Refusal and caveat wording guide¶
Used by PB-RAG-06-02. The wording keys in no-answer-policy.yaml point to the IDs below.
The product owner approves the final text. Compliance approves R3 and E1.
Rules for every message¶
- Say what the assistant could not do. Do not blame the user.
- Say "I could not find", never "this does not exist". The user may lack access to it.
- Never reveal that a restricted document exists, or name it.
- Never show internal scores, thresholds or model names.
- Offer one next step: rephrase, narrow the question, or contact a person.
- Keep it to two short sentences. Use the product's tone of voice.
- Translate every message for each supported language. Do not let the model write refusals freely.
Messages¶
| ID | Used for | Default text |
|---|---|---|
| R1 | No relevant sources found | I could not find this in the documents you can access. Try different words, or ask about a specific document or topic. |
| R2 | Sources found, but they do not answer the question | The documents I found do not answer this question. Try asking it a different way, or contact ${SUPPORT_CONTACT}. |
| R3 | Answer failed the groundedness check | I cannot answer this reliably from the available documents. Please check the source documents or contact ${SUPPORT_CONTACT}. |
| C1 | Low-confidence answer, shown above the answer | This answer is based on limited sources. Please check the cited documents before you act on it. |
| F1 | Question is ambiguous | Your question could mean more than one thing. Do you mean ${OPTION_A} or ${OPTION_B}? |
| E1 | Restricted topic | I cannot help with this here. I have passed your question to ${ESCALATION_TEAM}, who will reply. |
Out of scope questions¶
Use R1 with a short scope line in front, for example: "I can answer questions about ${ASSISTANT_SCOPE}."
Review checklist¶
- Each message follows rules 1 to 7.
- The product owner signed off the text.
- Compliance signed off R3 and E1.
- Translations are reviewed by a native speaker.