What is RAFT (Retrieval-Augmented Fine-Tuning), and how does it combine RAG and fine-tuning?

RAG and fine-tuning get framed as either/or. RAFT trains the model to be good at RAG itself. The tell is what goes in the training set: relevant docs mixed with distractors. Here is the answer.

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

RAG and fine-tuning get framed as either/or. RAFT trains the model to be good at RAG itself. The tell is what goes in the training set: relevant docs mixed with distractors. Here is the answer.

Unlock the other 750 answers · ₹2,000 / $25Your progress and mastery stay saved · 6 months · one payment · no auto-renew

UP NEXT ON YOUR JOURNEY

Next in this trackWhat is automated prompt optimization (e.g. DSPy), and why move beyond hand-tuning prompts?Next in this trackHow do you evaluate long-context models (needle-in-a-haystack and beyond)?Next in this trackHow do you distill a large LLM into a smaller one, and what are the approaches?

DISCUSSION · 0

No comments yet — be the first to share your approach.