parse-community / parse-community/parse-server

Auto-embedding of text fields into vector fields

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#10,606 1 comment 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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Dominant language
JavaScript
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Description

New Feature / Enhancement Checklist
Current Limitation

Even with a vector field (#10605), developers have to generate embeddings themselves in Cloud Code and keep them in sync whenever the source text changes. That is boilerplate everyone building semantic search would have to repeat.

Feature / Enhancement Description

Declare in the schema that a string field gets embedded into a vector field on save, e.g. description -> descriptionEmbedding. Parse Server keeps the two in sync automatically via an internal save hook, using a server configured embedding provider (#10608).

Example Use Case
  1. Configure the mapping on a class in the schema
  2. Save objects normally, no embedding code anywhere
  3. Semantic search over that class just works via $nearVector
Alternatives / Workarounds

DIY afterSave trigger that calls an embedding API and writes the vector back. Works, but every app reimplements the same sync, dirty checking and failure handling.

3rd Party References
  • Supabase automatic embeddings
  • Firebase "vector embeddings with Firestore" extension

Depends on #10605

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reading the related vector-field issue (#10605) and embedding-provider issue (#10608), then trace Parse Server's schema handling and internal save-hook entry points. Define how a schema mapping such as description -> descriptionEmbedding is configured, synchronized on save, and handles failures; done means semantic search via $nearVector works without application Cloud Code.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
javascript, nodejs
Domain
api, backend
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
42/100

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