---
title: "cuVS Reference"
description: "cuVS is NVIDIA's GPU-accelerated library for vector search and clustering, part of the RAPIDS ecosystem. It provides state-of-the-art implementations of approximate nearest neighbor (ANN) search algorithms on the GPU, delivering orders-of-magnitude speedups over CPU-based libraries like Faiss (CPU mode), Annoy, and scikit-learn's NearestNeighbors for high-dimensional vector search."
type: skill
canonical_url: https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com/skills/cuvs
source: "Claudary"
difficulty: intermediate
author: "Claude Code Knowledge Pack"
date: 2026-07-10T11:19:19.314Z
license: CC-BY-4.0
attribution: "cuVS Reference — Claudary (https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com/skills/cuvs)"
---

# cuVS Reference
cuVS is NVIDIA's GPU-accelerated library for vector search and clustering, part of the RAPIDS ecosystem. It provides state-of-the-art implementations of approximate nearest neighbor (ANN) search algorithms on the GPU, delivering orders-of-magnitude speedups over CPU-based libraries like Faiss (CPU mode), Annoy, and scikit-learn's NearestNeighbors for high-dimensional vector search.

## Overview

# cuVS Reference

cuVS is NVIDIA's GPU-accelerated library for vector search and clustering, part of the RAPIDS ecosystem. It provides state-of-the-art implementations of approximate nearest neighbor (ANN) search algorithms on the GPU, delivering orders-of-magnitude speedups over CPU-based libraries like Faiss (CPU mode), Annoy, and scikit-learn's NearestNeighbors for high-dimensional vector search.

> **Full documentation:** https://docs.rapids.ai/api/cuvs/stable/

## Table of Contents

1. [Installation and Setup](#installation-and-setup)
2. [When to Use cuVS](#when-to-use-cuvs)
3. [Index Selection Guide](#index-selection-guide)
4. [CAGRA — Graph-Based Index](#cagra)
5. [IVF-Flat — Inverted File Index](#ivf-flat)
6. [IVF-PQ — Compressed Inverted File Index](#ivf-pq)
7. [Brute Force — Exact Search](#brute-force)
8. [HNSW — CPU Search from GPU Index](#hnsw)
9. [Distance Metrics](#distance-metrics)
10. [Filtering](#filtering)
11. [Multi-GPU](#multi-gpu)
12. [Memory and Performance](#memory-and-performance)
13. [Interoperability](#interoperability)
14. [Common Patterns](#common-patterns)

---

## Installation and Setup

Always use `uv add` (never `pip install` or `conda install`) in all install instructions, docstrings, comments, and error messages.

```bash
uv add --extra-index-url=https://pypi.nvidia.com cuvs-cu12   # For CUDA 12.x
```

**Platform:** Linux and WSL2 only (no native macOS or Windows).
**Requires:** NVIDIA GPU with CUDA 12.x support, CuPy recommended for GPU arrays.

Verify:
```python
from cuvs.neighbors import cagra
import cupy as cp

dataset = cp.random.rand(1000, 128, dtype=cp.float32)
index = cagra.build(cagra.IndexParams(), dataset)
print("cuVS working — built CAGRA index")
```

---

## When to Use cuVS

cuVS is the right tool when the user needs:
- **Nearest neighbor search** on high-dimensional vectors (embeddings)
- **Similarity search** for RAG, recommender systems, image/text/audio retrieval
- **k-NN graph construction** for clustering or visualization pipelines
- **Vector database backends** — cuVS powers search in Milvus, Lucene, Kinetica, and Faiss GPU
- **Replacing Faiss, Annoy, ScaNN, or sklearn NearestNeighbors** with GPU acceleration

cuVS is NOT the right tool for:
- General machine learning (use cuML instead)
- Low-dimensional data (< ~16 dimensions) with small datasets (< 10K vectors)
- CPU-only environments with no GPU available

---

## Index Selection Guide

| Index | Best For | Build Speed | Search Speed | Memory | Accuracy |
|-------|----------|-------------|--------------|--------|----------|
| **CAGRA** | Default choice — fast build and search | Fast | Fastest | Medium | High |
| **IVF-Flat** | When exact distances matter | Medium | Fast | High (stores full vectors) | Very High |
| **IVF-PQ** | Large datasets that don't fit in GPU memory | Medium | Fast | Low (compressed) | Good |
| **Brute Force** | Small datasets or ground truth | N/A | Slow at scale | High | Exact |
| **HNSW** | CPU-side serving from GPU-built index | Slow | Fast (CPU) | Medium | High |

**Start with CAGRA** unless you have a specific reason not to. It's the fastest GPU-native algorithm and works well for most use cases. Use IVF-PQ when memory is tight, IVF-Flat when you need higher accuracy, and brute force for small datasets or validation.

