--- title: "Query rewriting for RAG: how to improve retrieval accuracy" url: https://daily.dev/posts/query-rewriting-for-rag-how-to-improve-retrieval-accuracy-zlvb3onbr source_url: https://www.meilisearch.com/blog/query-rewrite-rag type: article source: "Meilisearch" published: 2026-07-09T06:37:54.026Z updated: 2026-07-09T06:38:14.885Z tags: ["llm", "rag", "vector-search", "meilisearch"] reading_time: 14 upvotes: 0 comments: 0 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Query rewriting for RAG: how to improve retrieval accuracy **[Meilisearch](https://daily.dev/sources/meilisearch)** · 14 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Query rewriting in RAG pipelines transforms user queries before retrieval to better match the language of knowledge bases and datasets. The guide covers why retrieval quality determines LLM response accuracy, the full workflow from query normalization through generation, and five core techniques: query expansion, decomposition, paraphrasing, multi-query generation, and step-back prompting. Practical Python code examples show how to normalize queries, call an LLM to rewrite them, retrieve documents via vector search, and generate grounded answers. Evaluation metrics (Recall@k, MRR, NDCG) and comparisons with reranking and query expansion are also covered, along with limitations like semantic drift, added latency, and over-expansion. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Beyond Fine-Tuning: The Power of RAG](https://daily.dev/posts/beyond-fine-tuning-the-power-of-rag-ekwmuv3sm) · Aggregata · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Build an End-to-End RAG Pipeline for LLM Applications](https://daily.dev/posts/build-an-end-to-end-rag-pipeline-for-llm-applications-qvdk8tsyf) · DigitalOcean Community · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [RAG Explained Simply with a Real Project](https://daily.dev/posts/rag-explained-simply-with-a-real-project-pgy15jzg7) · freeCodeCamp · 23 upvotes · 1 comments --- Tags: [#llm](https://daily.dev/tags/llm), [#rag](https://daily.dev/tags/rag), [#vector-search](https://daily.dev/tags/vector-search), [#meilisearch](https://daily.dev/tags/meilisearch) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/query-rewriting-for-rag-how-to-improve-retrieval-accuracy-zlvb3onbr)