00.01 Title Page: The RAG Interview

00-START-HERE · 01-READING-ROUTES · 00_02_contents Purpose: Preserve the source title, edition label, named author/institute, described cover layout and contact channels. RAG means Retrieval-Augmented Generation; AI/ML means artificial intelligence and machine learning. Defining these standard terms does not change the quoted title or establish a technical architecture.

TL;DR

• The displayed title is The RAG Interview; RAG expands to Retrieval-Augmented Generation.
• The subtitle names retrieval, ranking, grounding and system design in that order.
• The source metadata names Hao Hoang, AI Interview Prep and First edition, 2026. These are source statements, not independently verified credentials or a current-version guarantee.
• AI/ML in the stated applied focus means artificial intelligence and machine learning.
• The source describes sepia cover artwork, a turquoise band, an institute mark and a tagline. This text inventory is not a newly verified rendering of the original cover.
• Preserve the listed email, website text and platform names; a listed channel is not proof that the address is current or resolves to an intended profile.

The story

Think of the title page as the signboard at the entrance to an interview route. A sepia photograph of tied paper bundles sits above the sign, with a turquoise band separating image from text. The largest sign gives the destination, The RAG Interview. Four route markers narrow the journey to retrieval, ranking, grounding, and system design. A smaller marker describes the terrain as applied AI/ML and retrieval-augmented systems. The guide’s name is Hao Hoang, the institute is AI Interview Prep, and the route map is stamped first edition, 2026. The institute mark adds Ace Your Next Opportunity. The footer supplies four ways to find the guide again. This signboard orients the trip, but it does not explain how any part of the route works.

Decoder table

Core mechanics

This title page contains no technical procedure, algorithm, architecture, or evaluation method. Its mechanics are visual, editorial, and organizational.

1. Cover artwork and divider band

What. The upper page contains a sepia photograph of tied paper bundles. A turquoise horizontal band separates it from the lower text block. Why. These elements establish the cover’s visual composition without making a technical claim. Failure without it. A text-only inventory would omit the most prominent visual source item. Cost and complexity. The source states no technical cost. The artwork has no figure number or caption.

2. Displayed title and subtitle

What. The displayed title is The RAG Interview. The subtitle is Retrieval, Ranking, Grounding, and System Design. Why. The title frames the book for interviews. The subtitle names four coverage areas in source order. Keep the quoted title and subtitle unchanged. Explain standard abbreviations in surrounding prose; expanding RAG as Retrieval-Augmented Generation is not an unsupported inference about a specific architecture. Cost and complexity. The source gives four named subtitle areas and no technical mechanism.

3. Author and institute

What. The author line names Hao Hoang. The institute line names AI Interview Prep. These lines record the source’s named author and institute; they do not independently authenticate identity, affiliation, ownership or credentials. Failure without it. Omitting or changing either name would misattribute this edition. Cost and complexity. The page states one author and one institute. It gives no technical cost.

4. Version and focus

What. The version is First edition, 2026. The focus is Applied AI/ML and retrieval-augmented systems. Why. These lines identify the edition, year, and applied subject orientation. Preserve the edition/year label and quoted focus. Explain AI/ML separately rather than treating the absence of an expansion on the cover as a prohibition on a standard definition. Cost and complexity. The page gives one edition label and one year. It states no system cost.

5. Institute mark and tagline

What. The lower-right institute mark reads AI Interview Prep. Its tagline reads Ace Your Next Opportunity. Why. The mark repeats the institute identity and adds its accompanying line. Failure without it. Omitting the tagline would leave a visible source item uncovered. Cost and complexity. The mark is unnumbered and has no technical metric.

6. Contact channels

What. The footer lists hao.hoang.ai@gmail.com, haohoang.is-a.dev, LinkedIn, and Substack, separated by dots. Why. Together, these entries make up the listed footer row. Failure without it. Treating the footer as technical content would misclassify its purpose. Cost and complexity. The footer contains four channels. It states no technical cost.

Diagrams

The manifest records zero figures and zero tables for this unit. The page contains unnumbered cover artwork and an institute mark, but no numbered source figure, technical diagram, source table, or caption to recreate.

Whiteboard pack

Numbered drawing order

1. Draw a page outline.
2. Shade its upper section and label it Sepia photograph of tied paper bundles.
3. Draw a turquoise divider band below the photograph.
4. Write The RAG Interview in the lower section.
5. Add Retrieval, Ranking, Grounding, and System Design below the title.
6. Add the author, institute, version, and focus lines.
7. Draw the institute mark and Ace Your Next Opportunity at lower right.
8. Write the four footer channels along the bottom.

90 to 100 word script

Start with a page outline. Shade the upper section as a sepia photograph of tied paper bundles, then draw the turquoise divider band. In the lower section, write The RAG Interview and its four-part subtitle: retrieval, ranking, grounding, and system design. Add the metadata block for Hao Hoang, AI Interview Prep, first edition, 2026, and the stated focus. Place the institute mark and Ace Your Next Opportunity at the lower right. Finish with the email, website, LinkedIn, and Substack footer. This page establishes scope, provenance, version, and contact context. It does not explain a technical mechanism.

Interview traps

Probe 1: What does RAG expand to on this page?

RAG means Retrieval-Augmented Generation. The displayed title remains The RAG Interview; the abbreviation alone does not identify a specific retriever, generator, corpus or evaluation protocol.

Probe 2: Does the title page define a retrieval architecture?

No. It names retrieval, ranking, grounding, and system design, but it supplies no procedure, architecture, workflow, or evaluation method.

Probe 3: Is the cover photograph a manifest figure?

No. It is unnumbered cover artwork with no figure caption, while the manifest records zero figures and zero tables for this unit.

Probe 4: What provenance and version claims are safe?

Report the source metadata as stated: Hao Hoang, AI Interview Prep and First edition, 2026. The quoted focus is Applied AI/ML and retrieval-augmented systems. AI/ML means artificial intelligence and machine learning; none of these labels independently verifies credentials, date freshness or a particular implementation.

Probe 5: What belongs in the footer summary?

The footer lists an email address, a website string, LinkedIn, and Substack. These are footer channels, not technical mechanisms.

Key numbers

00-START-HERE · 01-READING-ROUTES · 00_02_contents