---

## CAGRA

CAGRA (CUDA Accelerated Graph-based) is a graph-based ANN index optimized for GPU. It's the fastest option for most workloads.

### Build

```python
import cupy as cp
from cuvs.neighbors import cagra

n_samples = 1_000_000
n_features = 128
dataset = cp.random.rand(n_samples, n_features, dtype=cp.float32)

# Default parameters work well for most cases
index_params = cagra.IndexParams(
    metric="sqeuclidean",             # "sqeuclidean", "inner_product", "cosine"
    intermediate_graph_degree=128,     # Higher = better quality, slower build
    graph_degree=64,                   # Final graph degree (lower = less memory)
    build_algo="ivf_pq",              # "ivf_pq", "nn_descent", or "ace"
)

index = cagra.build(index_params, dataset)
```

### Search

```python
from cuvs.common import Resources

queries = cp.random.rand(1000, n_features, dtype=cp.float32)

search_params = cagra.SearchParams(
    itopk_size=64,       # Intermediate top-k (higher = more accurate, slower)
    search_width=1,      # Starting nodes per iteration
    max_iterations=0,    # 0 = auto
    algo="auto",         # "auto", "single_cta", "multi_cta", "multi_kernel"
)

resources = Resources()
distances, neighbors = cagra.search(
    search_params, index, queries, k=10, resources=resources
)
resources.sync()

# distances: shape (1000, 10) — squared Euclidean distances
# neighbors: shape (1000, 10) — indices into original dataset
```

### Save / Load

```python
cagra.save("my_index.cagra", index)
loaded_index = cagra.load("my_index.cagra")
```

### Extend

```python
new_data = cp.random.rand(10_000, n_features, dtype=cp.float32)
extended_index = cagra.extend(cagra.ExtendParams(), index, new_data)
```

### With Compression (for large datasets)

```python
from cuvs.neighbors.cagra import CompressionParams

index_params = cagra.IndexParams(
    compression=CompressionParams(
        pq_bits=8,
        pq_dim=64,
    )
)
index = cagra.build(index_params, dataset)
```

---

## IVF-Flat

IVF-Flat partitions the dataset into clusters (inverted file) and stores full vectors. Higher accuracy than IVF-PQ but uses more memory.

### Build

```python
from cuvs.neighbors import ivf_flat

build_params = ivf_flat.IndexParams(
    n_lists=1024,                    # Number of clusters (sqrt(n_samples) is a good start)
    metric="sqeuclidean",            # "sqeuclidean", "euclidean", "inner_product", "cosine"
    kmeans_trainset_fraction=0.5,    # Fraction of data used for k-means training
    kmeans_n_iters=20,               # K-means iterations
    add_data_on_build=True,          # Add vectors during build (vs. extend later)
)

index = ivf_flat.build(build_params, dataset)
```

### Search

```python
search_params = ivf_flat.SearchParams(
    n_probes=50,    # Clusters to search (higher = more accurate, slower)
)

distances, neighbors = ivf_flat.search(
    search_params, index, queries, k=10
)
```

### Save / Load / Extend

```python
ivf_flat.save("my_index.ivf_flat", index)
loaded_index = ivf_flat.load("my_index.ivf_flat")

# Extend with new data
import numpy as np
new_vectors = cp.random.rand(5000, n_features, dtype=cp.float32)
new_indices = cp.arange(n_samples, n_samples + 5000, dtype=cp.int64)
ivf_flat.extend(index, new_vectors, new_indices)
```

---

## IVF-PQ

IVF-PQ compresses vectors using product quantization, dramatically reducing memory usage. Best for large datasets that don't fit in GPU memory with full vectors.

