Local AI Glossary
What is HNSW (Hierarchical Navigable Small World)?
Source: paperswithcode/HNSW
A graph-based vector index that enables sub-millisecond approximate nearest neighbor search at scale. The default index in Qdrant, Weaviate, and pgvector. Trade-off between speed, memory, and recall.
How HNSW (Hierarchical Navigable Small World) fits in the local AI stack
HNSW (Hierarchical Navigable Small World) is part of the broader local AI ecosystem. See the related guides, comparisons, and tools below to see how it applies in practice.
See also
- Full Local AI Glossary
- All learn topics
- What is Local AI?
- Quantization explained
- Hardware requirements
- How to choose a local LLM