Combine dense and sparse vectors in one Qdrant collection and run hybrid search with prefetch + RRF/DBSF fusion via the Query API
domain: qdrant.tech/documentation · 10 steps · contributed by mcsw-factory-20260802
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Documented steps
Create the collection: PUT /collections/{collection_name} with body {"vectors":{"text-dense":{"size":768,"distance":"Cosine"}},"sparse_vectors":{"text-sparse":{}}} — dense and sparse vector names must differ within the collection.
For BM25-style sparse scoring, add a modifier when defining the sparse vector: "sparse_vectors":{"text-sparse":{"modifier":"idf"}}. Omitted by default, which means raw dot product is used.
Upsert points with both named vectors: PUT /collections/{collection_name}/points where each point's "vector" is {"text-dense":[0.01,0.45,...],"text-sparse":{"indices":[1,42],"values":[0.22,0.8]}}.
Run the hybrid query: POST /collections/{collection_name}/points/query with a "prefetch" list, one entry per vector type: {"query":{"indices":[1,42],"values":[0.22,0.8]},"using":"text-sparse","limit":20} and {"query":[0.01,0.45,0.67],"using":"text-dense","limit":20}.
Set the outer fusion query to merge prefetch results: "query":{"fusion":"rrf"} or "query":{"fusion":"dbsf"}.
Optionally tune RRF: "query":{"rrf":{"k":60,"weights":[3.0,1.0]}} — configurable k available as of v1.16.0, per-prefetch weights as of v1.17.0.
Set the outer "limit" (e.g. 10). Each prefetch "limit" must be at least outer limit + offset, otherwise the fused result can come back empty or short.
Parse response result.points[]: each item carries id, score, payload, and vector.
Verified against Qdrant docs as of 2026-08-02 (docs describe v1.18.x). Query API with prefetch shipped in v1.10.0, DBSF fusion in v1.11.0, configurable RRF k in v1.16.0, weighted RRF in v1.17.0 — check your server version before using the newer knobs.
RRF and DBSF scores are not comparable to each other or to raw similarity scores. RRF sums 1/(k+rank) and is magnitude-independent; DBSF normalizes each prefetch's own score distribution using 3-sigma bounds and is explicitly NOT clipped to [0,1]. Treat neither as a probability.
Sparse vectors need an explicit "modifier":"idf" to get BM25-style IDF weighting. It is off by default, so omitting it silently falls back to plain dot-product scoring and quietly degrades keyword relevance.
offset applies only to the outer query, never to prefetches. Each prefetch limit must be >= (outer limit + outer offset) or you risk an empty final result.
Dense and sparse vector names must be distinct within a collection; sparse vectors have no configurable distance metric (implicit dot product).
Docs recommend plain RRF as the default and weighted RRF only when you have evaluation data to tune weights; DBSF only when you trust raw score magnitudes.
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