How do you handle multi-hop questions in RAG (questions needing several pieces of evidence)?

Single-shot retrieval fails on questions that chain facts ('who directed the highest-grossing film of 2019?'). The signal is decomposing or iterating retrieval instead of retrieving once, and guarding against errors compounding across hops. Here is the answer.

Updated Aug 2026 · Grounded in real Applied AI Engineer interview loops and written to a senior-engineer editorial bar.