AgentDB Vector Search
Implement semantic vector search with AgentDB for intelligent document retrieval, similarity matching, and context-aware querying. Use when building RAG systems, semantic search engines, or intelligent knowledge bases.
Best use case
AgentDB Vector Search is best used when you need a repeatable AI agent workflow instead of a one-off prompt.
Implement semantic vector search with AgentDB for intelligent document retrieval, similarity matching, and context-aware querying. Use when building RAG systems, semantic search engines, or intelligent knowledge bases.
Teams using AgentDB Vector Search should expect a more consistent output, faster repeated execution, less prompt rewriting.
When to use this skill
- You want a reusable workflow that can be run more than once with consistent structure.
When not to use this skill
- You only need a quick one-off answer and do not need a reusable workflow.
- You cannot install or maintain the underlying files, dependencies, or repository context.
Installation
Claude Code / Cursor / Codex
Manual Installation
- Download SKILL.md from GitHub
- Place it in
.claude/skills/agentdb-vector-search/SKILL.mdinside your project - Restart your AI agent — it will auto-discover the skill
How AgentDB Vector Search Compares
| Feature / Agent | AgentDB Vector Search | Standard Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Support | Not specified | Limited / Varies |
| Context Awareness | High | Baseline |
| Installation Complexity | Unknown | N/A |
Frequently Asked Questions
What does this skill do?
Implement semantic vector search with AgentDB for intelligent document retrieval, similarity matching, and context-aware querying. Use when building RAG systems, semantic search engines, or intelligent knowledge bases.
Where can I find the source code?
You can find the source code on GitHub using the link provided at the top of the page.
Related Guides
SKILL.md Source
# AgentDB Vector Search
## What This Skill Does
Implements vector-based semantic search using AgentDB's high-performance vector database with **150x-12,500x faster** operations than traditional solutions. Features HNSW indexing, quantization, and sub-millisecond search (<100µs).
## Prerequisites
- Node.js 18+
- AgentDB v1.0.7+ (via agentic-flow or standalone)
- OpenAI API key (for embeddings) or custom embedding model
## Quick Start with CLI
### Initialize Vector Database
```bash
# Initialize with default dimensions (1536 for OpenAI ada-002)
npx agentdb@latest init ./vectors.db
# Custom dimensions for different embedding models
npx agentdb@latest init ./vectors.db --dimension 768 # sentence-transformers
npx agentdb@latest init ./vectors.db --dimension 384 # all-MiniLM-L6-v2
# Use preset configurations
npx agentdb@latest init ./vectors.db --preset small # <10K vectors
npx agentdb@latest init ./vectors.db --preset medium # 10K-100K vectors
npx agentdb@latest init ./vectors.db --preset large # >100K vectors
# In-memory database for testing
npx agentdb@latest init ./vectors.db --in-memory
```
### Query Vector Database
```bash
# Basic similarity search
npx agentdb@latest query ./vectors.db "[0.1,0.2,0.3,...]"
# Top-k results
npx agentdb@latest query ./vectors.db "[0.1,0.2,0.3]" -k 10
# With similarity threshold (cosine similarity)
npx agentdb@latest query ./vectors.db "0.1 0.2 0.3" -t 0.75 -m cosine
# Different distance metrics
npx agentdb@latest query ./vectors.db "[...]" -m euclidean # L2 distance
npx agentdb@latest query ./vectors.db "[...]" -m dot # Dot product
# JSON output for automation
npx agentdb@latest query ./vectors.db "[...]" -f json -k 5
# Verbose output with distances
npx agentdb@latest query ./vectors.db "[...]" -v
```
### Import/Export Vectors
```bash
# Export vectors to JSON
npx agentdb@latest export ./vectors.db ./backup.json
# Import vectors from JSON
npx agentdb@latest import ./backup.json
# Get database statistics
npx agentdb@latest stats ./vectors.db
```
## Quick Start with API
```typescript
import { createAgentDBAdapter, computeEmbedding } from 'agentic-flow/reasoningbank';
// Initialize with vector search optimizations
const adapter = await createAgentDBAdapter({
dbPath: '.agentdb/vectors.db',
enableLearning: false, // Vector search only
enableReasoning: true, // Enable semantic matching
quantizationType: 'binary', // 32x memory reduction
cacheSize: 1000, // Fast retrieval
});
// Store document with embedding
const text = "The quantum computer achieved 100 qubits";
const embedding = await computeEmbedding(text);
await adapter.insertPattern({
id: '',
type: 'document',
domain: 'technology',
pattern_data: JSON.stringify({
embedding,
text,
metadata: { category: "quantum", date: "2025-01-15" }
}),
confidence: 1.0,
usage_count: 0,
success_count: 0,
created_at: Date.now(),
last_used: Date.now(),
});
// Semantic search with MMR (Maximal Marginal Relevance)
const queryEmbedding = await computeEmbedding("quantum computing advances");
const results = await adapter.retrieveWithReasoning(queryEmbedding, {
domain: 'technology',
k: 10,
useMMR: true, // Diverse results
synthesizeContext: true, // Rich context
});
```
## Core Features
### 1. Vector Storage
```typescript
// Store with automatic embedding
