SAGE-RAI: Design Patterns for Transparent RAG Systems

Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) systems are increasingly deployed in web-based educational environments, yet transparency can be seen as a primarily ethical, and, too often, optional, concern, rather than foundational. This paper presents design patterns for building transparent RAG systems, derived from developing and deploying SAGE-RAI, an advanced multi-purpose RAG system, in an educational context. Through systematic evaluation combining quantitative rating data (n=26, mean rating=4.62/