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Dictionary

Reranker

A second-stage model that reorders retrieved chunks for precision.

1 min readupdated 2026-07-04

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A reranker (typically a cross-encoder like Cohere Rerank or BGE) takes the top-N results from a first-stage retriever and re-scores them against the query, boosting precision at the cost of latency. A second-stage model that reorders retrieved chunks for precision.

A second-stage model that reorders retrieved chunks for precision. A reranker (typically a cross-encoder like Cohere Rerank or BGE) takes the top-N results from a first-stage retriever and re-scores them against the query, boosting precision at the cost of latency. In practice: Retriever returns 50 candidates; the reranker keeps the top 5 with the strongest semantic match. This dictionary node is part of the Onexial knowledge graph and links to related concepts, workflows and tools below.
Definition
A reranker (typically a cross-encoder like Cohere Rerank or BGE) takes the top-N results from a first-stage retriever and re-scores them against the query, boosting precision at the cost of latency.
Example
Retriever returns 50 candidates; the reranker keeps the top 5 with the strongest semantic match.
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What is Reranker?

A reranker (typically a cross-encoder like Cohere Rerank or BGE) takes the top-N results from a first-stage retriever and re-scores them against the query, boosting precision at the cost of latency.

What is an example of Reranker?

Retriever returns 50 candidates; the reranker keeps the top 5 with the strongest semantic match.

Why does Reranker matter for AI and automation?

A second-stage model that reorders retrieved chunks for precision. It connects to the workflows, prompts and tool stacks linked on this page, so you can move from definition to execution without leaving Onexial.

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Related concepts

The vocabulary this page depends on.

  • Contextual Compression

    Contextual compression is a technique used to reduce the size of the input context for a Large Language Model (LLM) while retaining its most relevant information, typically by summarizing or filtering.

  • Retrieval

    Selecting the most relevant chunks for a query before generation.

  • RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)

    Inject external knowledge into an LLM at query time.

  • Agentic RAG

    RAG where an agent decides what to retrieve, when, and from which source — instead of a single static query.

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Related workflows

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The tools that run it in production.

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