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- Retrieve only documents the current user may read.
- Retest role changes, revocation and document updates.
- Citations must preserve the same access boundary.
Accuracy does not establish authorization
An internal chatbot can produce a correct answer from a document its user may not read. Acceptance therefore needs access tests as well as answer-quality tests.
Retrieval-augmented generation supplies relevant documents to a model. This guide focuses specifically on the permission boundary rather than repeating an introductory RAG explanation.
Prepare a permission matrix
Friday Works recommends test roles such as sales, accounting and content administration, with shared, restricted and revoked documents. Specify allowed and denied outcomes before testing.
Include direct questions and paraphrases against designated test data. A restricted payroll document must not become available merely because a user asks for a summary.
Enforce access during retrieval
OWASP recommends validating permissions on every request and denying by default. Retrieval tools should use the current user identity. A natural-language instruction is not a substitute for system authorization.
Record the test account, retrieved document and applicable policy without collecting unnecessary sensitive content in logs.
Retest after changes
Revoke access in a test environment, start a fresh query and check the answer and source link. Repeat for deleted or newly restricted documents.
Explain cache expiration or invalidation and verify the agreed revocation delay. Testing with an administrator is not evidence of employee isolation.
Check citations and handover
A blocked answer with an accessible download is still a failed boundary. Test file names, excerpts, downloads, suggestions and shared history using the restricted role.
Record evidence, exceptions and ownership. Answer quality and access control are independent acceptance criteria.
References
Sources used in this guide
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