Skip to main content
This section covers the core fundamentals for working with Actian VectorAI DB.

Overview

VectorAI DB organizes data in a hierarchical structure. Collections contain points, and each point consists of a vector with optional payload metadata. This structure enables semantic search: you query with a vector, and VectorAI DB finds points with similar vectors in your collection.
CategoryComponentDescription
Data structureCollectionsNamed containers that store points, similar to tables in relational databases. Each collection has a fixed vector dimension and distance metric.
Data structurePointsIndividual data units within a collection. Each point has a unique ID and contains a vector with optional metadata.
Data structureVectorsNumerical embeddings that represent your data semantically. Generated by embedding models from text, images, or other content.
Data structurePayloadOptional JSON metadata attached to points. Use payloads for filtering and storing contextual information.
OperationsSearchVector similarity search using distance metrics to find semantically similar content.
OperationsFilteringCombine vector similarity with metadata conditions using must, should, and must-not filters.
ConfigurationIndexingHNSW algorithm for efficient approximate nearest neighbor search at scale.
ConfigurationDistance metricsCosine similarity, Euclidean distance, and dot product for measuring vector similarity.

Next steps

  • Start with Collections to understand how data is organized.
  • Learn about Points to manage your vector data.
  • Explore Search to query your collections.