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hybrid-search-implementation Combine vector and keyword search for improved retrieval. Use when implementing RAG systems, building search engines, or when neither approach alone provides sufficient recall.
npx skills add wshobson/agents --skill hybrid-search-implementation agents claude claude-code subagents anthropic automation
Hybrid Search Implementation
Patterns for combining vector similarity and keyword-based search.
When to Use This Skill
Building RAG systems with improved recall
Combining semantic understanding with exact matching
Handling queries with specific terms (names, codes)
Improving search for domain-specific vocabulary
When pure vector search misses keyword matches
Core Concepts
1. Hybrid Search Architecture
Query → ┬─► Vector Search ──► Candidates ─┐
│ │
└─► Keyword Search ─► Candidates ─┴─► Fusion ─► Results
2. Fusion Methods
Method Description Best For RRF Reciprocal Rank Fusion General purpose Linear Weighted sum of scores Tunable balance Cross-encoder Rerank with neural model Highest quality
Cascade
Templates and detailed worked examples Full template library and detailed worked examples live in references/details.md. Read that file when you need the concrete templates.
Best Practices
Do's
Tune weights empirically - Test on your data
Use RRF for simplicity - Works well without tuning
Add reranking - Significant quality improvement
Log both scores - Helps with debugging
A/B test - Measure real user impact
Don'ts
Don't assume one size fits all - Different queries need different weights
Don't skip keyword search - Handles exact matches better
Don't over-fetch - Balance recall vs latency
Don't ignore edge cases - Empty results, single word queries
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Create or update AgentSkills. Use when designing, structuring, or packaging skills with scripts, references, and assets.
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Create or update AgentSkills. Use when designing, structuring, or packaging skills with scripts, references, and assets.
Create or update AgentSkills. Use when designing, structuring, or packaging skills with scripts, references, and assets.
Set up and use 1Password CLI (op). Use when installing the CLI, enabling desktop app integration, signing in (single or multi-account), or reading/injecting/running secrets via op.
CLI to manage emails via IMAP/SMTP. Use `himalaya` to list, read, write, reply, forward, search, and organize emails from the terminal. Supports multiple accounts and message composition with MML (MIME Meta Language).