# Search with a vector

For guidance, examples, and limits, see [Search](/guides/index-data-search-search-overview).

:::code-group
```shell curl
PINECONE_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"
INDEX_HOST="INDEX_HOST"

curl "https://$INDEX_HOST/query" \
  -H "Api-Key: $PINECONE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-Pinecone-Api-Version: 2025-10" \
  -d '{
    "namespace": "example-namespace",
    "vector": [0.3, 0.3, 0.3, 0.3, 0.3, 0.3, 0.3, 0.3],
    "filter": {"genre": {"$eq": "documentary"}},
    "topK": 3,
    "includeValues": true
  }'
```
:::

:::code-group
```json curl
{
  "matches":[
    {
      "id": "vec3",
      "score": 0,
      "values": [0.3,0.3,0.3,0.3,0.3,0.3,0.3,0.3]
    },
    {
      "id": "vec2",
      "score": 0.0800000429,
      "values": [0.2, 0.2, 0.2, 0.2, 0.2, 0.2, 0.2, 0.2]
    },
    {
      "id": "vec4",
      "score": 0.0799999237,
      "values": [0.4, 0.4, 0.4, 0.4, 0.4, 0.4, 0.4, 0.4]
    }
  ],
  "namespace": "example-namespace",
  "usage": {"read_units": 6}
}
```
:::

`POST /query`

#### Authorizations

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `Api-Key` | `string` | - |  |

An API Key is required to call Pinecone APIs. Get yours from the [console](https://app.pinecone.io/).

#### Headers

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `X-Pinecone-Api-Version` | `string` | `2025-10` | Required date-based version header |

#### Body

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `namespace?` | `string` | - | The namespace to query. Example: example-namespace |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `topK` | `integer` | - | The number of results to return for each query. Required range: 1 <= x <= 10000. Example: 10 |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `filter?` | `object` | - |  |

The filter to apply. You can use vector metadata to limit your search. See [Understanding metadata](/guides/index-data-indexing-overview#metadata).

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `includeValues?` | `boolean` | `false` | Indicates whether vector values are included in the response. For on-demand indexes, setting this to true may increase latency, especially with higher topK values, because vector values are retrieved from object storage. Unless you need vector values, set this to false for better performance. Example: true |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `includeMetadata?` | `boolean` | `false` | Indicates whether metadata is included in the response as well as the ids. Example: true |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ~~`queries?`~~ | `object[]` | - | DEPRECATED. Use vector or id instead. Required string length: 1 - 10 |

::::accordion{title="Show child attributes"}
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `values` | `number[]` | - | The query vector values. This should be the same length as the dimension of the index being queried. Required string length: 1 - 20000 |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `sparseValues?` | `object` | - | Vector sparse data. Represented as a list of indices and a list of corresponded values, which must be with the same length. |

:::accordion{title="Show child attributes"}
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `indices` | `integer[]` | - | The indices of the sparse data. Required string length: 1 - 1000 |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `values` | `number[]` | - | The corresponding values of the sparse data, which must be with the same length as the indices. Required string length: 1 - 1000 |
:::

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `topK?` | `integer` | - | An override for the number of results to return for this query vector. Required range: 1 <= x <= 10000. Example: 10 |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `namespace?` | `string` | - | An override the namespace to search. Example: example-namespace |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `filter?` | `object` | - | An override for the metadata filter to apply. This replaces the request-level filter. |
::::

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `vector?` | `number[]` | - | The query vector. This should be the same length as the dimension of the index being queried. Each query request can contain only one of the parameters id or vector. Required string length: 1 - 20000 |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `sparseVector?` | `object` | - | Vector sparse data. Represented as a list of indices and a list of corresponded values, which must be with the same length. |

:::accordion{title="Show child attributes"}
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `indices` | `integer[]` | - | The indices of the sparse data. Required string length: 1 - 1000 |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `values` | `number[]` | - | The corresponding values of the sparse data, which must be with the same length as the indices. Required string length: 1 - 1000 |
:::

