Rerank results

Improve retrieval quality by reranking initial search results with a hosted or external model to surface the most relevant matches for RAG.

Reranking is used as part of a two-stage vector retrieval process to improve the quality of results. You first query an index for a given number of relevant results, and then you send the query and results to a reranking model. The reranking model scores the results based on their semantic relevance to the query and returns a new, more accurate ranking. This approach is one of the simplest methods for improving quality in retrieval augmented generation (RAG) pipelines.

Pinecone provides hosted reranking models so it's easy to manage two-stage vector retrieval on a single platform. You can use a hosted model to rerank results as an integrated part of a query, or you can use a hosted model or external model to rerank results as a standalone operation.

Integrated reranking

To rerank initial results as an integrated part of a query, without any extra steps, use the search operation with the rerank parameter, including the hosted reranking model you want to use, the number of reranked results to return, and the fields to use for reranking, if different than the main query.

For example, the following code searches for the 3 records most semantically related to a query text and uses the hosted bge-reranker-v2-m3 model to rerank the results and return only the 2 most relevant documents:

Python

from pinecone import Pinecone

pc = Pinecone(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")

# To get the unique host for an index, 
# see https://docs.pinecone.io/guides/manage-data/target-an-index
index = pc.Index(host="INDEX_HOST")

ranked_results = index.search(
    namespace="example-namespace", 
    query={
        "inputs": {"text": "Disease prevention"}, 
        "top_k": 4
    },
    rerank={
        "model": "bge-reranker-v2-m3",
        "top_n": 2,
        "rank_fields": ["chunk_text"]
    },
    fields=["category", "chunk_text"]
)

print(ranked_results)

JavaScript

import { Pinecone } from '@pinecone-database/pinecone'

const pc = new Pinecone({ apiKey: "YOUR_API_KEY" })

// To get the unique host for an index, 
// see https://docs.pinecone.io/guides/manage-data/target-an-index
const namespace = pc.index("INDEX_NAME", "INDEX_HOST").namespace("example-namespace");

const response = await namespace.searchRecords({
  query: {
    topK: 2,
    inputs: { text: 'Disease prevention' },
  },
  fields: ['chunk_text', 'category'],
  rerank: {
    model: 'bge-reranker-v2-m3',
    rankFields: ['chunk_text'],
    topN: 2,
  },
});

console.log(response);

Java

import io.pinecone.clients.Index;
import io.pinecone.configs.PineconeConfig;
import io.pinecone.configs.PineconeConnection;
import org.openapitools.db_data.client.ApiException;
import org.openapitools.db_data.client.model.SearchRecordsRequestRerank;
import org.openapitools.db_data.client.model.SearchRecordsResponse;

import java.util.*;

public class SearchText {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws ApiException {
        PineconeConfig config = new PineconeConfig("YOUR_API_KEY");
        // To get the unique host for an index, 
        // see https://docs.pinecone.io/guides/manage-data/target-an-index
        config.setHost("INDEX_HOST");
        PineconeConnection connection = new PineconeConnection(config);

        Index index = new Index(config, connection, "integrated-dense-java");

        String query = "Disease prevention";
        List<String> fields = new ArrayList<>();
        fields.add("category");
        fields.add("chunk_text");

        List<String>rankFields = new ArrayList<>();
        rankFields.add("chunk_text");
        SearchRecordsRequestRerank rerank = new SearchRecordsRequestRerank()
                .query(query)
                .model("bge-reranker-v2-m3")
                .topN(2)
                .rankFields(rankFields);

        SearchRecordsResponse recordsResponseReranked = index.searchRecordsByText(query,  "example-namespace", fields,4, null, rerank);

        System.out.println(recordsResponseReranked);
    }
}

package main

import (
    "context"
    "encoding/json"
    "fmt"
    "log"

    "github.com/pinecone-io/go-pinecone/v4/pinecone"
)

func prettifyStruct(obj interface{}) string {
  	bytes, _ := json.MarshalIndent(obj, "", "  ")
    return string(bytes)
}

func main() {
    ctx := context.Background()

    pc, err := pinecone.NewClient(pinecone.NewClientParams{
        ApiKey: "YOUR_API_KEY",
    })
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("Failed to create Client: %v", err)
    }

    // To get the unique host for an index, 
    // see https://docs.pinecone.io/guides/manage-data/target-an-index
    idxConnection, err := pc.Index(pinecone.NewIndexConnParams{Host: "INDEX_HOST", Namespace: "example-namespace"})
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("Failed to create IndexConnection for Host: %v", err)
    } 

    topN := int32(2)
    res, err := idxConnection.SearchRecords(ctx, &pinecone.SearchRecordsRequest{
        Query: pinecone.SearchRecordsQuery{
            TopK: 3,
            Inputs: &map[string]interface{}{
                "text": "Disease prevention",
            },
        },
        Rerank: &pinecone.SearchRecordsRerank{
            Model:      "bge-reranker-v2-m3",
            TopN:       &topN,
            RankFields: []string{"chunk_text"},
        },
        Fields: &[]string{"chunk_text", "category"},
    })
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("Failed to search records: %v", err)
    }
    fmt.Printf(prettifyStruct(res))
}

