Agent skill

Vector Search

by ruvnet in ruvnet/ruflo

Vector search via embeddings (large-scale HNSW) and ruvllmhnsw (WASM router for ≤11 hot patterns), with RaBitQ 1-bit quantization for 32× memory reduction

MITAuto-check: notesAI & LLM Engineering

Install Vector Search

skills CLI
$ npx skills add ruvnet/ruflo --skill vector-search -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install ruvnet/ruflo vector-search --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ruvnet/ruflo.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/ruflo-agentdb/skills/vector-search .claude/skills/vector-search && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
vector-search
GitHub stars
74k
Token cost
~1.5k tokens
SKILL.md length
504 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
264
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Vector search via embeddings (large-scale HNSW) and ruvllmhnsw (WASM router for ≤11 hot patterns), with RaBitQ 1-bit quantization for 32× memory reduction

  • Works in 6 steps: Check status —… → Initialize —… → Generate —… → …
  • Tasks that involve Vector databases
  • SKILL.md covers When to use, Standard search, Quantized search (32× memory… and Tuning, plus 4 more sections
  • Calls npx

What it does

Vector Search is an agent skill from ruvnet/ruflo. Vector search via embeddings (large-scale HNSW) and ruvllmhnsw (WASM router for ≤11 hot patterns), with RaBitQ 1-bit quantization for 32× memory reduction

Its SKILL.md is about 1.5k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in AI & LLM Engineering, covering Vector databases and Embeddings. It works with WebAssembly and Model Context Protocol. The repository describes itself as: 🌊 The original agent harness. Deploy intelligent multi-player swarms, coordinate autonomous workflows, and build conversational AI systems. Features adaptive memory…. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Tasks that involve Vector databases
  • Tasks that involve Embeddings

Example prompts

  • “/vector-search”

Requirements

  • Node.js
  • Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_generate, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_search, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_compare, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_init, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_status, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_hyperbolic, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_neural, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_rabitq_build, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_rabitq_search, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_rabitq_status, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__ruvllm_hnsw_create, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__ruvllm_hnsw_add, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__ruvllm_hnsw_route, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__memory_search_unified, Bash

Workflow steps

6 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. Check status — mcpplugin_ruflo-core_rufloembeddings_status to verify the embedding engine.
  2. Initialize — mcpplugin_ruflo-core_rufloembeddings_init if not active.
  3. Generate — mcpplugin_ruflo-core_rufloembeddings_generate for text input.
  4. Search — mcpplugin_ruflo-core_rufloembeddings_search with the query.
  5. Compare — mcpplugin_ruflo-core_rufloembeddings_compare to measure similarity.
  6. Unified search — mcpplugin_ruflo-core_ruflomemory_search_unified for cross-namespace.

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit de590e1. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves these tools, so the agent can use them without asking each time:

    • mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_generate
    • mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_search
    • mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_compare
    • mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_init
    • mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_status
    • mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_hyperbolic
    • mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_neural
    • mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_rabitq_build
    • mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_rabitq_search
    • mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_rabitq_status

    …and 5 more on the same allowed-tools line.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • npx

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md. Its commands use npx, which can reach the network depending on how they are called.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Vector Search loads about 1.5k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 43 tokens; SKILL.md has 504 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~43
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.5k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check: notes

The automated check noted patterns worth knowing about, such as sudo or a known installer.

  • NotePre-approves every shell command (allowed-tools: Bash)SKILL.md
    allowed-tools: mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_generate, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_search, 

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from ruvnet/ruflo at commit de590e1, republished under its MIT licence (© ruvnet). 504 words, ~1,478 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/vector-search/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
vector-search
description
Vector search via embeddings_* (large-scale HNSW) and ruvllm_hnsw_* (WASM router for ≤11 hot patterns), with RaBitQ 1-bit quantization for 32× memory reduction
allowed-tools
mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_generate, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_search, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_compare, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_init, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_status, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_hyperbolic, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_neural, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_rabitq_build, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_rabitq_search, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_rabitq_status, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__ruvllm_hnsw_create, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__ruvllm_hnsw_add, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__ruvllm_hnsw_route, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__memory_search_unified, Bash
argument-hint
<query> [--limit N] [--quantized]

Two distinct vector-search paths live in this plugin. Pick the right one — they're not interchangeable.

