# DOTRAG: Retrieval-Time Reasoning Along Paths

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.18760 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.18760/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Placed in Knowledge-graph and structured-knowledge RAG, one of 15 directions in Retrieval-augmented generation.
- Builds on 23 of its 31 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 6 Apr 2026.

## Placed in

- Retrieval-augmented generation / [Knowledge-graph and structured-knowledge RAG](https://mlsanity.com/rag/knowledge-graph-and-structured-knowledge-rag/)

## Builds on (most cited first, 23 of 23)

- [Retrieval-Augmented Generation for Knowledge-Intensive NLP Tasks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2005.11401/) (2020)
- [ReAct: Synergizing Reasoning and Acting in Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.03629/) (2022)
- [Self-RAG: Learning to Retrieve, Generate, and Critique through Self-Reflection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.11511/) (2023)
- [From Local to Global: A Graph RAG Approach to Query-Focused Summarization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.16130/) (2024)
- [Ragas: Automated Evaluation of Retrieval Augmented Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.15217/) (2023)
- [Graph Retrieval-Augmented Generation: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.08921/) (2024)
- [LightRAG: Simple and Fast Retrieval-Augmented Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.05779/) (2024)
- [HippoRAG: Neurobiologically Inspired Long-Term Memory for Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.14831/) (2024)
- [Agentic Retrieval-Augmented Generation: A Survey on Agentic RAG](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.09136/) (2025)
- [Variational Reasoning for Question Answering with Knowledge Graph](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1709.04071/) (2017)
- [GNN-RAG: Graph Neural Retrieval for Large Language Model Reasoning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.20139/) (2024)
- [Medical Graph RAG: Towards Safe Medical Large Language Model via Graph Retrieval-Augmented Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.04187/) (2024)
- [A Comprehensive Survey of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG): Evolution, Current Landscape and Future Directions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2410.12837/) (2024)
- [PathRAG: Pruning Graph-based Retrieval Augmented Generation with Relational Paths](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.14902/) (2025)
- [Retrieval-Augmented Generation with Hierarchical Knowledge](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.10150/) (2025)
- [GFM-RAG: Graph Foundation Model for Retrieval Augmented Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.01113/) (2025)
- [HopRAG: Multi-Hop Reasoning for Logic-Aware Retrieval-Augmented Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.12442/) (2025)
- [Reasoning RAG via System 1 or System 2: A Survey on Reasoning Agentic Retrieval-Augmented Generation for Industry Challenges](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.10408/) (2025)
- [RAG-R1: Incentivizing the Search and Reasoning Capabilities of LLMs through Multi-query Parallelism](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.02962/) (2025)
- [GraphRAG-R1: Graph Retrieval-Augmented Generation with Process-Constrained Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.23581/) (2025)
- [Reasoning by Exploration: A Unified Approach to Retrieval and Generation over Graphs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.07484/) (2025)
- [GraphRunner: A Multi-Stage Framework for Efficient and Accurate Graph-Based Retrieval](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.08945/) (2025)
- [StepChain GraphRAG: Reasoning Over Knowledge Graphs for Multi-Hop Question Answering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.02827/) (2025)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [MOSAIC: Query-Aware Exploration Policy Adaptation for GraphRAG](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.11065/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Graph Retrieval-Augmented Generation (GraphRAG) is dominated by a retrieve-then-reason paradigm, where context is retrieved using heuristics and then reasoned over. Such methods struggle to adapt to the query-specific logic required for complex multi-hop tasks, often accumulating irrelevant context or missing correct relational paths. We propose DotRAG, a training-free GraphRAG framework that reformulates retrieval as a reasoning process over paths. Our approach generates query-conditioned constraints that guide graph exploration, prune irrelevant regions, and iteratively discover relational paths without relying on explicit step-by-step reasoning chains. We introduce Division of Thought (DOT), an abstraction that decomposes retrieval into localized search spaces and adapts the search strategy to each query. DotRAG achieves SOTA performance on MetaQA and UltraDomain, with consistent gains on multi-hop tasks, demonstrating the effectiveness of reasoning-guided retrieval.