⚠ Switch to EXCALIDRAW VIEW in the MORE OPTIONS menu of this document. ⚠ You can decompress Drawing data with the command palette: ‘Decompress current Excalidraw file’. For more info check in plugin settings under ‘Saving’
Excalidraw Data
Text Elements
Step-Back Prompting
Specific Query (Too Narrow)
“How do I debug a NaN error in my PyTorch model’s loss calculation?”
LLM: Generate Step-Back Query
Abstract to fundamental principles
Step-Back Query (Broader Scope)
“What are the fundamental principles of debugging machine learning models and troubleshooting mathematical operations in neural networks?”
Retriever
Retrieved Documents (Foundational)
• General ML debugging practices • Numerical stability in deep learning • PyTorch best practices • Common ML pitfalls
✓ More useful than searching specifically for “NaN errors”
Why Step-Back Works
Specific queries often: • Have few exact matches • Miss foundational context • Return narrow results
Step-back queries: • Broader coverage • Include first principles • Better for complex problem-solving
The foundational docs provide context to answer the specific question!
Problem: Too specific
Solution: Generalize