curl

INDEX_HOST="INDEX_HOST"
NAMESPACE="YOUR_NAMESPACE"
PINECONE_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"

curl "https://$INDEX_HOST/records/namespaces/$NAMESPACE/search" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Api-Key: $PINECONE_API_KEY" \
  -H "X-Pinecone-Api-Version: 2026-07" \
  -d '{
        "query": {
            "inputs": {"text": "Disease prevention"},
            "top_k": 4
        },
        "rerank": {
            "model": "bge-reranker-v2-m3",
            "top_n": 2,
            "rank_fields": ["chunk_text"]
        },
        "fields": ["category", "chunk_text"]
     }'

The response looks as follows. For each hit, the _score represents the relevance of a document to the query, normalized between 0 and 1, with scores closer to 1 indicating higher relevance.

Python

{'result': {'hits': [{'_id': 'rec3',
                      '_score': 0.004399413242936134,
                      'fields': {'category': 'immune system',
                                 'chunk_text': 'Rich in vitamin C and other '
                                                'antioxidants, apples '
                                                'contribute to immune health '
                                                'and may reduce the risk of '
                                                'chronic diseases.'}},
                     {'_id': 'rec4',
                      '_score': 0.0029235430993139744,
                      'fields': {'category': 'endocrine system',
                                 'chunk_text': 'The high fiber content in '
                                                'apples can also help regulate '
                                                'blood sugar levels, making '
                                                'them a favorable snack for '
                                                'people with diabetes.'}}]},
 'usage': {'embed_total_tokens': 8, 'read_units': 6, 'rerank_units': 1}}

JavaScript

{
  result: { 
    hits: [ 
      {
        _id: 'rec3',
        _score: 0.004399413242936134,
        fields: {
          category: 'immune system',
          chunk_text: 'Rich in vitamin C and other antioxidants, apples contribute to immune health and may reduce the risk of chronic diseases.'
        }
      },
      {
        _id: 'rec4',
        _score: 0.0029235430993139744,
        fields: {
          category: 'endocrine system',
          chunk_text: 'The high fiber content in apples can also help regulate blood sugar levels, making them a favorable snack for people with diabetes.'
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  usage: { 
    readUnits: 6, 
    embedTotalTokens: 8,
    rerankUnits: 1 
  }
}

Java

class SearchRecordsResponse {
    result: class SearchRecordsResponseResult {
        hits: [class Hit {
            id: rec3
            score: 0.004399413242936134
            fields: {category=immune system, chunk_text=Rich in vitamin C and other antioxidants, apples contribute to immune health and may reduce the risk of chronic diseases.}
            additionalProperties: null
        }, class Hit {
            id: rec4
            score: 0.0029235430993139744
            fields: {category=endocrine system, chunk_text=The high fiber content in apples can also help regulate blood sugar levels, making them a favorable snack for people with diabetes.}
            additionalProperties: null
        }]
        additionalProperties: null
    }
    usage: class SearchUsage {
        readUnits: 6
        embedTotalTokens: 13
        rerankUnits: 1
        additionalProperties: null
    }
    additionalProperties: null
}

{
  "result": {
    "hits": [
      {
        "_id": "rec3",
        "_score": 0.13683891,
        "fields": {
          "category": "immune system",
          "chunk_text": "Rich in vitamin C and other antioxidants, apples contribute to immune health and may reduce the risk of chronic diseases."
        }
      },
      {
        "_id": "rec4",
        "_score": 0.0029235430993139744,
        "fields": {
          "category": "endocrine system",
          "chunk_text": "The high fiber content in apples can also help regulate blood sugar levels, making them a favorable snack for people with diabetes."
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "usage": {
    "read_units": 6,
    "embed_total_tokens": 8,
    "rerank_units": 1
  }
}

curl

{
    "result": {
        "hits": [
            {
                "_id": "rec3",
                "_score": 0.004433765076100826,
                "fields": {
                    "category": "immune system",
                    "chunk_text": "Rich in vitamin C and other antioxidants, apples contribute to immune health and may reduce the risk of chronic diseases."
                }
            },
            {
                "_id": "rec4",
                "_score": 0.0029121784027665854,
                "fields": {
                    "category": "endocrine system",
                    "chunk_text": "The high fiber content in apples can also help regulate blood sugar levels, making them a favorable snack for people with diabetes."
                }
            }
        ]
    },
    "usage": {
        "embed_total_tokens": 8,
        "read_units": 6,
        "rerank_units": 1
    }
}

Standalone reranking

To rerank initial results as a standalone operation, use the rerank operation with the hosted reranking model you want to use, the query results and the query, the number of ranked results to return, the field to use for reranking, and any other model-specific parameters.

