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This page shows you how to use AlloyDB as a vector database with
the vector extension that includes pgvector functions and operators. These
functions and operators let you store embeddings as vector values.
Required database extension
Use the vector extension, version 0.5.0.google-1 or later, which includes
pgvector functions and operators, to store generated embeddings as vector values. This
is a version of pgvector that Google has extended with optimizations specific
to AlloyDB.
CREATEEXTENSIONIFNOTEXISTSvector;
Store generated embeddings
Ensure that you have already created a table in your AlloyDB database.
To store vector embeddings, do the following:
Create a vector[] column in your table to store your embeddings:
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-12 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eAlloyDB can be used as a vector database by utilizing the \u003ccode\u003evector\u003c/code\u003e extension, which includes \u003ccode\u003epgvector\u003c/code\u003e functions and operators for storing embeddings.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ccode\u003evector\u003c/code\u003e extension, version \u003ccode\u003e0.5.0.google-1\u003c/code\u003e or later, is required to store embeddings as \u003ccode\u003evector\u003c/code\u003e values, which includes optimizations specific to AlloyDB.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eTo store vector embeddings, you must add a \u003ccode\u003evector[]\u003c/code\u003e column to your existing AlloyDB database table, specifying the number of dimensions supported by the model.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAfter creating the \u003ccode\u003evector[]\u003c/code\u003e column, you can copy vector data into it from a source such as a CSV file.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can create indexes for faster query performance using the \u003ccode\u003evector\u003c/code\u003e or \u003ccode\u003ealloydb_scann\u003c/code\u003e extensions after the embeddings are stored.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,[]]