include surrounding sentences for context.
Overview
Sentence window retrieval embeds individual sentences (high precision), retrieves the top-k matching sentences, then expands each to its surrounding sentence window (e.g., ±2 sentences) before passing to the LLM. Achieves fine-grained retrieval precision while preserving coherent passage context.
Reference details
| Topic | rag |
|---|---|
| Last reviewed | 2026-06-24 |
Related terms
Commonly confused with
The counterpart to parent-document retrieval. Rather than returning an authored unit, it expands a fixed number of sentences either side of the match, so it needs only sentence order and no document structure at all. The trade is that the window can cut across a boundary an author intended, returning half of one idea and half of the next.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Sentence Window Retrieval?
Indexing individual sentences for precise retrieval but expanding the retrieved window to include surrounding sentences for context.
What concepts are related to Sentence Window Retrieval?
Closely related concepts include parent document retrieval, chunk overlap, advanced rag.