For example, the following code uses the hosted bge-reranker-v2-m3 model to rerank the values of the documents.chunk_text fields based on their relevance to the query and return only the 2 most relevant documents, along with their score:

Python

from pinecone import Pinecone

pc = Pinecone(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")

ranked_results = pc.inference.rerank(
    model="bge-reranker-v2-m3",
    query="What is AAPL's outlook, considering both product launches and market conditions?",
    documents=[
        {"id": "vec2", "chunk_text": "Analysts suggest that AAPL'\''s upcoming Q4 product launch event might solidify its position in the premium smartphone market."},
        {"id": "vec3", "chunk_text": "AAPL'\''s strategic Q3 partnerships with semiconductor suppliers could mitigate component risks and stabilize iPhone production."},
        {"id": "vec1", "chunk_text": "AAPL reported a year-over-year revenue increase, expecting stronger Q3 demand for its flagship phones."},
    ],
    top_n=2,
    rank_fields=["chunk_text"],
    return_documents=True,
    parameters={
        "truncate": "END"
    }
)

print(ranked_results)

JavaScript

import { Pinecone } from '@pinecone-database/pinecone';

const pc = new Pinecone({ apiKey: 'YOUR_API_KEY' });

const rerankingModel = 'bge-reranker-v2-m3';

const query = "What is AAPL's outlook, considering both product launches and market conditions?";

const documents = [
  { id: 'vec2', chunk_text: "Analysts suggest that AAPL's upcoming Q4 product launch event might solidify its position in the premium smartphone market." },
  { id: 'vec3', chunk_text: "AAPL's strategic Q3 partnerships with semiconductor suppliers could mitigate component risks and stabilize iPhone production." },
  { id: 'vec1', chunk_text: "AAPL reported a year-over-year revenue increase, expecting stronger Q3 demand for its flagship phones." },
];

const rerankOptions = {
  topN: 2,
  rankFields: ['chunk_text'],
  returnDocuments: true,
  parameters: {
    truncate: 'END'
  }, 
};

const rankedResults = await pc.inference.rerank(
  rerankingModel,
  query,
  documents,
  rerankOptions
);

console.log(rankedResults);

Java

import io.pinecone.clients.Inference;
import io.pinecone.clients.Pinecone;
import org.openapitools.inference.client.model.RerankResult;
import org.openapitools.inference.client.ApiException;

import java.util.*;

public class RerankExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws ApiException {
        Pinecone pc = new Pinecone.Builder("YOUR_API_KEY").build();
        Inference inference = pc.getInferenceClient();

        // The model to use for reranking
        String model = "bge-reranker-v2-m3";

        // The query to rerank documents against
        String query = "What is AAPL's outlook, considering both product launches and market conditions?";

        // Add the documents to rerank
        List<Map<String, Object>> documents = new ArrayList<>();
        Map<String, Object> doc1 = new HashMap<>();
        doc1.put("id", "vec2");
        doc1.put("chunk_text", "Analysts suggest that AAPL's upcoming Q4 product launch event might solidify its position in the premium smartphone market.");
        documents.add(doc1);

        Map<String, Object> doc2 = new HashMap<>();
        doc2.put("id", "vec3");
        doc2.put("chunk_text", "AAPL's strategic Q3 partnerships with semiconductor suppliers could mitigate component risks and stabilize iPhone production");
        documents.add(doc2);

        Map<String, Object> doc3 = new HashMap<>();
        doc3.put("id", "vec1");
        doc3.put("chunk_text", "AAPL reported a year-over-year revenue increase, expecting stronger Q3 demand for its flagship phones.");
        documents.add(doc3);

        // The fields to rank the documents by. If not provided, the default is "text"
        List<String> rankFields = Arrays.asList("chunk_text");

        // The number of results to return sorted by relevance. Defaults to the number of inputs
        int topN = 2;

        // Whether to return the documents in the response
        boolean returnDocuments = true;

        // Additional model-specific parameters for the reranker
        Map<String, Object> parameters = new HashMap<>();
        parameters.put("truncate", "END");

        // Send ranking request
        RerankResult result = inference.rerank(model, query, documents, rankFields, topN, returnDocuments, parameters);

        // Get ranked data
        System.out.println(result.getData());
    }
}

package main

import (
	"context"
	"encoding/json"
	"fmt"
	"log"

	"github.com/pinecone-io/go-pinecone/v4/pinecone"
)

func prettifyStruct(obj interface{}) string {
	bytes, _ := json.MarshalIndent(obj, "", "  ")
	return string(bytes)
}

func main() {
	ctx := context.Background()

	pc, err := pinecone.NewClient(pinecone.NewClientParams{
		ApiKey: "YOUR_API_KEY",
	})
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatalf("Failed to create Client: %v", err)
	}

	rerankModel := "bge-reranker-v2-m3"
	topN := 2
	returnDocuments := true
	documents := []pinecone.Document{
		{"id": "vec2", "chunk_text": "Analysts suggest that AAPL's upcoming Q4 product launch event might solidify its position in the premium smartphone market."},
		{"id": "vec3", "chunk_text": "AAPL's strategic Q3 partnerships with semiconductor suppliers could mitigate component risks and stabilize iPhone production."},
		{"id": "vec1", "chunk_text": "AAPL reported a year-over-year revenue increase, expecting stronger Q3 demand for its flagship phones."},
	}

