Identify the source of truth
An assistant should know which documents and systems contain approved information. Keep document ownership and update routines clear.
Respect access boundaries
Retrieval should match the information a user is authorized to see. Permissions belong in the data and retrieval design, not only in the interface.
Make sources visible
Where possible, connect answers to the supporting material. References help people verify a response and investigate the original context.
Test the difficult questions
Include ambiguous requests, outdated material, missing answers, and conflicting information in evaluation. An assistant needs a useful way to say that the evidence is insufficient.
Plan ongoing operation
Documents and workflows change. Monitor quality, refresh content, review feedback, and account for model and retrieval changes over time.
Worked example: a supported answer and a useful refusal
An illustrative assistant asked about onboarding should retrieve the current approved guide, summarize the relevant steps and show the source. If two guides conflict, it should identify the uncertainty and route the question to the document owner. If the user lacks access to a source, the answer must not reveal its contents. Test each of these states alongside ordinary questions; source links alone do not prove a response is correct.