Text Splitters & Embeddings
Master techniques for splitting large documents into manageable chunks and generating numerical embeddings for semantic search.
Text Splitters & Embeddings is a free AI Agents with LangChain & Autonomous Workflows lesson on CoddyKit — lesson 2 of 4. You can read the complete lesson below for free — then practise it hands-on in the browser with a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor. It is part of the AI Agents with LangChain & Autonomous Workflows learning path, one of 4 lessons in the course, and your progress syncs across the web and the CoddyKit app.
Why Split & Embed Text?
When working with large documents, directly feeding them to a Large Language Model (LLM) often causes problems. LLMs have strict input limits, known as context windows.
This lesson teaches you how to prepare large texts for LLMs using two key techniques: text splitting and embeddings. These are essential for building advanced AI agents.
The Problem: Long Documents
Imagine you have a 100-page PDF document. If you try to ask an LLM a question about it, you can't just send the whole document.
- Context Window Limits: LLMs can only process a certain amount of text at once (e.g., 4,000 to 128,000 tokens).
- Cost: Longer inputs mean higher API costs.
- Relevance: Filling the context window with irrelevant information can make the LLM 'forget' the important parts.
Text splitting solves this by breaking documents into smaller, manageable chunks.
Introducing Text Splitters
LangChain provides various text splitters to divide documents efficiently. Their goal is to keep semantically related pieces of text together while respecting size limits.
Instead of just cutting at arbitrary character counts, smart splitters try to break text at logical points, like paragraphs or sentences.
A common and versatile splitter is the RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter.
Recursive Character Text Splitter
The RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter is a powerful tool. It attempts to split text using a list of characters, trying them in order until the chunks are small enough.
- It starts by trying to split by
\n\n(double newline for paragraphs). - If chunks are still too big, it tries
\n(single newline for lines). - Then spaces, and finally individual characters.
This recursive approach helps maintain semantic coherence.
Code: Basic Splitting Demo
Let's see how RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter works. We'll split a short story into chunks.
from langchain_text_splitters import RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter
story = (
"Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, "
"and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her "
"sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, 'and what "
"is the use of a book,' thought Alice 'without pictures or conversation?'"
"So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot "
"day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making "
"a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the "
"daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her."
)
text_splitter = RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter(
chunk_size=100,
chunk_overlap=0
)
chunks = text_splitter.split_text(story)
for i, chunk in enumerate(chunks):
print(f"Chunk {i+1}: {chunk}\n")Chunk Size & Overlap Explained
Two crucial parameters for text splitting are chunk_size and chunk_overlap:
- Chunk Size: This is the maximum number of characters (or tokens, depending on the splitter) in each chunk. Choose a size that fits within your LLM's context window.
- Chunk Overlap: This specifies how many characters (or tokens) should overlap between consecutive chunks. Overlap helps preserve context across splits, ensuring that important information isn't lost at chunk boundaries.
Finding the right balance for these parameters is key to effective retrieval.
Code: Splitting with Overlap
Let's modify our previous example to use a chunk_overlap. Notice how parts of the text are repeated in adjacent chunks, providing continuity.
from langchain_text_splitters import RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter
story = (
"Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, "
"and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her "
"sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, 'and what "
"is the use of a book,' thought Alice 'without pictures or conversation?'"
"So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot "
"day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making "
"a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the "
"daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her."
)
text_splitter = RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter(
chunk_size=100,
chunk_overlap=20 # Added overlap
)
chunks = text_splitter.split_text(story)
for i, chunk in enumerate(chunks):
print(f"Chunk {i+1}: {chunk}\n")What are Text Embeddings?
Once you've split your documents, how do you find the most relevant chunks for a user's query? This is where text embeddings come in.
- An embedding is a numerical representation (a vector) of text.
- Texts with similar meanings have embeddings that are 'closer' to each other in a high-dimensional space.
- This allows us to perform semantic search: finding chunks that are conceptually similar to a query, not just keyword matches.
Embeddings are the backbone of Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG).
Generating Embeddings with LangChain
LangChain makes it easy to generate embeddings using various models. You interact with an Embeddings object, which abstracts away the underlying model details.
Popular embedding models include those from OpenAI, Hugging Face, Cohere, and many open-source options like `all-MiniLM-L6-v2`.
You typically initialize an embedding model and then call its embed_query() for a single text or embed_documents() for a list of chunks.
Code: Creating Embeddings
Here's how to generate an embedding for a simple text using OpenAI's embedding model. Remember, you'll need an OpenAI API key for this to run successfully.
import os
# Set your OpenAI API key as an environment variable
# os.environ["OPENAI_API_KEY"] = "YOUR_API_KEY"
from langchain_openai import OpenAIEmbeddings
# Initialize the embedding model
# Requires OPENAI_API_KEY env var or direct pass
embeddings_model = OpenAIEmbeddings()
text_to_embed = "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."
# Generate the embedding vector
embedding_vector = embeddings_model.embed_query(text_to_embed)
print(f"Original Text: '{text_to_embed}'")
print(f"Embedding Vector (first 5 values): {embedding_vector[:5]}...")
print(f"Vector Dimension: {len(embedding_vector)}")Quick Check: Splitting & Embeddings
Consider the following statements about text splitting and embeddings:
Recap: Splitting & Embedding for RAG
You've learned two fundamental techniques for handling large documents in AI agents:
- Text Splitting: Breaking large texts into smaller, manageable chunks using tools like
RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter, controlled bychunk_sizeandchunk_overlap. - Embeddings: Converting text chunks into numerical vectors using embedding models (e.g.,
OpenAIEmbeddings) to enable semantic similarity search.
These techniques are crucial for building effective Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) systems, allowing your agents to intelligently find and use relevant information from vast knowledge bases.
Frequently asked questions
Is the “Text Splitters & Embeddings” lesson free?
Yes — the full text of “Text Splitters & Embeddings” is free to read here on the web, and the AI Agents with LangChain & Autonomous Workflows course includes 4 lessons in total. To practise it interactively (a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor) and unlock the rest of the AI Agents with LangChain & Autonomous Workflows course, upgrade to CoddyKit PRO.
What will I learn in “Text Splitters & Embeddings”?
Master techniques for splitting large documents into manageable chunks and generating numerical embeddings for semantic search. You practise AI Agents with LangChain & Autonomous Workflows with hands-on code you run directly in the browser, and a 24/7 AI tutor answers your questions as you work through the lesson.
Do I need any experience to start AI Agents with LangChain & Autonomous Workflows?
No prior experience is required. AI Agents with LangChain & Autonomous Workflows on CoddyKit is structured for beginners through advanced learners; this is — lesson 2 of 4, so you can start here or from the beginning and move at your own pace.
How long does the “Text Splitters & Embeddings” lesson take?
Most CoddyKit lessons take about 5–10 minutes. Each one is bite-sized and interactive, so you make steady progress and pick up exactly where you left off across the web and the app.
Can I write and run code in this AI Agents with LangChain & Autonomous Workflows lesson?
Yes. Every AI Agents with LangChain & Autonomous Workflows lesson includes a built-in code editor, so you write and run real code right in your browser and get instant AI feedback — no local setup required.
All lessons in this course
- Document Loaders Explained
- Text Splitters & Embeddings
- Vector Stores for Retrieval
- Retrievers & Contextual Compression