	ranking, err := pc.Inference.Rerank(ctx, &pinecone.RerankRequest{
		Model:           rerankModel,
		Query:           "What is AAPL's outlook, considering both product launches and market conditions?",
		ReturnDocuments: &returnDocuments,
		TopN:            &topN,
		RankFields:      &[]string{"chunk_text"},
		Documents:       documents,
	})
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatalf("Failed to rerank: %v", err)
	}
	fmt.Printf(prettifyStruct(ranking))
}

curl

PINECONE_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"

curl https://api.pinecone.io/rerank \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -H "X-Pinecone-Api-Version: 2026-07" \
  -H "Api-Key: $PINECONE_API_KEY" \
  -d '{
  "model": "bge-reranker-v2-m3",
  "query": "What is AAPL'\''s outlook, considering both product launches and market conditions?",
  "documents": [
    {"id": "vec2", "chunk_text": "Analysts suggest that AAPL'\''s upcoming Q4 product launch event might solidify its position in the premium smartphone market."},
    {"id": "vec3", "chunk_text": "AAPL'\''s strategic Q3 partnerships with semiconductor suppliers could mitigate component risks and stabilize iPhone production."},
    {"id": "vec1", "chunk_text": "AAPL reported a year-over-year revenue increase, expecting stronger Q3 demand for its flagship phones."}
  ],
  "top_n": 2,
  "rank_fields": ["chunk_text"],
  "return_documents": true,
  "parameters": {
    "truncate": "END"
  }
}'

The response looks as follows. For each hit, the _score represents the relevance of a document to the query, normalized between 0 and 1, with scores closer to 1 indicating higher relevance.

Python

RerankResult(
  model='bge-reranker-v2-m3',
  data=[{
    index=0,
    score=0.004166256,
    document={
        id='vec2',
        chunk_text="Analysts suggest that AAPL'''s upcoming Q4 product launch event might solidify its position in the premium smartphone market."
    }
  },{
    index=2,
    score=0.0011513996,
    document={
        id='vec1',
        chunk_text='AAPL reported a year-over-year revenue increase, expecting stronger Q3 demand for its flagship phones.'
    }
  }],
  usage={'rerank_units': 1}
)

JavaScript

{
  model: 'bge-reranker-v2-m3',
  data: [
    { index: 0, score: 0.004166256, document: [id: 'vec2', chunk_text: "Analysts suggest that AAPL'''s upcoming Q4 product launch event might solidify its position in the premium smartphone market."] },
    { index: 2, score: 0.0011513996, document: [id: 'vec1', chunk_text: 'AAPL reported a year-over-year revenue increase, expecting stronger Q3 demand for its flagship phones.'] }
  ],
  usage: { rerankUnits: 1 }
}

Java

[class RankedDocument {
    index: 0
    score: 0.0063143647
    document: {id=vec2, chunk_text=Analysts suggest that AAPL's upcoming Q4 product launch event might solidify its position in the premium smartphone market.}
    additionalProperties: null
}, class RankedDocument {
    index: 2
    score: 0.0011513996
    document: {id=vec1, chunk_text=AAPL reported a year-over-year revenue increase, expecting stronger Q3 demand for its flagship phones.}
    additionalProperties: null
}]

{
  "data": [
    {
      "document": {
        "id": "vec2",
        "chunk_text": "Analysts suggest that AAPL's upcoming Q4 product launch event might solidify its position in the premium smartphone market."
      },
      "index": 0,
      "score": 0.0063143647
    },
    {
      "document": {
        "id": "vec1",
        "chunk_text": "AAPL reported a year-over-year revenue increase, expecting stronger Q3 demand for its flagship phones."
      },
      "index": 2,
      "score": 0.0011513996
    }
  ],
  "model": "bge-reranker-v2-m3",
  "usage": {
    "rerank_units": 1
  }
}

curl

{
    "model": "bge-reranker-v2-m3",
    "data": [
        {
            "index": 0,
            "document": {
                "chunk_text": "Analysts suggest that AAPL's upcoming Q4 product launch event might solidify its position in the premium smartphone market.",
                "id": "vec2"
            },
            "score": 0.007606672
        },
        {
            "index": 3,
            "document": {
                "chunk_text": "AAPL reported a year-over-year revenue increase, expecting stronger Q3 demand for its flagship phones.",
                "id": "vec1"
            },
            "score": 0.0013406205
        }
    ],
    "usage": {
        "rerank_units": 1
    }
}

Rerank results on the default field

To rerank search results, specify a supported reranking model, and provide documents and a query as well as other model-specific parameters. By default, Pinecone expects the documents to be in the documents.text field.