await db.storeWithEmbedding({
content: "Your document text",
metadata: { source: "docs", page: 42 }
});
```
### 2. Similarity Search
```typescript
// Find similar documents
const similar = await db.findSimilar("quantum computing", {
limit: 5,
minScore: 0.75
});
```
### 3. Hybrid Search (Vector + Metadata)
```typescript
// Combine vector similarity with metadata filtering
const results = await db.hybridSearch({
query: "machine learning models",
filters: {
category: "research",
date: { $gte: "2024-01-01" }
},
limit: 20
});
```
## Advanced Usage
### RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation)
```typescript
// Build RAG pipeline
async function ragQuery(question: string) {
// 1. Get relevant context
const context = await db.searchSimilar(
await embed(question),
{ limit: 5, threshold: 0.7 }
);
// 2. Generate answer with context
const prompt = `Context: ${context.map(c => c.text).join('\n')}
Question: ${question}`;
return await llm.generate(prompt);
}
```
### Batch Operations
```typescript
// Efficient batch storage
await db.batchStore(documents.map(doc => ({
text: doc.content,
embedding: doc.vector,
metadata: doc.meta
})));
```
## MCP Server Integration
```bash
# Start AgentDB MCP server for Claude Code
npx agentdb@latest mcp
# Add to Claude Code (one-time setup)
claude mcp add agentdb npx agentdb@latest mcp
# Now use MCP tools in Claude Code:
# - agentdb_query: Semantic vector search
# - agentdb_store: Store documents with embeddings
# - agentdb_stats: Database statistics
```
## Performance Benchmarks
```bash
# Run comprehensive benchmarks
npx agentdb@latest benchmark
# Results:
# ✅ Pattern Search: 150x faster (100µs vs 15ms)
# ✅ Batch Insert: 500x faster (2ms vs 1s for 100 vectors)
# ✅ Large-scale Query: 12,500x faster (8ms vs 100s at 1M vectors)
# ✅ Memory Efficiency: 4-32x reduction with quantization
```
## Quantization Options
AgentDB provides multiple quantization strategies for memory efficiency:
### Binary Quantization (32x reduction)
```typescript
const adapter = await createAgentDBAdapter({
quantizationType: 'binary', // 768-dim → 96 bytes
});
```
### Scalar Quantization (4x reduction)
```typescript
const adapter = await createAgentDBAdapter({
quantizationType: 'scalar', // 768-dim → 768 bytes
});
```
### Product Quantization (8-16x reduction)
```typescript
const adapter = await createAgentDBAdapter({
quantizationType: 'product', // 768-dim → 48-96 bytes
});
```
## Distance Metrics
```bash
# Cosine similarity (default, best for most use cases)
npx agentdb@latest query ./db.sqlite "[...]" -m cosine
# Euclidean distance (L2 norm)
npx agentdb@latest query ./db.sqlite "[...]" -m euclidean
# Dot product (for normalized vectors)
npx agentdb@latest query ./db.sqlite "[...]" -m dot
```
## Advanced Features
### HNSW Indexing
- **O(log n) search complexity**
- **Sub-millisecond retrieval** (<100µs)
- **Automatic index building**
### Caching
- **1000 pattern in-memory cache**
- **<1ms pattern retrieval**
- **Automatic cache invalidation**
### MMR (Maximal Marginal Relevance)
- **Diverse result sets**
- **Avoid redundancy**
- **Balance relevance and diversity**
## Performance Tips
1. **Enable HNSW indexing**: Automatic with AgentDB, 10-100x faster
2. **Use quantization**: Binary (32x), Scalar (4x), Product (8-16x) memory reduction
3. **Batch operations**: 500x faster for bulk inserts
4. **Match dimensions**: 1536 (OpenAI), 768 (sentence-transformers), 384 (MiniLM)
5. **Similarity threshold**: Start at 0.7 for quality, adjust based on use case
6. **Enable caching**: 1000 pattern cache for frequent queries
## Troubleshooting
### Issue: Slow search performance
```bash
# Check if HNSW indexing is enabled (automatic)
npx agentdb@latest stats ./vectors.db
# Expected: <100µs search time
```
### Issue: High memory usage
```bash
# Enable binary quantization (32x reduction)
# Use in adapter: quantizationType: 'binary'
```
### Issue: Poor relevance
```bash
# Adjust similarity threshold
npx agentdb@latest query ./db.sqlite "[...]" -t 0.8 # Higher threshold
# Or use MMR for diverse results
# Use in adapter: useMMR: true
```
### Issue: Wrong dimensions
```bash
# Check embedding model dimensions:
# - OpenAI ada-002: 1536
# - sentence-transformers: 768
# - all-MiniLM-L6-v2: 384
npx agentdb@latest init ./db.sqlite --dimension 768
```
## Database Statistics
```bash
# Get comprehensive stats
npx agentdb@latest stats ./vectors.db
# Shows:
# - Total patterns/vectors
# - Database size
# - Average confidence
# - Domains distribution
# - Index status
```
## Performance Characteristics
- **Vector Search**: <100µs (HNSW indexing)
- **Pattern Retrieval**: <1ms (with cache)
- **Batch Insert**: 2ms for 100 vectors
- **Memory Efficiency**: 4-32x reduction with quantization
- **Scalability**: Handles 1M+ vectors efficiently
- **Latency**: Sub-millisecond for most operations
## Learn More
- GitHub: https://github.com/ruvnet/agentic-flow/tree/main/packages/agentdb
- Documentation: node_modules/agentic-flow/docs/AGENTDB_INTEGRATION.md
- MCP Integration: `npx agentdb@latest mcp` for Claude Code
- Website: https://agentdb.ruv.io
- CLI Help: `npx agentdb@latest --help`
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