pgvector is a powerful PostgreSQL extension that brings vector similarity search capabilities directly into your database environment. Here are its key features:
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Vector Storage & Search: Store vectors alongside regular data with support for exact and approximate nearest neighbor search
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Multiple Vector Types: Handles single-precision, half-precision, binary, and sparse vectors
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Distance Metrics: Supports multiple distance calculations including:
- L2 distance
- Inner product
- Cosine distance
- L1 distance
- Hamming distance
- Jaccard distance
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Database Integration: Fully integrates with PostgreSQL's features including:
- ACID compliance
- Point-in-time recovery
- JOIN operations
- Bulk operations via COPY
- Upsert capabilities
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Wide Compatibility:
- Works with Postgres 13+
- Supports any programming language with a PostgreSQL client
- Available through multiple installation methods (Docker, Homebrew, APT, etc.)
Perfect for applications requiring vector search capabilities like recommendation systems, similarity matching, and machine learning applications while maintaining the robustness of a PostgreSQL database.
