Post

GraphRAG is open source now!

GraphRAG is Now Open Source!

Curiosity: How can we extract meaningful, structured data from unstructured text? What happens when we combine knowledge graphs with RAG?

GraphRAG is Microsoft’s open-source data pipeline and transformation suite designed to extract meaningful, structured data from unstructured text using LLMs. It creates knowledge graphs to enhance LLM reasoning about private data.

Microsoft Research Blog: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/graphrag-unlocking-llm-discovery-on-narrative-private-data/

What is GraphRAG?

Retrieve: Understanding GraphRAG’s capabilities.

GraphRAG is an AI-based content interpretation and search capability that:

  • Uses LLMs to parse data
  • Creates knowledge graphs from unstructured text
  • Answers questions about private datasets
  • Enhances LLM reasoning capabilities

Documentation: https://github.com/microsoft/graphrag/blob/main/RAI_TRANSPARENCY.md#what-is-graphrag

GraphRAG Architecture

Innovate: How GraphRAG transforms unstructured data.

graph TB
    A[Unstructured Text] --> B[LLM Processing]
    B --> C[Entity Extraction]
    C --> D[Relationship Detection]
    D --> E[Knowledge Graph]
    E --> F[Graph Storage]
    F --> G[Query Processing]
    G --> H[Enhanced RAG]
    H --> I[Answer Generation]
    
    style A fill:#e1f5ff
    style E fill:#fff3cd
    style I fill:#d4edda

What is RAG?

Retrieve: Understanding RAG fundamentals.

The Problem: LLMs have static knowledge limited to training data, which rapidly becomes outdated.

RAG Solution: Retrieval Augmented Generation tackles two challenges:

  1. Keeping knowledge up-to-date: Retrieves current information
  2. Providing accurate sources: Supports responses with evidence

RAG Deep Dive: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-rag-lets-dive-deeper-time-alex-wang-ln6dc/

GraphRAG vs. Traditional RAG

Innovate: Advantages of graph-based RAG.

FeatureTraditional RAGGraphRAG
Data StructureVector embeddingsKnowledge graph
Relationships❌ Limited✅ Explicit
Reasoning⚠️ Basic⬆️ Enhanced
Private Data⚠️ Challenging✅ Optimized

Key Advantage: GraphRAG creates structured knowledge graphs that enable better reasoning about relationships and context.

GraphRAG Workflow

Retrieve: Step-by-step process.

1. Data Ingestion:

  • Input unstructured text
  • Process with LLMs

2. Graph Construction:

  • Extract entities
  • Detect relationships
  • Build knowledge graph

3. Query Processing:

  • Parse user questions
  • Traverse knowledge graph
  • Retrieve relevant context

4. Answer Generation:

  • Use retrieved context
  • Generate accurate answers
  • Provide source references

Use Cases

Innovate: Applications of GraphRAG.

Ideal For:

  • Private document analysis
  • Research paper understanding
  • Corporate knowledge bases
  • Narrative data exploration
  • Complex relationship queries

Key Takeaways

Retrieve: GraphRAG is an open-source framework that uses LLMs to create knowledge graphs from unstructured text, enabling enhanced RAG capabilities for private datasets.

Innovate: By combining knowledge graphs with RAG, GraphRAG enables better reasoning about relationships and context, making it ideal for analyzing narrative private data and answering complex questions.

Curiosity → Retrieve → Innovation: Start with curiosity about extracting structured data from unstructured text, retrieve insights from GraphRAG’s approach, and innovate by applying graph-based RAG to your private data analysis needs.

Next Steps:

  • Explore the GitHub repository
  • Read the Microsoft Research blog
  • Try GraphRAG on your data
  • Build knowledge graphs

 RAG

This post is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by the author.