Resource retrieval

Project descriptions, meeting notes, and feedback procedures often live in separate documents. After importing them into OpenViking, you can search by meaning, then have an agent read the originals, combine the information, and cite its sources.

This guide uses four fictional Lighthouse project files to walk through importing → searching → reading originals → generating answers → verifying sources. You will check questions answered by a single source, questions requiring multiple sources, and questions the sources leave unanswered.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, prepare the following:

• OpenViking service and CLI: Configure your connection using the quickstart. Your account needs permission to import and read files in the target directory.
• VikingBot: This guide uses ov chat to generate answers. Enable VikingBot and configure its model using the VikingBot guide. The CLI and VikingBot should connect to the same service and have access to the same sources.
• Model configuration: Processing sources, semantic retrieval, and answer generation use your configured models and incur model usage costs.

If you use your own agent, connect it to the service as described in the quickstart, then use the questions and verification criteria below.

Prepare the sources

Download the Lighthouse source pack, open a terminal in the download directory, and extract it:

unzip lighthouse-en-v1.zip

The resulting lighthouse-en/ directory contains these files:

File	Content
project.md	Network conditions, offline installer, and local storage preparation
feedback.md	Feedback export schedule, responsibility, and handoff
meeting.md	Feedback registration template, export rehearsal, and open questions
limits.md	The scope of the sources and information they do not provide

Import the sources

Import the directory into a dedicated demo path. The --wait option waits for processing to finish before you search. For a repeat run, replace onboarding-en-v1 with a new directory name and update the URIs in subsequent commands.

ov add-resource ./lighthouse-en --to viking://resources/onboarding-en-v1 --wait

After processing succeeds, inspect the imported files:

ov tree viking://resources/onboarding-en-v1

Each Markdown file in this sample is processed into a directory with the same base name. Check that the following files are present before searching:

viking://resources/onboarding-en-v1/
├── project/project.md
├── feedback/feedback.md
├── meeting/meeting.md
└── limits/limits.md

If waiting times out, use the returned task ID with ov task status <task_id> to check progress. Continue when the task completes. If it fails, use the error message to check model or connection settings. See Task management for task status details.

Search the sources

Start with a question that requires both the project description and meeting notes. Limit the search to the directory you imported:

ov find "How does Lighthouse collect feedback, and what must be ready before the pilot?" --uri viking://resources/onboarding-en-v1

The results list matching content and its URIs. Check whether the matches cover feedback collection and pilot preparation, then read the relevant originals. ov find locates relevant sources; reading them lets you check the supporting details.

Read the originals

Open the source files using their URIs from the search results. For this sample, the relevant files include the project description, meeting notes, and feedback procedure:

ov read viking://resources/onboarding-en-v1/project/project.md
ov read viking://resources/onboarding-en-v1/meeting/meeting.md
ov read viking://resources/onboarding-en-v1/feedback/feedback.md

Notice that the project description specifies the installer and local directory, while the meeting notes specify the registration template and export rehearsal. A complete answer about pilot preparation needs both sources.

Generate answers

Have VikingBot search, read, and answer in a new conversation. The following prompt asks three questions and requests citations and explicit handling of unknown information. When repeating the walkthrough, use a new session name.

ov chat --session lighthouse-resources-v1 -m "Use only viking://resources/onboarding-en-v1. Run semantic searches, read relevant originals, then answer: Who exports feedback and when? What must be ready before the pilot? When does the pilot end and what is its budget? Cite full source URIs for each conclusion and mark unspecified information as undecided."

The answer should cover the feedback export arrangements, pilot preparation, and open questions, with full viking:// source URIs supporting its conclusions.

Verify the sources

Open the cited files with ov read and compare the answer with the table below. Wording can vary; facts and citations should match the originals.

Question type	Question	Expected facts	Sources
Single source	Who exports feedback and when?	The pilot administrator exports it every Friday and passes it to the project owner	feedback/feedback.md
Multiple sources	What must be ready before the pilot?	Offline installer, local storage directory, registration template, and one offline export rehearsal	project/project.md, meeting/meeting.md
Unanswered	When does the pilot end, and what is its budget?	Both are undecided	meeting/meeting.md

Use tool output from ov chat or Bot logs to check that the agent searched the relevant sources, read the files, and used their content in its answer. For the multi-source question, check for requirements omitted from either file. For undecided matters, check that the answer preserves the uncertainty in the source.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	What to check
Files are missing from the imported directory	Confirm the extracted directory contains all four files, then inspect the import result and task errors
Search returns no relevant matches	Confirm processing is complete and the search URI matches the import directory, then try a more specific question
The CLI can read sources but the agent cannot	Check the service connection, accounts, and directory access permissions for both
Search finds relevant content but the answer omits it	Inspect the files the agent actually read, then ask it to read the missing source and complete the answer
The answer gives a specific end date or budget	Compare with the meeting notes and ask the agent to mark unsupported conclusions as undecided

Try your own sources

Choose a set of project documents you know well. Prepare single-source, multi-source, and unanswered questions, then repeat the search and verification steps. Use the record sheet in Evaluation to compare retrieval, source reading, and answer quality. See Resource management for supported formats, import options, and incremental updates.

You can keep the demo directory for Context compilation and Import and export. To clean up later, confirm the directory URI in Studio and delete that demo directory.