For example, the following request uses the bge-reranker-v2-m3 reranking model to rerank the values of the documents.text field based on their relevance to the query, "The tech company Apple is known for its innovative products like the iPhone.".

Python

from pinecone.grpc import PineconeGRPC as Pinecone

pc = Pinecone(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")

result = pc.inference.rerank(
    model="bge-reranker-v2-m3",
    query="The tech company Apple is known for its innovative products like the iPhone.",
    documents=[
        {"id": "vec1", "text": "Apple is a popular fruit known for its sweetness and crisp texture."},
        {"id": "vec2", "text": "Many people enjoy eating apples as a healthy snack."},
        {"id": "vec3", "text": "Apple Inc. has revolutionized the tech industry with its sleek designs and user-friendly interfaces."},
        {"id": "vec4", "text": "An apple a day keeps the doctor away, as the saying goes."},
    ],
    top_n=4,
    return_documents=True,
    parameters={
        "truncate": "END"
    }
)

print(result)

JavaScript

import { Pinecone } from '@pinecone-database/pinecone';

const pc = new Pinecone({ apiKey: 'YOUR_API_KEY' });

const rerankingModel = 'bge-reranker-v2-m3';

const query = 'The tech company Apple is known for its innovative products like the iPhone.';

const documents = [
  { id: 'vec1', text: 'Apple is a popular fruit known for its sweetness and crisp texture.' },
  { id: 'vec2', text: 'Many people enjoy eating apples as a healthy snack.' },
  { id: 'vec3', text: 'Apple Inc. has revolutionized the tech industry with its sleek designs and user-friendly interfaces.' },
  { id: 'vec4', text: 'An apple a day keeps the doctor away, as the saying goes.' },
];

const rerankOptions = {
  topN: 4,
  returnDocuments: true,
  parameters: {
    truncate: 'END'
  }, 
};

const response = await pc.inference.rerank(
  rerankingModel,
  query,
  documents,
  rerankOptions
);

console.log(response);

Java

import io.pinecone.clients.Inference;
import io.pinecone.clients.Pinecone;
import org.openapitools.inference.client.model.RerankResult;
import org.openapitools.inference.client.ApiException;

import java.util.*;

public class RerankExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws ApiException {
        Pinecone pc = new Pinecone.Builder("YOUR_API_KEY").build();
        Inference inference = pc.getInferenceClient();

        // The model to use for reranking
        String model = "bge-reranker-v2-m3";

        // The query to rerank documents against
        String query = "The tech company Apple is known for its innovative products like the iPhone.";

        // Add the documents to rerank
        List<Map<String, Object>> documents = new ArrayList<>();
        Map<String, Object> doc1 = new HashMap<>();
        doc1.put("id", "vec1");
        doc1.put("text", "Apple is a popular fruit known for its sweetness and crisp texture.");
        documents.add(doc1);

        Map<String, Object> doc2 = new HashMap<>();
        doc2.put("id", "vec2");
        doc2.put("text", "Many people enjoy eating apples as a healthy snack.");
        documents.add(doc2);

        Map<String, Object> doc3 = new HashMap<>();
        doc3.put("id", "vec3");
        doc3.put("text", "Apple Inc. has revolutionized the tech industry with its sleek designs and user-friendly interfaces.");
        documents.add(doc3);

        Map<String, Object> doc4 = new HashMap<>();
        doc4.put("id", "vec4");
        doc4.put("text", "An apple a day keeps the doctor away, as the saying goes.");
        documents.add(doc4);

        // The fields to rank the documents by. If not provided, the default is "text"
        List<String> rankFields = Arrays.asList("text");

        // The number of results to return sorted by relevance. Defaults to the number of inputs
        int topN = 4;

        // Whether to return the documents in the response
        boolean returnDocuments = true;

        // Additional model-specific parameters for the reranker
        Map<String, Object> parameters = new HashMap<>();
        parameters.put("truncate", "END");

        // Send ranking request
        RerankResult result = inference.rerank(model, query, documents, rankFields, topN, returnDocuments, parameters);

        // Get ranked data
        System.out.println(result.getData());
    }
}

package main

import (
    "context"
    "fmt"
    "log"

    "github.com/pinecone-io/go-pinecone/v4/pinecone"
)

func main() {
    ctx := context.Background()

    pc, err := pinecone.NewClient(pinecone.NewClientParams{
        ApiKey: "YOUR_API_KEY",
    })
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("Failed to create Client: %v", err)
    }

    rerankModel := "bge-reranker-v2-m3"
    topN := 4
    returnDocuments := true
    documents := []pinecone.Document{
        {"id": "vec1", "text": "Apple is a popular fruit known for its sweetness and crisp texture."},
        {"id": "vec2", "text": "Many people enjoy eating apples as a healthy snack."},
        {"id": "vec3", "text": "Apple Inc. has revolutionized the tech industry with its sleek designs and user-friendly interfaces."},
        {"id": "vec4", "text": "An apple a day keeps the doctor away, as the saying goes."},
    }

