Mastering Qdrant and Cohere: A Guide to Text Similarity Search

Mastering Qdrant: The Go-To Solution for Vector Similarity Applications

As a remarkable innovation in modern technology, Qdrant is a high-performance search engine and database tailored for vector similarity. Developed using Rust, Qdrant delivers fast, dependable performance even under rigorous workloads, making it a top choice for applications demanding speed and scalability.

Qdrant is more than just a database; it's a robust solution that can transform embeddings or neural network encoders into powerful, versatile applications. Whether you need to execute matching, searching, recommending, or other intricate operations on sizeable datasets, Qdrant is your one-stop solution.

One of Qdrant's distinguishing attributes is its comprehensive filtering support, which makes it ideally suited for faceted searches and semantic-based matching. When combined with its intuitive API, working with Qdrant has never been simpler.

Qdrant's convenience extends even further with Qdrant Cloud, a managed solution requiring minimal setup and maintenance. This enables seamless deployment and management of applications, reducing the burden on developers and administrators.

For an in-depth exploration, don't miss our dedicated Qdrant AI tech page. Discover how Qdrant empowers developers to harness the potential of vector similarity in AI apps, leveling up your projects and setting them apart from the competition.

What Will We Do?

In this tutorial, we will utilize the Qdrant Vector Database to store embeddings from Cohere's model and search using cosine similarity. We will use Cohere SDK to access the model. So, without any further ado, let’s jump in!

Prerequisites

I will use Qdrant Cloud to host my Database. And good to know that Qdrant provides 1 GB of free forever memory. So go and use Qdrant Cloud. You can find out how to do it here.

Now, let's create a new virtual environment inside the project directory and install the required packages:

• Ensure you have the necessary software installed, such as Python.
• Create a project .py file.

Data

We will store our data in JSON format. Feel free to copy it:

{
  "animals": [
    { "name": "Giraffe", "type": "Mammal" },
    { "name": "Hippopotamus", "type": "Mammal" },
    { "name": "Rhino", "type": "Mammal" }
  ]
}

Environment Variables

Create a .env file and store your Cohere API key, Qdrant API key, and Qdrant host there:

COHERE_API_KEY=your_cohere_api_key
QDRANT_API_KEY=your_qdrant_api_key
QDRANT_HOST=your_qdrant_host

Importing Libraries

Load Environment variables as follows:

from dotenv import load_dotenv
import os

load_dotenv()

How to Index Data and Search Through It Later?

I will implement the SearchClient class, which will be able to index and access our data. The class will contain all necessary functionalities, such as indexing and searching, but also data conversion to necessary formats.

Let’s Use Our Code!

Let’s try to read data from the data.json file, process, and index it. Then we can try to search and get the top 3 results from our Database!

Results!

As you can see in the first row: the index operation went well. We got 3 results, as we defined. The first one is (as expected) a Giraffe. We also got Hippopotamus and Rhino. They are also huge, but I think Giraffe is the tallest!

The Next Steps: Harnessing Qdrant and Cohere for Your AI Applications

So, right now you've got the basics of Qdrant under your belt. What's next on your AI journey? It's time to put your newfound skills to the test. Consider building an API that allows your application to index data, add new records, and search. FastAPI is a fantastic tool for this task, offering a high-performance, easy-to-use framework for building APIs.

But don't stop there. If you're ready to take your skills to the next level, why not use them to build an AI application during upcoming AI Hackathons? Those events bring together a community of innovators and creators, all eager to shape the future with AI. It's a chance to learn, grow, and maybe even create something groundbreaking. During a couple of days, you align with people from all around the world and create a solution to an existing problem!

Don't forget to check out our other events too. We're always hosting exciting opportunities for our community to learn, innovate, and push the boundaries of what's possible with AI!