What is pgvector?

pgvector is a PostgreSQL extension that enables vector embedding storage and semantic search within existing databases without requiring separate vector systems.

• •Uses similarity metrics (L2, cosine similarity, inner product) to find semantically similar data
• •Supports two indexing types: HNSW for fast queries but high memory use, and IVFFlat for memory efficiency with slower queries
• •Powers AI features including semantic search, RAG, recommendations, image similarity and anomaly detection within Postgres
• •Handles millions to tens of millions of vectors; pgvectorscale extends scalability for larger workloads
• •Best for ~100M vector applications; dedicated vector databases suit massive multi-tenant workloads

This summary was automatically generated by AI based on the original article and may not be fully accurate.