---
title: "zvec"
type: "tool"
slug: "alibaba-zvec"
canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/tools/alibaba-zvec"
github_url: "https://github.com/alibaba/zvec"
homepage_url: "https://zvec.org"
stars: 13952
forks: 846
primary_language: "C++"
license: "Apache-2.0"
categories: ["vector-databases"]
tags: ["agent-skills", "local", "llm-memory", "embedded", "rag", "db", "hnsw", "faiss"]
updated_at: "2026-07-07T18:30:34.229547+00:00"
---

# zvec

> Zvec is a lightweight, in-process vector database optimized for low-latency and scalable similarity search.

A high-performance vector database embedded within applications, enabling efficient similarity searches with minimal setup. Supports full-text search among other advanced features.

## Facts

- Repository: https://github.com/alibaba/zvec
- Homepage: https://zvec.org
- Stars: 13,952 · Forks: 846 · Open issues: 55 · Watchers: 67
- Primary language: C++
- License: Apache-2.0
- Last pushed: 2026-07-07T09:15:12+00:00

## Categories

- [Vector Databases](/categories/vector-databases.md)

## Tags

agent-skills, local, llm-memory, embedded, rag, db, hnsw, faiss

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## README (excerpt)

```text
<p align="right">
  English | <a href="./README_CN.md">中文</a>
</p>

<div align="center">
  <picture>
    <source media="(prefers-color-scheme: dark)" srcset="https://zvec.oss-cn-hongkong.aliyuncs.com/logo/github_log_2.svg" />
    <img src="https://zvec.oss-cn-hongkong.aliyuncs.com/logo/github_logo_1.svg" width="400" alt="zvec logo" />
  </picture>
</div>

<p align="center">
  <a href="https://codecov.io/github/alibaba/zvec"><img src="https://codecov.io/github/alibaba/zvec/graph/badge.svg?token=O81CT45B66" alt="Code Coverage"/></a>
  <a href="https://github.com/alibaba/zvec/actions/workflows/01-ci-pipeline.yml"><img src="https://github.com/alibaba/zvec/actions/workflows/01-ci-pipeline.yml/badge.svg?branch=main" alt="Main"/></a>
  <a href="https://github.com/alibaba/zvec/blob/main/LICENSE"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/license-Apache%202.0-blue.svg" alt="License"/></a>
  <a href="https://pypi.org/project/zvec/"><img src="https://img.shields.io/pypi/v/zvec.svg" alt="PyPI Release"/></a>
  <a href="https://pypi.org/project/zvec/"><img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/python-3.10%20~%203.14-blue.svg" alt="Python Versions"/></a>
  <a href="https://www.npmjs.com/package/@zvec/zvec"><img src="https://img.shields.io/npm/v/@zvec/zvec.svg" alt="npm Release"/></a>
</p>

<p align="center">
  <a href="https://trendshift.io/repositories/20830" target="_blank"><img src="https://trendshift.io/api/badge/repositories/20830" alt="alibaba%2Fzvec | Trendshift" style="width: 250px; height: 55px;" width="250" height="55"/></a>
</p>

<p align="center">
  <a href="https://zvec.org/en/docs/db/quickstart/">🚀 <strong>Quickstart</strong> </a> |
  <a href="https://zvec.org/en/">🏠 <strong>Home</strong> </a> |
  <a href="https://zvec.org/en/docs/db/">📚 <strong>Docs</strong> </a> |
  <a href="https://zvec.org/en/docs/db/benchmarks/">📊 <strong>Benchmarks</strong> </a> |
  <a href="https://deepwiki.com/alibaba/zvec">🔎 <strong>DeepWiki</strong> </a> |
  <a href="https://discord.gg/rKddFBBu9z">🎮 <strong>Discord</strong> </a> |
  <a href="https://x.com/ZvecAI">🐦 <strong>X (Twitter)</strong> </a>
</p>

**Zvec** is an open-source, in-process vector database — lightweight, lightning-fast, and designed to embed directly into applications. Battle-tested within Alibaba Group, it delivers production-grade, low-latency and scalable similarity search with minimal setup.

> [!Important]
> 🚀 **v0.5.0 (June 12, 2026)**
>
> - **Full-Text Search (FTS)**: Native full-text search — attach an FTS index to any string field and query it with natural-language or structured expressions, no external search engine required.
> - **Hybrid Retrieval**: Combine full-text and vector search in a single `MultiQuery` across dense vectors, sparse vectors, scalar filters, and text.
> - **DiskANN Index**: New on-disk index that keeps the bulk of the index on disk, drastically cutting memory usage for large-scale datasets.
> - **Ecosystem & Platforms**: New official [Go](https://github.com/zvec-ai/zvec-go) / [Rust](https://github.com/zvec-ai/zvec-rust) SDKs, the [Zvec Studio](https://github.com/zvec-ai/zvec-studio) visual tool, and RISC-V support.
>
> 👉 [Read the Release Notes](https://github.com/alibaba/zvec/releases/tag/v0.5.0) | [View Roadmap 📍](https://github.com/alibaba/zvec/issues/309)

## 💫 Features

- **Blazing Fast**: Searches billions of vectors in milliseconds.
- **Simple, Just Works**: [Install](#-installation) and start searching in seconds. Pure local, no servers, no config, no fuss.
- **Dense + Sparse Vectors**: Support dense and sparse embeddings, multi-vector queries, and a rich selection of [vector index types](https://zvec.org/en/docs/db/concepts/vector-index/#vector-index-types) that scale from memory to disk.
- **Full-Text Search (FTS)**: Native keyword-based full-text search — query string fields with natural-language or structured expressions.
- **Hybrid Search**: Fuse vector similarity, full-text search, and structured filters in a single query for precise
```

---

**Machine-readable endpoints**

- JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/tools/alibaba-zvec`](/api/graphcanon/tools/alibaba-zvec)
- LLM index: [/llms.txt](/llms.txt)
- Full corpus: [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt)

_GraphCanon - The knowledge graph for AI development. https://www.graphcanon.com/_