### Build

```python
from cuvs.neighbors import ivf_pq

build_params = ivf_pq.IndexParams(
    n_lists=1024,                # Number of clusters
    metric="sqeuclidean",        # "sqeuclidean", "inner_product"
    pq_bits=8,                   # Bits per subquantizer (4 or 8)
    pq_dim=0,                    # PQ dimensions (0 = auto, typically dim/4)
    codebook_kind="subspace",    # "subspace" or "cluster"
    kmeans_n_iters=20,
    add_data_on_build=True,
)

index = ivf_pq.build(build_params, dataset)
```

### Search

```python
search_params = ivf_pq.SearchParams(
    n_probes=50,                     # Clusters to search
    lut_dtype="float32",             # Look-up table precision
    internal_distance_dtype="float32",
)

distances, neighbors = ivf_pq.search(
    search_params, index, queries, k=10
)
```

### Save / Load / Extend

```python
ivf_pq.save("my_index.ivf_pq", index)
loaded_index = ivf_pq.load("my_index.ivf_pq")

# Extend
new_vectors = cp.random.rand(5000, n_features, dtype=cp.float32)
new_indices = cp.arange(n_samples, n_samples + 5000, dtype=cp.int64)
ivf_pq.extend(index, new_vectors, new_indices)
```

---

## Brute Force

Exact k-NN search — computes all distances. Use for small datasets (< 50K vectors) or generating ground truth to evaluate approximate indexes.

```python
from cuvs.neighbors import brute_force

# Build (just stores the dataset)
index = brute_force.build(dataset, metric="sqeuclidean")

# Search
distances, neighbors = brute_force.search(index, queries, k=10)

# Save / Load
brute_force.save("bf_index.bin", index)
loaded = brute_force.load("bf_index.bin")
```

---

## HNSW

cuVS provides an HNSW implementation for CPU-side search. The typical workflow is: build a CAGRA index on GPU, convert it to HNSW for CPU serving. This lets you leverage GPU speed for building while serving from CPU (useful when GPU isn't available at query time).

```python
from cuvs.neighbors import cagra, hnsw
import numpy as np

# Build CAGRA on GPU
dataset_gpu = cp.random.rand(100_000, 128, dtype=cp.float32)
cagra_index = cagra.build(cagra.IndexParams(), dataset_gpu)

# Convert to HNSW for CPU search
hnsw_index = hnsw.from_cagra(hnsw.IndexParams(), cagra_index)

# Search on CPU with numpy queries
queries_cpu = np.random.rand(100, 128).astype(np.float32)
search_params = hnsw.SearchParams(
    ef=200,           # Search depth (higher = more accurate, slower)
    num_threads=0,    # 0 = auto (uses all available threads)
)
distances, neighbors = hnsw.search(search_params, hnsw_index, queries_cpu, k=10)

# Save / Load
hnsw.save("my_index.hnsw", hnsw_index)
loaded = hnsw.load(hnsw.IndexParams(), "my_index.hnsw", dim=128,
                    dtype=np.float32, metric="sqeuclidean")
```

### Extendable HNSW

To add vectors after building, use `hierarchy="cpu"`:

```python
hnsw_index = hnsw.from_cagra(hnsw.IndexParams(hierarchy="cpu"), cagra_index)

new_data = np.random.rand(5000, 128).astype(np.float32)
hnsw.extend(hnsw.ExtendParams(), hnsw_index, new_data)
```

---

## Distance Metrics

| Metric | String | Notes |
|--------|--------|-------|
| Squared Euclidean | `"sqeuclidean"` | Default. Fastest — avoids sqrt. |
| Euclidean | `"euclidean"` | L2 distance |
| Inner Product | `"inner_product"` | For normalized embeddings (cosine similarity via dot product) |
| Cosine | `"cosine"` | Supported by CAGRA and IVF-Flat |

For cosine similarity with IVF-PQ, normalize vectors to unit length and use `"inner_product"`.

---

## Filtering

cuVS supports pre-filtering search results using bitmaps or bitsets to exclude specific vectors.

```python
from cuvs.neighbors import brute_force
import cupy as cp

# Bitset filter: exclude specific indices from ALL queries
# 1 = excluded, 0 = included
n_samples = 100_000
bitset = cp.zeros(n_samples, dtype=cp.uint8)
bitset[0:1000] = 1  # Exclude first 1000 vectors

distances, neighbors = brute_force.search(
    index, queries, k=10, prefilter=bitset
)
```

CAGRA also supports filtering via the `filter` parameter in `cagra.search()`.

