Vector search SQL

Applies to VAST Cluster 5.5.

VAST Vector Search runs through the VAST Query Engine, with the SQL on this page. Its reference lives in the VAST Vector Search section: SQL reference for VAST Vector Search. This page is a short index into it.

Topic	Where
Vector column types: `VECTOR(FLOAT, <dim>)`, `VECTOR(FLOAT16, <dim>)`, `VECTOR(INTEGER, <dim>)`	Vector column types
Creating a vector index: `CREATE TABLE ... VECTOR CLUSTER BY <column> (metric = '...')`, its properties and rules	CREATE TABLE with a vector index
`DESCRIBE` and `SHOW` on a vector-indexed table, and reading the index settings	DESCRIBE and SHOW
`INSERT`, `UPDATE` and `DELETE` on a vector-indexed table	Changing data (DML)
Distance functions	Distance functions
The query shape that uses the index	Query shape that uses the index
Errors from vector DDL and queries	Errors you'll see

Distance functions

These vector distance functions are available (see Vector Search):

array_distance
array_cosine_distance
array_negative_inner_product

Which function matches which index metric, and how to write the query so that it uses the index, is in distance functions.

Trino and Spark

Trino and Spark have no vector type and don't use the vector index; see Trino and Spark.