LightRAG: Simple and Fast Retrieval-Augmented Generation

This repository hosts the code of LightRAG. The structure of this code is based on nano-graphrag.

Install

• Install from source

cd LightRAG
pip install -e .

• Install from PyPI

pip install lightrag-hku

Quick Start

• Set OpenAI API key in environment: export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-...".
• Download the demo text "A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens"

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gusye1234/nano-graphrag/main/tests/mock_data.txt > ./book.txt

Use the below python snippet:

from lightrag import LightRAG, QueryParam

rag = LightRAG(working_dir="./dickens")

with open("./book.txt") as f:
    rag.insert(f.read())

# Perform naive search
print(rag.query("What are the top themes in this story?", param=QueryParam(mode="naive")))

# Perform local search
print(rag.query("What are the top themes in this story?", param=QueryParam(mode="local")))

# Perform global search
print(rag.query("What are the top themes in this story?", param=QueryParam(mode="global")))

# Perform hybird search
print(rag.query("What are the top themes in this story?", param=QueryParam(mode="hybird")))

Batch Insert

rag.insert(["TEXT1", "TEXT2",...])

Incremental Insert

rag = LightRAG(working_dir="./dickens")

with open("./newText.txt") as f:
    rag.insert(f.read())

Evaluation

Dataset

The dataset used in LightRAG can be download from TommyChien/UltraDomain.

Generate Query

LightRAG uses the following prompt to generate high-level queries, with the corresponding code located in example/generate_query.py.

Given the following description of a dataset:

{description}

Please identify 5 potential users who would engage with this dataset. For each user, list 5 tasks they would perform with this dataset. Then, for each (user, task) combination, generate 5 questions that require a high-level understanding of the entire dataset.

Output the results in the following structure:
- User 1: [user description]
    - Task 1: [task description]
        - Question 1:
        - Question 2:
        - Question 3:
        - Question 4:
        - Question 5:
    - Task 2: [task description]
        ...
    - Task 5: [task description]
- User 2: [user description]
    ...
- User 5: [user description]
    ...

Batch Eval

To evaluate the performance of two RAG systems on high-level queries, LightRAG uses the following prompt, with the specific code available in example/batch_eval.py.

---Role---
You are an expert tasked with evaluating two answers to the same question based on three criteria: **Comprehensiveness**, **Diversity**, and **Empowerment**.
---Goal---
You will evaluate two answers to the same question based on three criteria: **Comprehensiveness**, **Diversity**, and **Empowerment**. 

- **Comprehensiveness**: How much detail does the answer provide to cover all aspects and details of the question?
- **Diversity**: How varied and rich is the answer in providing different perspectives and insights on the question?
- **Empowerment**: How well does the answer help the reader understand and make informed judgments about the topic?

For each criterion, choose the better answer (either Answer 1 or Answer 2) and explain why. Then, select an overall winner based on these three categories.

Here is the question:
{query}

Here are the two answers:

**Answer 1:**
{answer1}

**Answer 2:**
{answer2}

Evaluate both answers using the three criteria listed above and provide detailed explanations for each criterion.

Output your evaluation in the following JSON format:

{{
    "Comprehensiveness": {{
        "Winner": "[Answer 1 or Answer 2]",
        "Explanation": "[Provide explanation here]"
    }},
    "Empowerment": {{
        "Winner": "[Answer 1 or Answer 2]",
        "Explanation": "[Provide explanation here]"
    }},
    "Overall Winner": {{
        "Winner": "[Answer 1 or Answer 2]",
        "Explanation": "[Summarize why this answer is the overall winner based on the three criteria]"
    }}
}}

Overall Performance Table

Overall Performance Table

	Agriculture		CS		Legal		Mix
	NaiveRAG	LightRAG	NaiveRAG	LightRAG	NaiveRAG	LightRAG	NaiveRAG	LightRAG
Comprehensiveness	32.69%	67.31%	35.44%	64.56%	19.05%	80.95%	36.36%	63.64%
Diversity	24.09%	75.91%	35.24%	64.76%	10.98%	89.02%	30.76%	69.24%
Empowerment	31.35%	68.65%	35.48%	64.52%	17.59%	82.41%	40.95%	59.05%
Overall	33.30%	66.70%	34.76%	65.24%	17.46%	82.54%	37.59%	62.40%
	RQ-RAG	LightRAG	RQ-RAG	LightRAG	RQ-RAG	LightRAG	RQ-RAG	LightRAG
Comprehensiveness	32.05%	67.95%	39.30%	60.70%	18.57%	81.43%	38.89%	61.11%
Diversity	29.44%	70.56%	38.71%	61.29%	15.14%	84.86%	28.50%	71.50%
Empowerment	32.51%	67.49%	37.52%	62.48%	17.80%	82.20%	43.96%	56.04%
Overall	33.29%	66.71%	39.03%	60.97%	17.80%	82.20%	39.61%	60.39%
	HyDE	LightRAG	HyDE	LightRAG	HyDE	LightRAG	HyDE	LightRAG
Comprehensiveness	24.39%	75.61%	36.49%	63.51%	27.68%	72.32%	42.17%	57.83%
Diversity	24.96%	75.34%	37.41%	62.59%	18.79%	81.21%	30.88%	69.12%
Empowerment	24.89%	75.11%	34.99%	65.01%	26.99%	73.01%	45.61%	54.39%
Overall	23.17%	76.83%	35.67%	64.33%	27.68%	72.32%	42.72%	57.28%
	GraphRAG	LightRAG	GraphRAG	LightRAG	GraphRAG	LightRAG	GraphRAG	LightRAG
Comprehensiveness	45.56%	54.44%	45.98%	54.02%	47.13%	52.87%	51.86%	48.14%
Diversity	19.65%	80.35%	39.64%	60.36%	25.55%	74.45%	35.87%	64.13%
Empowerment	36.69%	63.31%	45.09%	54.91%	42.81%	57.19%	52.94%	47.06%
Overall	43.62%	56.38%	45.98%	54.02%	45.70%	54.30%	51.86%	48.14%

Code Structure

.
├── examples
│   ├── batch_eval.py
│   ├── generate_query.py
│   ├── insert.py
│   └── query.py
├── lightrag
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── base.py
│   ├── lightrag.py
│   ├── llm.py
│   ├── operate.py
│   ├── prompt.py
│   ├── storage.py
│   └── utils.jpeg
├── LICENSE
├── README.md
├── requirements.txt
└── setup.py

Citation

@article{guo2024lightrag,
title={LightRAG: Simple and Fast Retrieval-Augmented Generation}, 
author={Zirui Guo and Lianghao Xia and Yanhua Yu and Tu Ao and Chao Huang},
year={2024},
eprint={2410.05779},
archivePrefix={arXiv},
primaryClass={cs.IR}
}