> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.filecoin.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.filecoin.io/getting-started/how-retrieval-works.md).

# How retrieval works

This section covers the implementation details behind Filecoin retrieval: finding providers, choosing a retrieval path, and fetching CID-addressed content.

For a high-level overview of managed and direct retrieval paths, see [Retrieval](/getting-started/what-is-filecoin/retrieval.md).

## Table of contents

* [Basic retrieval](/getting-started/how-retrieval-works/basic-retrieval.md) - fetch CID-addressed data with Lassie and work with CAR output
* [Serving retrievals](/getting-started/how-retrieval-works/serving-retrievals.md) - understand provider advertisements, IPNI, and storage-provider retrieval endpoints

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