PathTool familyBackingCapacityLatency
Large-scale corpusembeddings_*@claude-flow/memory HNSW (Rust/Native)up to millions of vectors~1.9× at N=20k, ~3.2×–4.7× at N=5k vs brute-force (measured; recall@10 ≈ 0.99). ANN wins above the crossover
Hot-path routerruvllm_hnsw_*WASM-backed router (v2.0.1)~11 patterns max (ruvllm-tools.ts:58)sub-ms; designed for high-priority routing, not corpus search

The "12,500×" headline applies to the large-scale embeddings_search path. The WASM router is not that path.

When to use

NeedPath
Search a corpus of N ≥ 500 documentsembeddings_search
Memory-constrained corpus (≥5,000 vectors)RaBitQ quantized — see "Quantized search" below
Compare two stringsembeddings_compare
Hierarchical / taxonomic dataembeddings_hyperbolic (Poincare ball)
Route a query to one of ≤11 hot patternsruvllm_hnsw_route
Cross-namespace searchmemory_search_unified
  1. Check status — mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_status to verify the embedding engine.
  2. Initialize — mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_init if not active.
  3. Generate — mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_generate for text input.
  4. Search — mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_search with the query.
  5. Compare — mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_compare to measure similarity.
  6. Unified search — mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__memory_search_unified for cross-namespace.

Quantized search (32× memory reduction)

For corpora ≥5,000 vectors and/or memory-constrained environments, use the RaBitQ 1-bit quantization workflow. Below 5,000 vectors the rebuild cost outweighs the savings — use the standard path instead.

StepToolPurpose
1embeddings_initEngine warm
2embeddings_rabitq_buildOne-time build of the 1-bit index after corpus is loaded
3embeddings_rabitq_searchHamming-prefilter returns top-N candidate IDs (cheap)
4embeddings_searchOptional exact rerank on the candidate set (full-precision)
5embeddings_rabitq_statusIndex health, memory footprint, build time

Note: embeddings_rabitq_search returns candidate IDs only — the rerank in step 4 is the user's responsibility (mirrors the docstring at embeddings-tools.ts:911). Without rerank, results are approximate; with rerank, you get full-precision quality at 32× lower memory.

Show full SKILL.md (221 more words)Show less

Tuning

HNSW exposes three knobs that trade recall against latency. The "12,500×" headline assumes defaults; tune deliberately for your workload:

ProfileefSearchMWhen to use
recall-first20032Pattern recall during planning; quality matters more than ms
balanced (default)6416General-purpose semantic recall
latency-first168Hot-path routing where p99 latency matters

efSearch is passed via ruvllm_hnsw_create (ruvllm-tools.ts:64). M is registry-level today; raise as a follow-up if it should be MCP-tunable. efConstruction defaults to 200 in the lite index (hnsw-index.ts:537).

HNSW pattern router (WASM, ≤11 patterns)

For routing a small number of high-priority patterns:

  • mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__ruvllm_hnsw_create — create the WASM index (cap ~11)
  • mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__ruvllm_hnsw_add — add a pattern
  • mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__ruvllm_hnsw_route — route an incoming query

This is not a corpus index. Treat it as a fast classifier over a curated set of patterns.

Hyperbolic embeddings

For hierarchical data (code trees, org charts), use mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_hyperbolic which maps to Poincare ball space. Distance is geodesic, not cosine.

