Agent skill
hyde-retrieval
HyDE (Hypothetical Document Embeddings) for improved semantic retrieval. Use when queries don't match document vocabulary, retrieval quality is poor, or implementing advanced RAG patterns.
Install this agent skill to your Project
npx add-skill https://github.com/majiayu000/claude-skill-registry/tree/main/skills/other/hyde-retrieval
SKILL.md
HyDE (Hypothetical Document Embeddings)
Generate hypothetical answer documents to bridge vocabulary gaps in semantic search.
The Problem
Direct query embedding often fails due to vocabulary mismatch:
Query: "scaling async data pipelines"
Docs use: "event-driven messaging", "Apache Kafka", "message brokers"
→ Low similarity scores despite high relevance
The Solution
Instead of embedding the query, generate a hypothetical answer document:
Query: "scaling async data pipelines"
→ LLM generates: "To scale asynchronous data pipelines, use event-driven
messaging with Apache Kafka. Message brokers provide backpressure..."
→ Embed the hypothetical document
→ Now matches docs using similar terminology
Implementation
from openai import AsyncOpenAI
from pydantic import BaseModel, Field
class HyDEResult(BaseModel):
"""Result of HyDE generation."""
original_query: str
hypothetical_doc: str
embedding: list[float]
async def generate_hyde(
query: str,
llm: AsyncOpenAI,
embed_fn: callable,
max_tokens: int = 150,
) -> HyDEResult:
"""Generate hypothetical document and embed it."""
# Generate hypothetical answer
response = await llm.chat.completions.create(
model="gpt-4o-mini", # Fast, cheap model
messages=[
{"role": "system", "content":
"Write a short paragraph that would answer this query. "
"Use technical terminology that documentation would use."},
{"role": "user", "content": query}
],
max_tokens=max_tokens,
temperature=0.3, # Low temp for consistency
)
hypothetical_doc = response.choices[0].message.content
# Embed the hypothetical document (not the query!)
embedding = await embed_fn(hypothetical_doc)
return HyDEResult(
original_query=query,
hypothetical_doc=hypothetical_doc,
embedding=embedding,
)
With Caching
from functools import lru_cache
import hashlib
class HyDEService:
def __init__(self, llm, embed_fn):
self.llm = llm
self.embed_fn = embed_fn
self._cache: dict[str, HyDEResult] = {}
def _cache_key(self, query: str) -> str:
return hashlib.md5(query.lower().strip().encode()).hexdigest()
async def generate(self, query: str) -> HyDEResult:
key = self._cache_key(query)
if key in self._cache:
return self._cache[key]
result = await generate_hyde(query, self.llm, self.embed_fn)
self._cache[key] = result
return result
Per-Concept HyDE (Advanced)
For multi-concept queries, generate HyDE for each concept:
async def batch_hyde(
concepts: list[str],
hyde_service: HyDEService,
) -> list[HyDEResult]:
"""Generate HyDE embeddings for multiple concepts in parallel."""
import asyncio
tasks = [hyde_service.generate(concept) for concept in concepts]
return await asyncio.gather(*tasks)
Overview
| Scenario | Use HyDE? |
|---|---|
| Abstract/conceptual queries | Yes |
| Exact term searches | No (use keyword) |
| Code snippet searches | No |
| Natural language questions | Yes |
| Vocabulary mismatch suspected | Yes |
Fallback Strategy
async def hyde_with_fallback(
query: str,
hyde_service: HyDEService,
embed_fn: callable,
timeout: float = 3.0,
) -> list[float]:
"""HyDE with fallback to direct embedding on timeout."""
import asyncio
try:
async with asyncio.timeout(timeout):
result = await hyde_service.generate(query)
return result.embedding
except TimeoutError:
# Fallback to direct query embedding
return await embed_fn(query)
Performance Tips
- Use fast model (gpt-4o-mini, claude-3-haiku) for generation
- Cache aggressively (queries often repeat)
- Set tight timeouts (2-3s) with fallback
- Keep hypothetical docs concise (100-200 tokens)
- Combine with query decomposition for best results
Related Skills
rag-retrieval- Core RAG patterns that HyDE enhances for better retrievalembeddings- Embedding models used to embed hypothetical documentsquery-decomposition- Complementary technique for multi-concept queriessemantic-caching- Cache HyDE results to avoid repeated LLM calls
Key Decisions
| Decision | Choice | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Generation model | gpt-4o-mini / claude-3-haiku | Fast and cheap for hypothetical doc generation |
| Temperature | 0.3 | Low temperature for consistent, factual hypothetical docs |
| Max tokens | 100-200 | Concise docs match embedding sweet spot |
| Timeout with fallback | 2-3 seconds | Graceful degradation to direct query embedding |
References
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