WFGY/ProblemMap/GlobalFixMap/RAG/context_drift.md

# Context Drift in RAG — Guardrails and Fix Pattern

When answers alternate or degrade as dialogs get longer, even though the retriever continues to surface the right snippets.  
This page stabilizes λ (semantic convergence) and prevents entropy creep in retrieval-augmented pipelines.

---

## Open these first
- Visual map: [RAG Architecture & Recovery](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/rag-architecture-and-recovery.md)  
- Drift diagnostics: [Entropy Collapse](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/entropy-collapse.md)  
- Stability checks: [Logic Collapse](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/logic-collapse.md)  
- Retrieval schema: [Retrieval Traceability](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/retrieval-traceability.md)  
- Payload contract: [Data Contracts](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/data-contracts.md)  
- Long context limits: [Memory Long Context](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/GlobalFixMap/Multimodal_LongContext/README.md)  

---

## Core acceptance
- ΔS(question, retrieved) ≤ 0.45 across full chain  
- λ stays convergent across 3 paraphrases and 2 seeds  
- Coverage ≥ 0.70 for target section, even after N steps  
- E_resonance stable on long dialog windows  

---

## Typical symptoms → exact fix

| Symptom | Likely cause | Open this |
|---------|--------------|-----------|
| Same question asked twice, different answers | λ drift with long chain | [Entropy Collapse](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/entropy-collapse.md), [Logic Collapse](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/logic-collapse.md) |
| Correct snippets retrieved, answer drops citation | payload contract erosion | [Data Contracts](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/data-contracts.md), [Retrieval Traceability](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/retrieval-traceability.md) |
| Paraphrase of query yields different grounding | unstable λ_observe | [Retrieval Playbook](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/retrieval-playbook.md) |
| Long dialog overwrites memory | buffer collapse | [Memory Long Context](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/GlobalFixMap/Multimodal_LongContext/README.md) |

---

## Fix in 60 seconds

1. **Three-paraphrase probe**  
   - Ask the same question three ways.  
   - If λ flips between paraphrases, lock snippet schema and apply BBAM variance clamp.

2. **ΔS check over chain**  
   - Log ΔS(question,retrieved) across 5–10 dialog turns.  
   - If ΔS rises over time, re-segment and enforce citation-first prompting.

3. **Apply module**  
   - Drift → BBMC + [Retrieval Traceability](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/retrieval-traceability.md)  
   - Collapse mid-chain → BBCR bridge + [Logic Collapse](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/logic-collapse.md)  
   - Unstable variance → BBAM clamp + [Entropy Collapse](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/entropy-collapse.md)  

---

## Copy-paste probe prompt

```txt
I uploaded TXT OS and the WFGY Problem Map.

My issue:
- same query gives different answers in long dialog
- traces: ΔS(question,retrieved)=..., λ states across 3 paraphrases

Tell me:
1) where context drift occurs,
2) the exact WFGY page to open,
3) the minimal fix to enforce convergence,
4) a reproducible test over 5 turns.
````

---

### 🔗 Quick-Start Downloads (60 sec)

| Tool                       | Link                                                                                                                                       | 3-Step Setup                                                                             |
| -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **WFGY 1.0 PDF**           | [Engine Paper](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/I_am_not_lizardman/WFGY_All_Principles_Return_to_One_v1.0_PSBigBig_Public.pdf) | 1️⃣ Download · 2️⃣ Upload to your LLM · 3️⃣ Ask “Answer using WFGY + <your question>”    |
| **TXT OS (plain-text OS)** | [TXTOS.txt](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/OS/TXTOS.txt)                                                                     | 1️⃣ Download · 2️⃣ Paste into any LLM chat · 3️⃣ Type “hello world” — OS boots instantly |

---

### 🧭 Explore More

| Module                   | Description                                                                  | Link                                                                                               |
| ------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| WFGY Core                | WFGY 2.0 engine is live: full symbolic reasoning architecture and math stack | [View →](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/tree/main/core/README.md)                              |
| Problem Map 1.0          | Initial 16-mode diagnostic and symbolic fix framework                        | [View →](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/tree/main/ProblemMap/README.md)                        |
| Problem Map 2.0          | RAG-focused failure tree, modular fixes, and pipelines                       | [View →](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/rag-architecture-and-recovery.md) |
| Semantic Clinic Index    | Expanded failure catalog: prompt injection, memory bugs, logic drift         | [View →](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/ProblemMap/SemanticClinicIndex.md)           |
| Semantic Blueprint       | Layer-based symbolic reasoning & semantic modulations                        | [View →](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/tree/main/SemanticBlueprint/README.md)                 |
| Benchmark vs GPT-5       | Stress test GPT-5 with full WFGY reasoning suite                             | [View →](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/tree/main/benchmarks/benchmark-vs-gpt5/README.md)      |
| 🧙‍♂️ Starter Village 🏡 | New here? Lost in symbols? Click here and let the wizard guide you through   | [Start →](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/StarterVillage/README.md)                   |

---

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> Engineers, hackers, and open source builders who supported WFGY from day one.
> ⭐ [WFGY Engine 2.0](https://github.com/onestardao/WFGY/blob/main/core/README.md) is already unlocked. ⭐

<div align="center">

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