[DSB:THEORY.SEMANTIC_BINDING] [DSI:NAME=SEMANTIC_RETRIEVAL_PIPELINE;ROLE=LEARNING;AUTHOR=SIMON_MACFARLANE;VERSION=1_0;DATE=DEC2025] [DSM:SYSTEM=SEMANTIC_BINDING;AUDIENCE=PUBLIC,PROFESSIONAL,AUTHORING_SYSTEMS]
Page 7.1 — The Semantic Retrieval Pipeline
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7.1.1 — Purpose & Positioning
This section defines the Semantic Retrieval Pipeline used by Semantic Binding–aware systems when operating in GROUNDED mode.
In GROUNDED mode:
- retrieval is restricted to semantically bound content
- selection is governed by declared anchors, not similarity alone
- the system may only return content that is eligible under Semantic Binding contracts
This pipeline defines retrieval behaviour, not tooling, embeddings, ranking algorithms, or code.
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7.1.2 — Why GROUNDED Retrieval Is Required
A semantically bound system cannot behave like a conventional “best match” retriever.
If retrieval is allowed to operate without semantic contracts:
- similarity can outrank authority
- content with the wrong intent can be returned
- abstraction levels can be mixed accidentally
- sections can be returned that “mention the word” but do not define the concept
These are not ranking errors.
They are contract violations.
GROUNDED retrieval exists to ensure:
- eligibility is enforced before relevance
- the system never invents scope
- and the system never returns unbound content as if it were authoritative
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7.1.3 — The GROUNDED Retrieval Stages
GROUNDED retrieval is a staged pipeline.
Each stage adds constraints.
No stage is allowed to “guess meaning” beyond what anchors permit.
The pipeline is:
- Document Territory Resolution (DSB)
- Question Intent Resolution
- Subject Resolution
- Abstraction Resolution
- Eligibility Policy Construction
- Semantic Retrieval + Binding Filters
- Section Capping + Output Composition
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7.1.4 — Stage 1: Document Territory Resolution (DSB)
The system first resolves DSB (DOMAIN + OBJECT) to determine the semantic territory.
This may be:
- declared (document-locked contexts), or
- inferred from the question (scoped routing)
In GROUNDED mode, DSB is not advisory.
It is a hard boundary.
No content outside the resolved DSB is eligible.
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7.1.5 — Stage 2: Question Intent Resolution
The system resolves user intent (for example: DEFINITION, MODEL, RATIONALE, SUMMARY).
Intent is used to:
- determine which SSM.INTENT values are eligible
- construct an allowed intent set (primary + supporting intents)
- prevent “answer type drift” (e.g., examples returned for definition queries)
Intent resolution does not retrieve content.
It defines which content is allowed to participate.
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7.1.6 — Stage 3: Subject Resolution
The system resolves subject terms from the question and converts them into a retrieval constraint.
Subject resolution may be:
- lexical (token-derived), or
- semantic (normalised to a canonical subject)
In GROUNDED mode, subject is enforced as a binding filter (for example: HARD_FILTER).
This prevents retrieval from returning “nearby content” that is still inside the DSB but not about the requested subject.
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7.1.7 — Stage 4: Abstraction Resolution
The system resolves permitted abstraction levels (HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW) based on:
- the inferred question intent, and
- the system’s abstraction policy for that intent
Abstraction becomes an eligibility constraint:
- content outside the allowed abstraction set is ineligible
- content with the wrong abstraction cannot be “summarised into compliance”
In GROUNDED mode, abstraction is enforced, not negotiated.
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7.1.8 — Stage 5: Eligibility Policy Construction
The system constructs an explicit eligibility policy before retrieval.
A typical policy includes:
- resolved DSB (DOMAIN, OBJECT)
- allowed SSM.INTENT set (primary + supporting)
- allowed SSM.ABSTRACTION set
- whether document lock is required
- maximum number of eligible sections to return
- subject handling mode (e.g., HARD_FILTER)
This policy determines what retrieval is permitted to return.
Vectors may rank relevance.
The policy decides eligibility.
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7.1.9 — Stage 6: GROUNDED Retrieval + Binding Filters
Only content that is semantically bound is eligible to be returned in GROUNDED mode.
Retrieval is executed with binding constraints such as:
- DSB alignment
- SSB coordinate compatibility
- SSM intent compatibility
- SSM abstraction compatibility
- subject filters (where applicable)
- DSM applicability constraints (audience/system)
If a candidate match violates any binding rule, it is excluded even if similarity is high.
This is the defining property of GROUNDED retrieval:
Semantic Binding anchors are the gate.
Similarity is only a scorer within the gate.
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7.1.10 — Stage 7: Output Capping and Composition
GROUNDED mode does not permit unlimited synthesis.
Systems typically:
- cap returned sections (policy-controlled)
- prefer authoritative sections (PRIMARY via SSI.AUTHORITY)
- allow supporting intents only as policy permits
- compose answers by rendering eligible sections without inventing missing structure
If the system cannot find eligible bound content:
- it must not “fill the gap” with unbound text
- it must respond that it cannot answer from authoritative content
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7.1.11 — Summary — The GROUNDED Semantic Retrieval Pipeline
In GROUNDED mode, retrieval is governed by Semantic Binding contracts.
The pipeline:
- resolves DSB to establish territory
- resolves intent, subject, and abstraction to establish eligibility
- retrieves only semantically bound content
- applies binding constraints as hard filters
- composes answers within declared policy limits
GROUNDED retrieval is not “open exploration with better ranking”.
It is:
eligibility-first retrieval where anchors decide what may be returned.
[SSB:THEORY.SEMANTIC_BINDING.RETRIEVAL.PIPELINE.STATUS.DECLARATION.7-1-12] [SSI:TITLE=STATUS;AUTHORITY=SECONDARY;REF=7-1-12] [SSM:SECTION=STATUS;INTENT=STATUS;ABSTRACTION=LOW]
Status
The GROUNDED Semantic Retrieval Pipeline defined in this section is active, mandatory, and authoritative.
Any system claiming Semantic Binding compliance must enforce eligibility via semantic anchors before returning or composing content.