    ranking, err := pc.Inference.Rerank(ctx, &pinecone.RerankRequest{
        Model:           rerankModel,
        Query:           "The tech company Apple is known for its innovative products like the iPhone.",
        ReturnDocuments: &returnDocuments,
        TopN:            &topN,
        RankFields:      &[]string{"text"},
        Documents:       documents,
    })
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("Failed to rerank: %v", err)
    }
    fmt.Printf("Rerank result: %+v\n", ranking)
}

curl

PINECONE_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"

curl https://api.pinecone.io/rerank \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -H "X-Pinecone-Api-Version: 2026-07" \
  -H "Api-Key: $PINECONE_API_KEY" \
-d '{
  "model": "bge-reranker-v2-m3",
  "query": "The tech company Apple is known for its innovative products like the iPhone.",
  "return_documents": true,
  "top_n": 4,
  "documents": [
    {"id": "vec1", "text": "Apple is a popular fruit known for its sweetness and crisp texture."},
    {"id": "vec2", "text": "Many people enjoy eating apples as a healthy snack."},
    {"id": "vec3", "text": "Apple Inc. has revolutionized the tech industry with its sleek designs and user-friendly interfaces."},
    {"id": "vec4", "text": "An apple a day keeps the doctor away, as the saying goes."}
  ],
  "parameters": {
    "truncate": "END"
  }
}'

The returned object contains documents with relevance scores:

Python

RerankResult(
  model='bge-reranker-v2-m3',
  data=[
    { index=2, score=0.48357219,
      document={id="vec3", text="Apple Inc. has re..."} },
    { index=0, score=0.048405956,
      document={id="vec1", text="Apple is a popula..."} },
    { index=3, score=0.007846239,
      document={id="vec4", text="An apple a day ke..."} },
    { index=1, score=0.0006563728,
      document={id="vec2", text="Many people enjoy..."} }
  ],
  usage={'rerank_units': 1}
)

JavaScript

{
  model: 'bge-reranker-v2-m3',
  data: [
    { index: 2, score: 0.48357219, document: [Object] },
    { index: 0, score: 0.048405956, document: [Object] },
    { index: 3, score: 0.007846239, document: [Object] },
    { index: 1, score: 0.0006563728, document: [Object] }
  ],
  usage: { rerankUnits: 1 }
}

Java

[class RankedDocument {
    index: 2
    score: 0.48357219
    document: {id=vec3, text=Apple Inc. has revolutionized the tech industry with its sleek designs and user-friendly interfaces.}
    additionalProperties: null
}, class RankedDocument {
    index: 0
    score: 0.048405956
    document: {id=vec1, text=Apple is a popular fruit known for its sweetness and crisp texture.}
    additionalProperties: null
}, class RankedDocument {
    index: 3
    score: 0.007846239
    document: {id=vec4, text=An apple a day keeps the doctor away, as the saying goes.}
    additionalProperties: null
}, class RankedDocument {
    index: 1
    score: 0.0006563728
    document: {id=vec2, text=Many people enjoy eating apples as a healthy snack.}
    additionalProperties: null
}]

Rerank result: {
  "data": [
    {
      "document": {
        "id": "vec3",
        "text": "Apple Inc. has revolutionized the tech industry with its sleek designs and user-friendly interfaces."
      },
      "index": 2,
      "score": 0.48357219
    },
    {
      "document": {
        "id": "vec1",
        "text": "Apple is a popular fruit known for its sweetness and crisp texture."
      },
      "index": 0,
      "score": 0.048405956
    },
    {
      "document": {
        "id": "vec4",
        "text": "An apple a day keeps the doctor away, as the saying goes."
      },
      "index": 3,
      "score": 0.007846239
    },
    {
      "document": {
        "id": "vec2",
        "text": "Many people enjoy eating apples as a healthy snack."
      },
      "index": 1,
      "score": 0.0006563728
    }
  ],
  "model": "bge-reranker-v2-m3",
  "usage": {
    "rerank_units": 1
  }
}

curl

{
  "data":[
    {
      "index":2,
      "document":{
        "id":"vec3",
        "text":"Apple Inc. has revolutionized the tech industry with its sleek designs and user-friendly interfaces."
      },
      "score":0.47654688
    },
    {
      "index":0,
      "document":{
        "id":"vec1",
        "text":"Apple is a popular fruit known for its sweetness and crisp texture."
      },
      "score":0.047963805
    },
    {
      "index":3,
      "document":{
        "id":"vec4",
        "text":"An apple a day keeps the doctor away, as the saying goes."
      },
      "score":0.007587992
    },
    {
      "index":1,
      "document":{
        "id":"vec2",
        "text":"Many people enjoy eating apples as a healthy snack."
      },
      "score":0.0006491712
    }
  ],
  "usage":{
    "rerank_units":1
  }
}

Rerank results on a custom field

To rerank results on a field other than documents.text, provide the rank_fields parameter to specify the fields on which to rerank.

