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Weaviate

Set up a Weaviate Instance

Weaviate is an open-source vector search engine designed to scale seamlessly into billions of data objects. This implementation supports hybrid search out-of-the-box (meaning it will perform better for keyword searches).

You can run Weaviate in 4 ways:

  • SaaS – with Weaviate Cloud Services (WCS).

    WCS is a fully managed service that takes care of hosting, scaling, and updating your Weaviate instance. You can try it out for free with a sandbox that lasts for 30 days.

    To set up a SaaS Weaviate instance with WCS:

    1. Navigate to Weaviate Cloud Console.
    2. Register or sign in to your WCS account.
    3. Create a new cluster with the following settings:
      • Name – a unique name for your cluster. The name will become part of the URL used to access this instance.
      • Subscription Tier – Sandbox for a free trial, or contact [email protected] for other options.
      • Weaviate Version - The latest version by default.
      • OIDC Authentication – Enabled by default. This requires a username and password to access your instance.
    4. Wait for a few minutes until your cluster is ready. You will see a green tick ✔️ when it's done. Copy your cluster URL.

  • Hybrid SaaS

    If you need to keep your data on-premise for security or compliance reasons, Weaviate also offers a Hybrid SaaS option: Weaviate runs within your cloud instances, but the cluster is managed remotely by Weaviate. This gives you the benefits of a managed service without sending data to an external party.

    The Weaviate Hybrid SaaS is a custom solution. If you are interested in this option, please reach out to [email protected].

  • Self-hosted – with a Docker container

    To set up a Weaviate instance with Docker:

    1. Install Docker on your local machine if it is not already installed.

    2. Install the Docker Compose Plugin

    3. Download a docker-compose.yml file with this curl command:

      curl -o docker-compose.yml "https://configuration.weaviate.io/v2/docker-compose/docker-compose.yml?modules=standalone&runtime=docker-compose&weaviate_version=v1.18.0"

      Alternatively, you can use Weaviate's docker compose configuration tool to generate your own docker-compose.yml file.

    4. Run docker compose up -d to spin up a Weaviate instance.

      To shut it down, run docker compose down.

  • Self-hosted – with a Kubernetes cluster

    To configure a self-hosted instance with Kubernetes, follow Weaviate's documentation.

Configure Weaviate Environment Variables

You need to set some environment variables to connect to your Weaviate instance.

Retrieval App Environment Variables

Name Required Description
DATASTORE Yes Datastore name. Set this to weaviate
BEARER_TOKEN Yes Your secret token (not the Weaviate one)
OPENAI_API_KEY Yes Your OpenAI API key

Weaviate Datastore Environment Variables

Name Required Description Default
WEAVIATE_HOST Optional Your Weaviate instance host address (see notes below) http://127.0.0.1
WEAVIATE_PORT Optional Your Weaviate port number (use 443 for WCS) 8080
WEAVIATE_CLASS Optional Your chosen Weaviate class/collection name to store your documents OpenAIDocument

For WCS instances, set WEAVIATE_PORT to 443 and WEAVIATE_HOST to https://(wcs-instance-name).weaviate.network. For example: https://my-project.weaviate.network/.

For self-hosted instances, if your instance is not at 127.0.0.1:8080, set WEAVIATE_HOST and WEAVIATE_PORT accordingly. For example: WEAVIATE_HOST=http://localhost/ and WEAVIATE_PORT=4040.

Weaviate Auth Environment Variables

If you enabled OIDC authentication for your Weaviate instance (recommended for WCS instances), set the following environment variables. If you enabled anonymous access, skip this section.

Name Required Description
WEAVIATE_USERNAME Yes Your OIDC or WCS username
WEAVIATE_PASSWORD Yes Your OIDC or WCS password
WEAVIATE_SCOPES Optional Space-separated list of scopes

Learn more about authentication in Weaviate and the Python client authentication.

Weaviate Batch Import Environment Variables

Weaviate uses a batching mechanism to perform operations in bulk. This makes importing and updating your data faster and more efficient. You can adjust the batch settings with these optional environment variables:

Name Required Description Default
WEAVIATE_BATCH_SIZE Optional Number of insert/updates per batch operation 20
WEAVIATE_BATCH_DYNAMIC Optional Lets the batch process decide the batch size False
WEAVIATE_BATCH_TIMEOUT_RETRIES Optional Number of retry-on-timeout attempts 3
WEAVIATE_BATCH_NUM_WORKERS Optional The max number of concurrent threads to run batch operations 1

Note: The optimal WEAVIATE_BATCH_SIZE depends on the available resources (RAM, CPU). A higher value means faster bulk operations, but also higher demand for RAM and CPU. If you experience failures during the import process, reduce the batch size.

Setting WEAVIATE_BATCH_SIZE to None means no limit to the batch size. All insert or update operations would be sent to Weaviate in a single operation. This might be risky, as you lose control over the batch size.

Learn more about batch configuration in Weaviate.