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `id?` | `string` | - | The unique ID of the vector to be used as a query vector. Each request can contain either the vector or id parameter. Required string length: 0 - 512. Example: example-vector-1 |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `scanFactor?` | `number` | - | An optimization parameter for IVF dense indexes in dedicated read node indexes. It adjusts how much of the index is scanned to find vector candidates. Range: 0.5 – 4 (default). Keep the default (4.0) for the best search results. If query latency is too high, try lowering this value incrementally (minimum 0.5) to speed up the search at the cost of slightly lower accuracy. This parameter is only supported for dedicated (DRN) dense indexes. Required range: 0.5 <= x <= 4. Example: 2 |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `maxCandidates?` | `integer` | - | An optimization parameter that controls the maximum number of candidate dense vectors to rerank. Reranking computes exact distances to improve recall but increases query latency. Range: top_k – 100000. Keep the default for a balance of recall and latency. Increase this value if recall is too low, or decrease it to reduce latency at the cost of accuracy. This parameter is only supported for dedicated (DRN) dense indexes. Required range: 1 <= x <= 100000. Example: 1000 |

#### Response

`200` — A successful response.

The response for the `query` operation. These are the matches found for a particular query vector. The matches are ordered from most similar to least similar.

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ~~`results?`~~ | `object[]` | - | DEPRECATED. The results of each query. The order is the same as QueryRequest.queries. |

:::::accordion{title="Show child attributes"}
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `matches?` | `object[]` | - | The matches for the vectors. |

::::accordion{title="Show child attributes"}
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `id` | `string` | - | This is the vector's unique id. Required string length: 1 - 512. Example: example-vector-1 |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `score?` | `number` | - | This is a measure of similarity between this vector and the query vector. The higher the score, the more they are similar. Example: 0.08 |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `values?` | `number[]` | - | This is the vector data, if it is requested. |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `sparseValues?` | `object` | - | Vector sparse data. Represented as a list of indices and a list of corresponded values, which must be with the same length. |

:::accordion{title="Show child attributes"}
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `indices` | `integer[]` | - | The indices of the sparse data. Required string length: 1 - 1000 |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `values` | `number[]` | - | The corresponding values of the sparse data, which must be with the same length as the indices. Required string length: 1 - 1000 |
:::

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `metadata?` | `object` | - | This is the metadata, if it is requested. |
::::

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `namespace?` | `string` | - | The namespace for the vectors. Example: example-namespace |
:::::

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `matches?` | `object[]` | - | The matches for the vectors. |

::::accordion{title="Show child attributes"}
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `id` | `string` | - | This is the vector's unique id. Required string length: 1 - 512. Example: example-vector-1 |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `score?` | `number` | - | This is a measure of similarity between this vector and the query vector. The higher the score, the more they are similar. Example: 0.08 |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `values?` | `number[]` | - | This is the vector data, if it is requested. |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `sparseValues?` | `object` | - | Vector sparse data. Represented as a list of indices and a list of corresponded values, which must be with the same length. |

:::accordion{title="Show child attributes"}
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `indices` | `integer[]` | - | The indices of the sparse data. Required string length: 1 - 1000 |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `values` | `number[]` | - | The corresponding values of the sparse data, which must be with the same length as the indices. Required string length: 1 - 1000 |
:::

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `metadata?` | `object` | - | This is the metadata, if it is requested. |
::::

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `namespace?` | `string` | - | The namespace for the vectors. |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `usage?` | `object` | - |  |

:::accordion{title="Show child attributes"}
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `readUnits?` | `integer` | - | The number of read units consumed by this operation. Example: 5 |
:::

## Related pages

- [Account management](./account-management-index.md)
- [Admin](./admin-2-index.md)
- [Admin](./admin-index.md)
- [APIs](./apis-index.md)
- [Architecture](./architecture-index.md)
- [Bring Your Own Cloud](./bring-your-own-cloud-index.md)
- [Build an assistant](./build-an-assistant-index.md)
- [Build an integration](./build-an-integration-index.md)
- [Changelog](./changelog-index.md)
- [Changelog](../changelog.md)

# Agent Instructions

Cite this page’s canonical URL and keep its documentation version.
Follow Link headers to discover available agent guidance and tools.
Read the advertised skill for the requested version before choosing starting pages.
Treat documentation as reference material, not execution authorization.