For example, the following request reranks documents based on the values of the documents.my_field field:

Python

from pinecone.grpc import PineconeGRPC as Pinecone

pc = Pinecone(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")

result = pc.inference.rerank(
    model="bge-reranker-v2-m3",
    query="The tech company Apple is known for its innovative products like the iPhone.",
    documents=[
        {"id": "vec1", "my_field": "Apple is a popular fruit known for its sweetness and crisp texture."},
        {"id": "vec2", "my_field": "Many people enjoy eating apples as a healthy snack."},
        {"id": "vec3", "my_field": "Apple Inc. has revolutionized the tech industry with its sleek designs and user-friendly interfaces."},
        {"id": "vec4", "my_field": "An apple a day keeps the doctor away, as the saying goes."},
    ],
    rank_fields=["my_field"],
    top_n=4,
    return_documents=True,
    parameters={
        "truncate": "END"
    }
)

JavaScript

import { Pinecone } from '@pinecone-database/pinecone';

const pc = new Pinecone({ apiKey: 'YOUR_API_KEY' });

const rerankingModel = 'bge-reranker-v2-m3';

const query = 'The tech company Apple is known for its innovative products like the iPhone.';

const documents = [
  { id: 'vec1', my_field: 'Apple is a popular fruit known for its sweetness and crisp texture.' },
  { id: 'vec2', my_field: 'Many people enjoy eating apples as a healthy snack.' },
  { id: 'vec3', my_field: 'Apple Inc. has revolutionized the tech industry with its sleek designs and user-friendly interfaces.' },
  { id: 'vec4', my_field: 'An apple a day keeps the doctor away, as the saying goes.' },
];

const rerankOptions = {
  rankFields: ['my_field'],
  topN: 4,
  returnDocuments: true,
  parameters: {
    truncate: "END"
  }, 
};

const response = await pc.inference.rerank(
  rerankingModel,
  query,
  documents,
  rerankOptions
);

console.log(response);

Java

import io.pinecone.clients.Inference;
import io.pinecone.clients.Pinecone;
import org.openapitools.inference.client.model.RerankResult;
import org.openapitools.inference.client.ApiException;

import java.util.*;

public class RerankExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws ApiException {
        Pinecone pc = new Pinecone.Builder("YOUR_API_KEY").build();
        Inference inference = pc.getInferenceClient();

        // The model to use for reranking
        String model = "bge-reranker-v2-m3";

        // The query to rerank documents against
        String query = "The tech company Apple is known for its innovative products like the iPhone.";

        // Add the documents to rerank
        List<Map<String, String>> documents = new ArrayList<>();
        Map<String, String> doc1 = new HashMap<>();
        doc1.put("id", "vec1");
        doc1.put("my_field", "Apple is a popular fruit known for its sweetness and crisp texture.");
        documents.add(doc1);

        Map<String, String> doc2 = new HashMap<>();
        doc2.put("id", "vec2");
        doc2.put("my_field", "Many people enjoy eating apples as a healthy snack.");
        documents.add(doc2);

        Map<String, String> doc3 = new HashMap<>();
        doc3.put("id", "vec3");
        doc3.put("my_field", "Apple Inc. has revolutionized the tech industry with its sleek designs and user-friendly interfaces.");
        documents.add(doc3);

        Map<String, String> doc4 = new HashMap<>();
        doc4.put("id", "vec4");
        doc4.put("my_field", "An apple a day keeps the doctor away, as the saying goes.");
        documents.add(doc4);

        // The fields to rank the documents by. If not provided, the default is "text"
        List<String> rankFields = Arrays.asList("my_field");

        // The number of results to return sorted by relevance. Defaults to the number of inputs
        int topN = 2;

        // Whether to return the documents in the response
        boolean returnDocuments = true;

        // Additional model-specific parameters for the reranker
        Map<String, String> parameters = new HashMap<>();
        parameters.put("truncate", "END");

        // Send ranking request
        RerankResult result = inference.rerank(model, query, documents, rankFields, topN, returnDocuments, parameters);

        // Get ranked data
        System.out.println(result.getData());
    }
}

package main

import (
    "context"
    "fmt"
    "log"

    "github.com/pinecone-io/go-pinecone/v4/pinecone"
)

func main() {
    ctx := context.Background()

    pc, err := pinecone.NewClient(pinecone.NewClientParams{
        ApiKey: "YOUR_API_KEY",
    })
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("Failed to create Client: %v", err)
    }

    rerankModel := "bge-reranker-v2-m3"
    topN := 4
    returnDocuments := true
    documents := []pinecone.Document{
        {"id": "vec1", "my_field": "Apple is a popular fruit known for its sweetness and crisp texture."},
        {"id": "vec2", "my_field": "Many people enjoy eating apples as a healthy snack."},
        {"id": "vec3", "my_field": "Apple Inc. has revolutionized the tech industry with its sleek designs and user-friendly interfaces."},
        {"id": "vec4", "my_field": "An apple a day keeps the doctor away, as the saying goes."},
    }

