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Dictionary

Vector Index

A data structure that makes nearest-neighbor search fast.

1 min readupdated 2026-07-04

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A vector index (HNSW, IVF, ScaNN) organizes embeddings so you can find the top-k neighbors in milliseconds instead of scanning every row. Trade-off: build time and memory. A data structure that makes nearest-neighbor search fast.

A data structure that makes nearest-neighbor search fast. A vector index (HNSW, IVF, ScaNN) organizes embeddings so you can find the top-k neighbors in milliseconds instead of scanning every row. Trade-off: build time and memory. In practice: pgvector's HNSW index on a 1M-row table returns top-10 neighbors in ~5ms. This dictionary node is part of the Onexial knowledge graph and links to related concepts, workflows and tools below.
Definition
A vector index (HNSW, IVF, ScaNN) organizes embeddings so you can find the top-k neighbors in milliseconds instead of scanning every row. Trade-off: build time and memory.
Example
pgvector's HNSW index on a 1M-row table returns top-10 neighbors in ~5ms.
Related Tool Stacks
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What is Vector Index?

A vector index (HNSW, IVF, ScaNN) organizes embeddings so you can find the top-k neighbors in milliseconds instead of scanning every row. Trade-off: build time and memory.

What is an example of Vector Index?

pgvector's HNSW index on a 1M-row table returns top-10 neighbors in ~5ms.

Why does Vector Index matter for AI and automation?

A data structure that makes nearest-neighbor search fast. It connects to the workflows, prompts and tool stacks linked on this page, so you can move from definition to execution without leaving Onexial.

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Related concepts

The vocabulary this page depends on.

  • Retrieval

    Selecting the most relevant chunks for a query before generation.

  • RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)

    Inject external knowledge into an LLM at query time.

  • Agentic RAG

    RAG where an agent decides what to retrieve, when, and from which source — instead of a single static query.

  • Embedding

    A numerical vector representation of text, image or audio that captures meaning for similarity search.

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Related workflows

Turn this into a repeatable process.

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Related tool stacks

The tools that run it in production.

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Comparisons & alternatives

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