---

## Multi-GPU

For datasets too large for a single GPU, use the multi-GPU API:

```python
from cuvs.neighbors.mg import cagra as mg_cagra

# Build across all available GPUs
build_params = mg_cagra.IndexParams(
    intermediate_graph_degree=64,
    graph_degree=32,
)
index = mg_cagra.build(build_params, dataset)

# Search across GPUs
search_params = mg_cagra.SearchParams()
distances, neighbors = mg_cagra.search(search_params, index, queries, k=10)
```

Multi-GPU is also available for IVF-Flat and IVF-PQ via `cuvs.neighbors.mg`.

---

## Memory and Performance

### Supported Data Types

All index types support: `float32`, `float16`, `int8`, `uint8`.

Using `float16` halves memory and can speed up both build and search when full float32 precision isn't needed (common for embeddings).

### Performance Tips

1. **Use CuPy arrays as input.** NumPy arrays work but trigger a CPU-to-GPU transfer. If your vectors are already on GPU (from a model or pipeline), pass them directly.

2. **Tune search parameters, not just build parameters.** The biggest accuracy/speed tradeoff is at search time:
   - CAGRA: increase `itopk_size` (default 64)
   - IVF-Flat/IVF-PQ: increase `n_probes` (default 20)
   - HNSW: increase `ef` (default 200)

3. **Use float16 for embeddings.** Most embedding models output float32 but the extra precision rarely matters for similarity search. Cast to float16 to double throughput.

4. **n_lists tuning for IVF indexes.** A good starting point is `sqrt(n_samples)`. Too few lists = slow search, too many = poor recall.

5. **Batch queries.** GPU throughput scales with batch size. Searching 1000 queries at once is far more efficient than 1000 individual searches.

6. **Reuse the Resources handle.** Create one `Resources()` object and pass it to all build/search calls — it manages CUDA streams and memory.

### Memory Estimates

- **Brute force:** `n_samples * dim * dtype_size` (full dataset)
- **IVF-Flat:** Similar to brute force + cluster overhead
- **IVF-PQ:** `n_samples * pq_dim * pq_bits / 8` (heavily compressed)
- **CAGRA:** `n_samples * (dim * dtype_size + graph_degree * 4)` (dataset + graph)

---

## Interoperability

- **CuPy:** Native input — zero-copy via `__cuda_array_interface__`
- **NumPy:** Accepted as input (auto-transferred to GPU for GPU indexes, used directly for HNSW)
- **PyTorch / TensorFlow:** Tensors accepted via CUDA array interface — no copy needed
- **cuDF:** Convert columns to CuPy with `.values` before passing to cuVS
- **Faiss:** cuVS powers Faiss GPU under the hood; for direct use, cuVS gives more control
- **Vector databases:** cuVS is integrated into Milvus, Lucene, and Kinetica

### End-to-End RAG Pipeline Example

```python
import cupy as cp
from cuvs.neighbors import cagra

# Assume embeddings come from a model (e.g., sentence-transformers on GPU)
document_embeddings = cp.array(embeddings, dtype=cp.float32)  # (n_docs, 768)

# Build index
index_params = cagra.IndexParams(metric="inner_product")
index = cagra.build(index_params, document_embeddings)
cagra.save("doc_index.cagra", index)

# At query time
query_embedding = cp.array(encode("user question"), dtype=cp.float32).reshape(1, -1)
search_params = cagra.SearchParams(itopk_size=128)
distances, neighbors = cagra.search(search_params, index, query_embedding, k=20)

# neighbors[0] contains the indices of the top-20 most similar documents
top_doc_ids = neighbors[0].get()  # Transfer to CPU
```

---

## Common Patterns

### Pattern 1: Quick ANN Search (CAGRA)

```python
import cupy as cp
from cuvs.neighbors import cagra

dataset = cp.random.rand(500_000, 128, dtype=cp.float32)
queries = cp.random.rand(1000, 128, dtype=cp.float32)

index = cagra.build(cagra.IndexParams(), dataset)
distances, neighbors = cagra.search(cagra.SearchParams(), index, queries, k=10)
```

### Pattern 2: Memory-Efficient Search (IVF-PQ)

```python
import cupy as cp
from cuvs.neighbors import ivf_pq

dataset = cp.random.rand(10_000_000, 256, dtype=cp.float32)

# PQ compresses vectors — uses ~32x less memory than brute force
params = ivf_pq.IndexParams(n_lists=4096, pq_bits=8, pq_dim=64)
index = ivf_pq.build(params, dataset)

search_params = ivf_pq.SearchParams

---

Source: [Claudary](https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com/skills/cuvs) · https://claudary.paisolsolutions.com