<div align="center">
<img src="https://vectorless.dev/img/with-title.png" alt="Vectorless" width="400">
<h1>Document Engine for AI</h1>
[](https://pypi.org/project/vectorless/)
[](https://pepy.tech/projects/vectorless)
[](https://crates.io/crates/vectorless)
[](https://crates.io/crates/vectorless)
[](https://docs.rs/vectorless)
[](LICENSE)
</div>
**Vectorless** is a reasoning-native document engine designed to be the foundational layer for AI applications that need structured access to documents, with the core written in Rust. It does not use vector databases, embeddings, or similarity search. Instead, it will reason through any of your structured documents — **PDFs, Markdown, reports, contracts** — and retrieve only what's relevant. Nothing more, nothing less.
## How It Works
<div align="center">
<img src="https://vectorless.dev/img/workflow.svg" alt="Vectorless Workflow" width="900">
</div>
<div align="center">
<img src="https://vectorless.dev/img/demo.gif" alt="Vectorless Demo" width="900">
</div>
## Quick Start
### Rust
```toml
[dependencies]
vectorless = "0.1"
```
```rust
use vectorless::client::{EngineBuilder, IndexContext, QueryContext};
#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> vectorless::Result<()> {
let engine = EngineBuilder::new()
.with_key("sk-...")
.with_model("gpt-4o")
.with_endpoint("https://api.openai.com/v1")
.build()
.await?;
// Index a document
let result = engine.index(IndexContext::from_path("./report.pdf")).await?;
let doc_id = result.doc_id().unwrap();
// Query
let result = engine.query(
QueryContext::new("What is the total revenue?")
.with_doc_ids(vec![doc_id.to_string()])
).await?;
println!("{}", result.content);
Ok(())
}
```
### Python
```bash
pip install vectorless
```
```python
import asyncio
from vectorless import Engine, IndexContext, QueryContext
async def main():
engine = Engine(api_key="sk-...", model="gpt-4o", endpoint="https://api.openai.com/v1")
# Index a document
result = await engine.index(IndexContext.from_path("./report.pdf"))
doc_id = result.doc_id
# Query
result = await engine.query(
QueryContext("What is the total revenue?").with_doc_ids([doc_id])
)
print(result.single().content)
asyncio.run(main())
```
## Core Concepts
### Semantic Tree Index
When you index a document, Vectorless builds a tree structure that mirrors the document's hierarchy:
```
Annual Report 2024
├── Executive Summary
│ ├── Financial Highlights
│ └── Strategic Outlook
├── Financial Statements
│ ├── Revenue Analysis ← "What is the total revenue?" lands here
│ ├── Operating Expenses
│ └── Net Income
└── Risk Factors
├── Market Risks
└── Regulatory Risks
```
Each node contains a summary generated by the LLM. During retrieval, the engine uses these summaries to reason about which path to follow — just like a human would scan a table of contents.
### Cross-Document Graph
When multiple documents are indexed, Vectorless builds a relationship graph connecting them through shared keywords and concepts. This enables queries across your entire document collection.
```python
# Query across all indexed documents
result = await engine.query(
QueryContext("Compare revenue trends across all reports")
)
```
### Workspace Persistence
Indexed documents are stored in a workspace — there's no need to reprocess files between sessions:
```python
engine = Engine(api_key="sk-...", model="gpt-4o", endpoint="https://api.openai.com/v1")
# List all indexed documents
docs = await engine.list()
for doc in docs:
print(f"{doc.name} ({doc.format}) — {doc.page_count} pages")
```
## What It's For
Vectorless is designed for applications that need **precise** document retrieval:
- **Financial analysis** — Extract specific figures from reports, compare across filings
- **Legal research** — Find relevant clauses, trace definitions across documents
- **Technical documentation** — Navigate large manuals, locate specific procedures
- **Academic research** — Cross-reference findings across papers
- **Compliance** — Audit trails with source references for every answer
## Examples
See [examples/](examples/) for complete usage patterns.
## Contributing
Contributions welcome! If you find this useful, please ⭐ the repo — it helps others discover it.
## Star History
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## License
Apache License 2.0