How source tracing works

When a file is ingested into a vector database, the system records the exact location of every chunk within the source document, including its position within the heading structure and, for page-based formats, its source page. When an agent retrieves a chunk using file search, this location information travels with the result, giving you a direct path from the agent's response back to the original file.

When to use source tracing

• Auditability – Verify that agent responses came directly from your uploaded documents
• Compliance – Produce document-level proof of origin for regulated environments
• Chain of custody – Follow a response from model output to the exact location in the source file

Relationship to context attribution

Context attribution measures the degree of influence each source had on a response. Source tracing identifies where in the source document a retrieved chunk came from. They are complementary: attribution tells you what shaped the response, source tracing proves exactly where in the document it came from.