Update Documents

Use update() to modify existing documents (Doc).

Only the scalar fields and vector embeddings you include will be updated; all other content remains unchanged.

The method accepts either a single Doc object or a list of Doc objects.

Document `Doc`

Each Doc passed to update() must:

Specify an id that already exists in the collection (the operation will fail if the document is not found)
Include only the fields and vectors you intend to update, formatted according to the collection's schema:
1. Scalar fields: provided as key–value pairs under fields (scalar field names as keys)
2. Vector embeddings: provided as key–value pairs under vectors (vector names as keys)
Omit any scalar fields or vectors you do not want to change — they will be left untouched.

Update a Single Document

Assume you already have a collection with the following schema:

Scalar fields:
1. book_title (string)
2. category (array of strings)
3. publish_year (32-bit integer)
Vector embeddings:
1. dense_embedding: a 768-dimensional dense vector
2. sparse_embedding: a sparse vector

To update an existing document, provide its id and only the fields or vectors you want to change:

Update a document

import zvec

doc = zvec.Doc(  
    id="book_1",  # ← must already exist in the collection
    vectors={
        "sparse_embedding": {  # ← replaces entire sparse vector
            35: 0.25,
            237: 0.1,
            369: 0.44,
        },
    },
    fields={
        "category": [  # ← replaces current category list
            "Romance",
            "Classic Literature",
            "American Civil War",
        ],
    },
    # Note: `book_title`, `publish_year`, and `dense_embedding` are omitted → they stay as-is
)

# Update the document
result = collection.update(doc)   
print(result)  # {"code": 0} means success

The update() method validates the document first:

Incorrect usage — such as an unknown field or wrong vector dimension — raises an exception.
If validation passes, the method proceeds with the update and returns a Status object:
- {"code": 0} indicates success.
- Non-zero codes indicate failure (e.g., non-existing ID).

Successfully updated documents are immediately available for querying 🚀.

Update a document

let doc: ZVecDocInput = {   
    id: "book_1", // ← must already exist in the collection
    vectors: {
        "sparse_embedding": { // ← replaces entire sparse vector
            35: 0.25,
            237: 0.1,
            369: 0.44
        }
    },
    fields: {
        "category": [ // ← replaces current category list
            "Romance",
            "Classic Literature",
            "American Civil War"
        ]
    }
    // Note: `book_title`, `publish_year`, and `dense_embedding` are omitted → they stay as-is
};

// Update the document
let result = collection.updateSync(doc);  
console.log(result);  // { ok: true } means success

The update() method validates the document first:

Incorrect usage — such as an unknown field or wrong vector dimension — raises an exception.
If validation passes, the method proceeds with the update and returns a Status object:
- { ok: true } indicates success.
- { ok: false } indicates failure (e.g., non-existing ID).

Successfully updated documents are immediately available for querying 🚀.

Update a Batch of Documents

To update multiple documents at once, pass a list of Doc objects to update().
Each Doc is processed independently, and the method returns a list of Status objects — one per document.

Update a batch of documents

import zvec

results = collection.update(  
    [
        zvec.Doc(
            id="book_1",
            vectors={
                "sparse_embedding": {35: 0.25, 237: 0.1, 369: 0.44},
            },
            fields={
                "category": ["Romance", "Classic Literature", "American Civil War"],
            },
        ),
        zvec.Doc(
            id="book_2",
            fields={
                "book_title": "The Great Gatsby",
            },
        ),
        zvec.Doc(
            id="book_3",
            fields={
                "book_title": "A Tale of Two Cities",
                "publish_year": 1859,
            },
        ),
    ]
)

print(results)  # [{"code":0}, {"code":0}, {"code":0}]

If any document in the batch has incorrect usage (e.g., an unknown field or wrong vector dimension), the method raises an exception and no documents are updated.

If all documents are valid, the method attempts to update every one. A failure in one (e.g., the id doesn't exist) does not stop others from being updated.

🔍 Always check each Status in the result list.

Update Documents

Document Doc

Update a Single Document

Code Example

Update a Batch of Documents

On this page

Document `Doc`