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n. / Retrieval
Vector database
Definition
A vector database stores embeddings and quickly finds the ones closest to a query embedding. It is the usual storage layer behind semantic search and retrieval-augmented generation.
In more detail
You index document chunks with their embeddings and metadata, then search by similarity with optional filters such as customer or date. Latency, index freshness and filters are the practical concerns. Trace each search as its own span with the query, number of results and scores, since weak scores are an early sign of poor retrieval.
Example
A query for "cancel my plan" returns the five nearest chunks, with similarity scores from 0.82 down to 0.71, each linking back to its source page.
