12/05/2026
π Announcing ArcadeDB 26.5.1
We've just shipped a major release: 270+ commits and 128 issues resolved. The headline is hybrid retrieval, but there's a lot more inside.
What's new:
β’ Sparse Vector Index (LSM_SPARSE_VECTOR) for BM25 / SPLADE-style retrieval, with WAND and BlockMax-WAND pruning that scales to 100M+ documents
β’ Server-side Hybrid Retrieval via vector.fuse(...) (RRF, DBSF, LINEAR strategies) β combine dense, sparse, and lexical signals without client round-trips
β’ INT8 quantization end-to-end across ingest, storage, and query (dramatically lower disk and RSS)
β’ EXTERNAL property storage: a paired-bucket layout that isolates heavy values (vectors, large JSON, blobs) so scans stay hot
β’ Query partitioning with a partition-aware planner that prunes unnecessary partitions
β’ Offline HA cluster bootstrap via snapshot-and-restore (no full re-replication)
β’ Production-ready Helm chart, aligned with the Raft-based HA subsystem
β’ Extensive OpenCypher correctness improvements
β’ FIND REFERENCES is back, easing OrientDB migrations
100% backward compatible. No export/import needed when upgrading.
Read the full release notes π https://arcadedb.com/blog/arcadedb-26-5-1/
Huge thanks to the community for reporting issues, sending PRs, and shaping this release. π
ArcadeDB 26.5.1 ships a brand-new sparse vector index with server-side hybrid retrieval, INT8 quantization end-to-end, EXTERNAL property storage, query partitioning, offline HA cluster bootstrap, and an extensive batch of OpenCypher correctness fixes.