KGCaRe: Explainable Complex Conditional Question Answering using Automatic Knowledge Graph Construction and Context Retrieval with LLMs

Large language models (LLMs) have transformed natural language processing (NLP), enabling diverse applications by integrating large-scale pre-trained knowledge. However, their static knowledge limits dynamic reasoning over external information, especially in knowledge-intensive domains. Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) addresses this challenge by combining retrieval mechanisms with generative modeling to improve contextual understanding. Traditional RAG systems suffer from disrupted contextual integrity due to text chunking and over-reliance on semantic similarity for retrieval, often resulting in shallow and less accurate responses. We propose Causal-Counterfactual RAG, a novel framework that integrates explicit causal graphs representing cause-effect relationships into the retrieval process and incorporates counterfactual reasoning grounded on the causal structure. Unlike conventional methods, our framework evaluates not only direct causal evidence but also the counterfactuality of associated causes, combining results from both to generate more robust, accurate, and interpretable answers. By leveraging causal pathways and associated hypothetical scenarios, Causal-Counterfactual RAG preserves contextual coherence, reduces hallucination, and enhances reasoning fidelity.

Retrieval augmented generation (RAG) has enhanced large language models by enabling access to external knowledge, with graph-based RAG emerging as a powerful paradigm for structured retrieval and reasoning. However, existing graph-based methods often over-rely on entity-centric node matching and lack explicit causal modeling, leading to unfaithful or spurious answers. Prior attempts to incorporate causality are typically limited to local or single-document contexts and also suffer from information isolation that arises from modular graph structures, which hinders scalability and cross-module causal reasoning. To address these challenges, we propose CausalRAG2, a framework that rethinks knowledge organization for graph-based RAG through causal gating across hierarchical modules. CausalRAG2 explicitly models causal relationships to suppress spurious correlations while enabling scalable reasoning over large-scale knowledge graphs. We also introduce HolisQA, a benchmark for holistic comprehension beyond entity-centric matching. Extensive experiments demonstrate that CausalRAG2 consistently outperforms competitive graph-based RAG baselines across multiple datasets and evaluation metrics. Our work establishes a principled foundation for structured, scalable, and causally grounded RAG systems. Our code and HolisQA benchmark are available at https://github.com/Pwnb/CausalRAG2.

The integration of Large Language Models (LLMs) with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) has significantly advanced Knowledge Graph Question Answering (KGQA). However, existing LLM-driven KGQA systems act as stateless planners, generating retrieval plans in isolation without exploiting historical query patterns: analogous to a database system that optimizes every query from scratch without a plan cache. This fundamental design flaw leads to schema hallucinations and limited retrieval coverage. We propose CacheRAG, a systematic cache-augmented architecture for LLM-based KGQA that transforms stateless planners into continual learners. Unlike traditional database plan caching (which optimizes for frequency), CacheRAG introduces three novel design principles tailored for LLM contexts: (1) Schema-agnostic user interface: A two-stage semantic parsing framework via Intermediate Semantic Representation (ISR) enables non-expert users to interact purely in natural language, while a Backend Adapter grounds the LLM with local schema context to compile executable physical queries safely. (2) Diversity-optimized cache retrieval: A two-layer hierarchical index (Domain $\rightarrow$ Aspect) coupled with Maximal Marginal Relevance (MMR) maximizes structural variety in cached examples, effectively mitigating reasoning homogeneity. (3) Bounded heuristic expansion: Deterministic depth and breadth subgraph operators with strict complexity guarantees significantly enhance retrieval recall without risking unbounded API execution. Extensive experiments on multiple benchmarks demonstrate that CacheRAG significantly outperforms state-of-the-art baselines (e.g., +13.2% accuracy and +17.5% truthfulness on the CRAG dataset).