[ES|QL] Optimize vector similarity when one param is constant #135602

pmpailis · 2025-09-29T09:30:25Z

This PR aims to optimize the way we handle constant vectors in ES|QL vector similarity functions. The main idea is to reuse a single object and avoid duplicating and creating huge FloatBlock instances and identical float arrays.

Benchmark results show a nice improvement for the script-score functions using the so_vector rally track:

| Metric                                      | Main (ms) | Candidate (ms) | Δ% (Candidate vs Main) |
|---------------------------------------------|-----------|----------------|-------------------------|
| esql-script-score-query-match-all            | 6528.64   | 2567.18        | -60.7%                 |
| esql-script-score-query-acceptedAnswerId     | 6388.91   | 2171.75        | -66.0%                 |
| esql-script-score-query-java                 | 714.05    | 261.21         | -63.4%                 |
| esql-script-score-query-javascript           | 594.97    | 212.74         | -64.3%                 |
| esql-script-score-query-css                  | 226.48    | 86.48          | -61.8%                 |
| esql-script-score-query-concurrency          | 23.44     | 13.06          | -44.3%                 |

Closes #134210

…ctor_similarity_when_constant

…github.com:pmpailis/elasticsearch into pb_134210_optimize_vector_similarity_when_constant

carlosdelest

This LGTM - a question about creating multiple subclasses

carlosdelest · 2025-09-29T18:58:28Z

...n/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/expression/function/vector/VectorSimilarityFunction.java

    public final EvalOperator.ExpressionEvaluator.Factory toEvaluator(EvaluatorMapper.ToEvaluator toEvaluator) {
+        VectorValueProvider.Builder leftVectorProviderBuilder = new VectorValueProvider.Builder();
+        VectorValueProvider.Builder rightVectorProviderBuilder = new VectorValueProvider.Builder();
+        if (left() instanceof Literal && left().dataType() == DENSE_VECTOR) {


I think you can count on the arguments being type dense_vector, it is already checked as part of checkDenseVectorParam() and would have been caught at the Analyzer level

carlosdelest · 2025-09-29T19:02:02Z

...n/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/expression/function/vector/VectorSimilarityFunction.java

+        private FloatBlock block;
+        private float[] scratch;
+
+        VectorValueProvider(ArrayList<Float> constantVector, EvalOperator.ExpressionEvaluator expressionEvaluator) {


Good idea to use a class to wrap the different ways of retrieving vectors!

Would it make sense to create two separate subclasses, so we don't need to keep checking for what has been provided?

That's a nice suggestion and will make things easier to follow, thanks! Will refactor to have 2 subclasses.

…nstant

elasticsearchmachine · 2025-10-01T08:45:59Z

Pinging @elastic/es-search-relevance (Team:Search Relevance)

pmpailis · 2025-10-01T09:21:29Z

...icsearch/xpack/esql/expression/function/vector/AbstractVectorSimilarityFunctionTestCase.java

        assumeTrue("Similarity function is not enabled", capability().isEnabled());
    }

+    public abstract String getBaseEvaluatorName();


@carlosdelest trying to find a better way to access this as we already pass it in the similarityParameters , but it was getting a bit too complicated for a small-scoped change, as the PR only affects the similarity functions. Happy to discuss alternatives :)

pmpailis · 2025-10-01T10:08:49Z

run elasticsearch-ci/part-3

…nstant

carlosdelest · 2025-10-01T12:53:55Z

x-pack/plugin/esql-core/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/core/type/DataType.java


    /**
-     * Fields with this type are dense vectors, represented as an array of double values.
+     * Fields with this type are dense vectors, represented as an array of float values.


😁 thanks for fixing!

carlosdelest · 2025-10-01T13:16:49Z

...n/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/expression/function/vector/VectorSimilarityFunction.java

+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public String toString() {


What do you think about creating a different factory for each type of VectorValueProvider, both of them implementing the same interface?

That would help with not having to check which of the two fields need to be used. Each of the classes would have its build() and toString() methods.

I think it makes sense as the factories create two different objects - makes sense to make them different.

Maybe it¡s a bit convoluted for what we're doing but probably cleaner. WDYT?

++ makes sense. Didn't want to have a ton of new factories/interfaces, but it will be cleaner. Will refactor as suggested.

Updated in ee019f2

…github.com:pmpailis/elasticsearch into pb_134210_optimize_vector_similarity_when_constant

carlosdelest

Great work! Your first PR achieved such a speedup 🚀

carlosdelest · 2025-10-02T10:09:48Z

...n/java/org/elasticsearch/xpack/esql/expression/function/vector/VectorSimilarityFunction.java

    public final EvalOperator.ExpressionEvaluator.Factory toEvaluator(EvaluatorMapper.ToEvaluator toEvaluator) {
+        VectorValueProviderFactory leftVectorProviderFactory;
+        VectorValueProviderFactory rightVectorProviderFactory;
+        if (left() instanceof Literal) {


Nit - we could extract this to a private method

++ updated in 9f47ab2

pmpailis added 8 commits September 26, 2025 15:06

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pmpailis and others added 8 commits September 29, 2025 12:48

Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/main' into pb_134210_optimize_ve…

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pmpailis marked this pull request as ready for review October 1, 2025 08:45

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addressing PR comments - adding common factory interface

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extracting method for generating the appropriate factory

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pmpailis enabled auto-merge (squash) October 2, 2025 11:07

pmpailis merged commit abf225c into elastic:main Oct 2, 2025
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[ES|QL] Optimize vector similarity when one param is constant #135602

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