Multi-Step Agent Retrieval

Limited trial — Multi-step agent retrieval is currently available for selected services only. Contact Airgentic before enabling or changing this capability.

Multi-step agent retrieval helps an AI agent answer questions that need more than one search step.

For example, if a user asks:

What events are on during Family History Month?

The agent may first need to find out when Family History Month is, then use that date range to search for relevant events. This is different from a simple search, where the agent searches once and answers from the results.

How It Differs From Default Search

Most questions are answered with the default search-and-answer flow:

1. The user asks a question.
2. The agent searches your indexed content.
3. The agent selects relevant information.
4. The agent answers with citations.

Multi-step retrieval adds a planning layer for complex questions:

1. The user asks a question.
2. The agent identifies whether the answer depends on another fact.
3. The agent creates a retrieval plan.
4. The agent searches for the prerequisite fact.
5. The agent records what it found.
6. The agent searches again using that new information.
7. The agent answers when the evidence is complete.

This is useful when a question contains an implied condition, time period, or dependency that is not directly stated in the question.

When To Use It

Multi-step retrieval is most useful for questions like:

• “What events are on during Family History Month?”
• “Which grants are open during school holidays?”
• “What services are available before Christmas?”
• “What activities are happening for seniors week?”
• “Which documents apply after the new policy starts?”

In these examples, the agent may need to discover a timeframe, policy date, eligibility condition, or related fact before it can search properly.

When Default Search Is Enough

Default search is usually enough for:

• Straightforward FAQs
• Opening hours
• Contact details
• “Where can I find...” questions
• Questions that can be answered from one clearly relevant page

Multi-step retrieval should not be used just because an answer is important. Use it when the agent needs to work something out before searching for the final answer.

What Customers Need To Configure

During the limited trial, Airgentic will usually enable multi-step retrieval for you.

At a high level, the agent needs:

• Agentic retrieval enabled for that agent.
• Multi-step planning enabled for that agent.
• The agent prompt to include the agentic retrieval prompt components.
• The agent to have access to the required retrieval tools.

This is normally configured by Airgentic support or an authorised technical administrator. Most content owners do not need to edit these settings directly.

Important: Force Call First

When multi-step retrieval is enabled, avoid forcing the search function to run first.

In the agent editor, the Force call first option can be useful for simple search agents, because it makes the agent search before answering. However, for multi-step retrieval it can prevent the agent from planning first.

If search is forced first, the agent may skip the planning step and search too broadly. For example, it may search for “Family History Month events” before first finding out when Family History Month is.

For multi-step retrieval, leave search function selection automatic unless Airgentic support advises otherwise.

Example: Family History Month

User question

What events are on during Family History Month?

Good multi-step retrieval flow

1. The agent recognises that “Family History Month” is a named period.
2. The agent creates a plan:
3. Find when Family History Month occurs.
4. Search for events during that period.
5. The agent searches for the dates or month.
6. The agent records the discovered timeframe.
7. The agent searches again using the timeframe.
8. The agent selects final event evidence.
9. The agent answers with citations.

Poor flow

1. The agent immediately searches for “Family History Month events”.
2. It finds events that mention May.
3. It assumes those are the correct events without first confirming the named period.

This may still produce a plausible answer, but it is less reliable because the search was not properly constrained.

Testing In Admin Chat

Use Admin Chat to test multi-step retrieval before making changes live.

Open the Trace Log while testing. For a good multi-step retrieval flow, look for:

Not every question should show all of these events. Simple questions may still use a single search and answer directly.

Test Questions To Try

Use a mix of simple and complex questions.

Simple questions

These should not over-plan:

• “What are your opening hours?”
• “How do I contact council?”
• “Where is the library?”

Multi-step questions

These should usually produce a retrieval plan:

• “What events are on during Family History Month?”
• “What activities are available during school holidays?”
• “Which grants are open now?”
• “What services are available over Christmas?”

Edge cases

These help reveal whether the agent is guessing:

• “What is happening during Seniors Week?”
• “What events are on after the festival starts?”
• “Which programs are available before applications close?”

For named periods, check that the agent establishes the period before searching for final answers.

Troubleshooting

Relationship To Other Features

Curated Answers

Use Curated Answers when you need exact wording or want to pin a specific source for a known question.

Use multi-step retrieval when the agent needs to reason through a small retrieval process before answering.

Specialist Agents

Multi-step retrieval is configured per agent. It can be enabled for the Frontline agent or a specialist agent, depending on where the behaviour is needed.

Site Search

Site Search is the search interface on your website. Multi-step retrieval is part of the AI agent’s answer-generation process. They use the same indexed content but serve different user experiences.

Voice Mode

Multi-step retrieval is currently intended for text chat. Voice mode may use a different retrieval path.

Best Practices

• Enable multi-step retrieval only for agents that need it.
• Keep prompts clear about when the agent should plan before searching.
• Do not force the search function to run first on multi-step agents.
• Test named-period and date-dependent questions in Admin Chat.
• Use the Trace Log to confirm the agent records intermediate facts before answering.
• Keep source content explicit. Pages should clearly state dates, periods, eligibility rules, and event timing.
• Use curated answers for exact responses; use multi-step retrieval for dependent searches.

Limited Trial Notes

During the trial:

• Airgentic may enable this only for selected agents.
• Configuration may not be visible or editable for all administrators.
• Behaviour should be tested in Admin Chat before exposing it to end users.
• Report examples where the agent skips planning, guesses a missing fact, or answers before evidence is complete.

The goal of the trial is to confirm that multi-step retrieval improves answer quality for complex questions without making simple questions slower or more complicated.