    ranking, err := pc.Inference.Rerank(ctx, &pinecone.RerankRequest{
        Model:           rerankModel,
        Query:           "The tech company Apple is known for its innovative products like the iPhone.",
        ReturnDocuments: &returnDocuments,
        TopN:            &topN,
        RankFields:      &[]string{"my_field"},
        Documents:       documents,
    })
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("Failed to rerank: %v", err)
    }
    fmt.Printf("Rerank result: %+v\n", ranking)
}

curl

PINECONE_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"

curl "https://api.pinecone.io/rerank" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Accept: application/json" \
  -H "X-Pinecone-Api-Version: 2026-07" \
  -H "Api-Key: $PINECONE_API_KEY" \
-d '{
  "model": "bge-reranker-v2-m3",
  "query": "The tech company Apple is known for its innovative products like the iPhone.",
  "return_documents": true,
  "top_n": 4,
  "rank_fields": ["my_field"],
  "documents": [
    {"id": "vec1", "my_field": "Apple is a popular fruit known for its sweetness and crisp texture."},
    {"id": "vec2", "my_field": "Many people enjoy eating apples as a healthy snack."},
    {"id": "vec3", "my_field": "Apple Inc. has revolutionized the tech industry with its sleek designs and user-friendly interfaces."},
    {"id": "vec4", "my_field": "An apple a day keeps the doctor away, as the saying goes."}
  ],
  "parameters": {
    "truncate": "END"
  }
}'

Reranking models

Pinecone hosts several reranking models so it's easy to manage two-stage vector retrieval on a single platform. You can use a hosted model to rerank results as an integrated part of a query, or you can use a hosted model to rerank results as a standalone operation.

The following reranking models are hosted by Pinecone.

cohere-rerank-4-fast

cohere-rerank-4-fast is Cohere's latest reranking model (Cohere Rerank 4.0 Fast), improving relevance quality for a wide range of enterprise search applications. Cohere Rerank 4.0 is hosted on Azure AI under the Global Standard deployment type, and requests may be processed in regions outside the United States.

Details

Modality: Text
Max tokens per document: 8,192
Max documents: 250

The relevance scores produced by cohere-rerank-4-fast aren't directly comparable to those from cohere-rerank-3.5. This doesn't affect sorting, but any application logic that uses a fixed score threshold to make decisions must be re-calibrated for the new model.

For rate limits, see Rerank requests per minute and Rerank requests per month.

Parameters

The cohere-rerank-4-fast model supports the following parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required/Optional	Description	Default
`max_tokens_per_doc`	integer	Optional	Documents longer than this are truncated. Max `4096`.	`1024`
`rank_fields`	array of strings	Optional	The fields to use for reranking, in priority order (e.g., `["field1", "field2"]`).	`["text"]`

cohere-rerank-3.5

cohere-rerank-3.5 is Cohere's previous-generation reranking model, balancing performance and latency for a wide range of enterprise search applications.

Details

Modality: Text
Max tokens per query and document pair: 40,000
Max documents: 200

For rate limits, see Rerank requests per minute and Rerank request per month.

Parameters

The cohere-rerank-3.5 model supports the following parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required/Optional	Description
`max_chunks_per_doc`	integer	Optional	Long documents will be automatically truncated to the specified number of chunks. Accepted range: `1 - 3072`.
`rank_fields`	array of strings	Optional	The fields to use for reranking. The model reranks based on the order of the fields specified (e.g., `["field1", "field2", "field3"]`).	`["text"]`

bge-reranker-v2-m3

bge-reranker-v2-m3 is a high-performance, multilingual reranking model that works well on messy data and short queries expected to return medium-length passages of text (1-2 paragraphs).

Details

Modality: Text
Max tokens per query and document pair: 1024
Max documents: 100

For rate limits, see Rerank requests per minute and Rerank request per month.

Parameters

The bge-reranker-v2-m3 model supports the following parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required/Optional	Description	Default
`truncate`	string	Optional	How to handle inputs longer than those supported by the model. Accepted values: `END` or `NONE`. `END` truncates the input sequence at the input token limit. `NONE` returns an error when the input exceeds the input token limit.	`NONE`
`rank_fields`	array of strings	Optional	The field to use for reranking. The model supports only a single rerank field.	`["text"]`

pinecone-rerank-v0

pinecone-rerank-v0 is a reranking model that can handle chunks up to 512 tokens (1-2 paragraphs).

Details

Modality: Text
Max tokens per query and document pair: 512
Max documents: 100

For rate limits, see Rerank requests per minute and Rerank request per month.

Parameters

The pinecone-rerank-v0 model supports the following parameters:

Parameter	Type	Required/Optional	Description	Default
`truncate`	string	Optional	How to handle inputs longer than those supported by the model. Accepted values: `END` or `NONE`. `END` truncates the input sequence at the input token limit. `NONE` returns an error when the input exceeds the input token limit.	`END`
`rank_fields`	array of strings	Optional	The field to use for reranking. The model supports only a single rerank field.	`["text"]`