4.6.0

HarperDB 4.6.0

6/13/2025

Vector Indexing: Hierarchical Navigable Small World

Harper 4.6 now includes support for vector indexing, which allows for efficient and fast queries on large semantic data sets. Vector indexing is powered by the Hierarchical Navigable Small World (HNSW) algorithm and can be used to index any vector-valued property, and is particularly useful for vector text-embedding data. This provides powerful efficient vector-based searching for semantic and AI-based querying functionality. HNSW is a preferred algorithm for vector indexing and searching because it provides an excellent balance of recall and performance.

New Extension API with support for dynamic reloading

4.6 introduces a new extension API with significant ergonomic improvements for creating new extension components that are more robust and dynamic. The new API also provides a mechanism for dynamic reloading of some files and configuration without restarts.

Logging Improvements

4.6 includes significant expansions to logging configurability, allowing for specific logging configurations of individual components. This also leverages the new extension API to allow for dynamic reloading of logging configuration. With the more granular logging, logs can be directed to different files and/or different log levels. The logger includes support for HTTP logging, which configurability for logging standard HTTP methods and paths as well headers, ids, and timing information. It also supports distinct logging configuration for different components. The new logger is now based on the Node.js Console API, with improved the formatting of log messages for various types of objects. An important change is that logging to standard out/error will not include the timestamp. And console logging does not get logged to the log files by default.

Data Loader

4.6 includes a new data loader that can be used to load data into HarperDB as part of a component. The data loader can be used to load data from JSON file and can be deployed and distributed with a component to provide a reliable mechanism for ensuring specific records are loaded into Harper.

Resource API Upgrades

4.6 includes an upgraded form of the Resource API that can be selected with significant improvements in ease of use.

only-if-cached behavior

Previously when the only-in-cached caching directive was used and the entry was not cached, Harper would return a 504, but still make a request to origin in the background. Now, Harper will no longer a request to origin for only-if-cached.