CLI alternative

bash
npx @claude-flow/cli@latest embeddings search --query "authentication patterns"
npx @claude-flow/cli@latest embeddings init
npx @claude-flow/cli@latest memory search --query "your query"

Performance

Measured numbers (source: scripts/benchmark-intelligence.mjs, ruvector NAPI backend; recall@10 ≈ 0.99). The older "150×–12,500×" figures were brute-force-fallback artifacts and have been retired — see project CLAUDE.md "V3 Performance Targets".

MethodMeasured speedup vs brute-force
Brute-force scanBaseline
HNSW (N=5,000)~3.2×–4.7× faster
HNSW (N=20,000)~1.9× faster
HNSW (below crossover, small N)ties/loses vs brute-force
RaBitQ quantization32× memory reduction; 0.60 ms/query at N≈14.7k
ruvllm_hnsw_route (n≤11)sub-ms per route, fixed cost

© ruvnet, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in plugins/ruflo-agentdb/skills/vector-search of ruvnet/ruflo.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit de590e1

Compare with similar skills

Vector Search next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Vector Search compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Vector Search this skillruvnet/ruflo74k—~1.5kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT
Codebase Managementgiancarloerra/SocratiCode3.3k1 repos~1.8kAutomated safety check: PassAGPL-3.0
Pgvector Semantic Searchtimescale/pg-aiguide1.9k1 repos~3.8kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Cookbook Aimldatabricks-solutions/databricks-apps-cookbook183—~1.7kAutomated safety check: PassCustom licence
Frontmcp Extensibilityagentfront/frontmcp146—~3.2kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Cognee Integrations Setuptopoteretes/cognee32k—~1kAutomated safety check: NotesApache-2.0

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Questions about Vector Search

What does Vector Search do?

Vector search via embeddings (large-scale HNSW) and ruvllmhnsw (WASM router for ≤11 hot patterns), with RaBitQ 1-bit quantization for 32× memory reduction. Vector Search is an agent skill from ruvnet/ruflo.

When should I use Vector Search?

Vector Search fits situations like: tasks that involve Vector databases; tasks that involve Embeddings.

How do I install Vector Search in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add ruvnet/ruflo --skill vector-search -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/ruflo-agentdb/skills/vector-search in ruvnet/ruflo) into .claude/skills/vector-search in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Vector Search in Codex?

Run `npx skills add ruvnet/ruflo --skill vector-search -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/ruflo-agentdb/skills/vector-search in ruvnet/ruflo) into .agents/skills/vector-search in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Vector Search in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add ruvnet/ruflo --skill vector-search -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/vector-search, .gemini/skills/vector-search, .github/skills/vector-search and .opencode/skills/vector-search in your project.

What does Vector Search need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Vector Search needs the command-line tools its instructions call (npx). Our summary lists: Node.js. Its frontmatter pre-approves these tools: mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_generate, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_search, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_compare, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_init, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_status, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_hyperbolic, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_neural, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_rabitq_build, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_rabitq_search, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__embeddings_rabitq_status, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__ruvllm_hnsw_create, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__ruvllm_hnsw_add, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__ruvllm_hnsw_route, mcp__plugin_ruflo-core_ruflo__memory_search_unified, Bash.

Does Vector Search access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Its commands use npx, which can reach the network depending on how they are called. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Vector Search safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found notes only (pre-approves every shell command (allowed-tools: bash)), nothing it rates as a warning. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Vector Search use?

Vector Search is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Vector Search use?

About 1.5k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 5.9k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Vector Search?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Vector Search: Codebase Management (giancarloerra/SocratiCode, 3.3k stars), Pgvector Semantic Search (timescale/pg-aiguide, 1.9k stars), Cookbook Aiml (databricks-solutions/databricks-apps-cookbook, 183 stars) and Frontmcp Extensibility (agentfront/frontmcp, 146 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Vector Search?

ruvnet (a GitHub user) maintains it in ruvnet/ruflo, which has 74,012 GitHub stars. The repository holds 264 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 7, 2026.

Source: ruvnet/ruflo on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.