Generated banner for Hybrid Search Implementation
Generated logo for Hybrid Search Implementation

Hybrid Search Implementation

Seth HobsonCommunityCreated by Seth Hobson

  • Skill
  • Guidelines
  • Data and AI
  • MIT
  • No issues found

From the author

Combine vector and keyword search for improved retrieval. Use when implementing RAG systems, building search engines, or when neither approach alone provides sufficient recall.
— the description by Seth Hobson

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

This skill provides a structured approach to implementing hybrid search, which merges vector similarity with keyword-based retrieval. By combining these two methods, developers can achieve better recall, especially when handling domain-specific vocabulary, exact matches, or queries that pure semantic search might miss. The skill covers architectural patterns, fusion methods like Reciprocal Rank Fusion (RRF) and linear combination, and best practices for tuning and testing search performance.

What it does

  • Defines the architecture for combining vector and keyword search results.
  • Provides implementation templates for Reciprocal Rank Fusion (RRF).
  • Offers logic for linear combination of search scores.
  • Outlines database schema patterns for hybrid search using PostgreSQL.
  • Suggests best practices for tuning weights and evaluating search quality.
  • Provides guidance on when to use specific fusion methods like reranking or cascading.

When to use it

  • When building RAG systems that require higher retrieval accuracy.
  • When your current vector search fails to capture exact keyword matches.
  • When dealing with domain-specific terminology or product codes.
  • When you need to balance semantic understanding with precise term matching.
  • When you want to improve search recall without relying on a single retrieval method.

Advantages

  • Improves retrieval recall by leveraging both semantic and exact matching.
  • Provides flexible fusion methods to suit different search requirements.
  • Includes actionable templates for common database implementations.
  • Encourages empirical tuning and A/B testing for optimal performance.
  • Helps address edge cases where single-method search is insufficient.

Usage examples

“How do I combine vector and keyword search results?”
The skill provides a conceptual architecture and specific Python templates for Reciprocal Rank Fusion (RRF) and linear combination to merge ranked lists from different search methods.
“What is the best way to implement hybrid search in PostgreSQL?”
The skill includes a template for setting up a PostgreSQL schema with pgvector for vector search and GIN indexes for full-text search, enabling efficient hybrid queries.

Install

  1. Download the skill as a ZIP:

    https://autogineer.com/agent-skills/wshobson/hybrid-search-implementation/download
  2. Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:

    mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip hybrid-search-implementation.zip -d .agents/skills

Documentation by Seth Hobson

Hybrid Search Implementation

Patterns for combining vector similarity and keyword-based search.

When to Use This Skill

  • Building RAG systems with improved recall

  • Combining semantic understanding with exact matching

  • Handling queries with specific terms (names, codes)

  • Improving search for domain-specific vocabulary

  • When pure vector search misses keyword matches

Core Concepts

1. Hybrid Search Architecture
Query → ┬─► Vector Search ──► Candidates ─┐
        │                                  │
        └─► Keyword Search ─► Candidates ─┴─► Fusion ─► Results
2. Fusion Methods
MethodDescriptionBest For
RRFReciprocal Rank FusionGeneral purpose
LinearWeighted sum of scoresTunable balance
Cross-encoderRerank with neural modelHighest quality
CascadeFilter then rerankEfficiency

Templates and detailed worked examples

Full template library and detailed worked examples live in references/details.md. Read that file when you need the concrete templates.

Best Practices

Do's
  • Tune weights empirically - Test on your data

  • Use RRF for simplicity - Works well without tuning

  • Add reranking - Significant quality improvement

  • Log both scores - Helps with debugging

  • A/B test - Measure real user impact

Don'ts
  • Don't assume one size fits all - Different queries need different weights

  • Don't skip keyword search - Handles exact matches better

  • Don't over-fetch - Balance recall vs latency

  • Don't ignore edge cases - Empty results, single word queries

Files

references/details.md

hybrid-search-implementation — templates and worked examples

Templates

Template 1: Reciprocal Rank Fusion
from typing import List, Dict, Tuple
from collections import defaultdict

def reciprocal_rank_fusion(
    result_lists: List[List[Tuple[str, float]]],
    k: int = 60,
    weights: List[float] = None
) -> List[Tuple[str, float]]:
    """
    Combine multiple ranked lists using RRF.

    Args:
        result_lists: List of (doc_id, score) tuples per search method
        k: RRF constant (higher = more weight to lower ranks)
        weights: Optional weights per result list

    Returns:
        Fused ranking as (doc_id, score) tuples
    """
    if weights is None:
        weights = [1.0] * len(result_lists)

    scores = defaultdict(float)

    for result_list, weight in zip(result_lists, weights):
        for rank, (doc_id, _) in enumerate(result_list):
            # RRF formula: 1 / (k + rank)
            scores[doc_id] += weight * (1.0 / (k + rank + 1))

    # Sort by fused score
    return sorted(scores.items(), key=lambda x: x[1], reverse=True)


def linear_combination(
    vector_results: List[Tuple[str, float]],
    keyword_results: List[Tuple[str, float]],
    alpha: float = 0.5
) -> List[Tuple[str, float]]:
    """
    Combine results with linear interpolation.

    Args:
        vector_results: (doc_id, similarity_score) from vector search
        keyword_results: (doc_id, bm25_score) from keyword search
        alpha: Weight for vector search (1-alpha for keyword)
    """
    # Normalize scores to [0, 1]
    def normalize(results):
        if not results:
            return {}
        scores = [s for _, s in results]
        min_s, max_s = min(scores), max(scores)
        range_s = max_s - min_s if max_s != min_s else 1
        return {doc_id: (score - min_s) / range_s for doc_id, score in results}

    vector_scores = normalize(vector_results)
    keyword_scores = normalize(keyword_results)

    # Combine
    all_docs = set(vector_scores.keys()) | set(keyword_scores.keys())
    combined = {}

    for doc_id in all_docs:
        v_score = vector_scores.get(doc_id, 0)
        k_score = keyword_scores.get(doc_id, 0)
        combined[doc_id] = alpha * v_score + (1 - alpha) * k_score

    return sorted(combined.items(), key=lambda x: x[1], reverse=True)
import asyncpg
from typing import List, Dict, Optional
import numpy as np

class PostgresHybridSearch:
    """Hybrid search with pgvector and full-text search."""

    def __init__(self, pool: asyncpg.Pool):
        self.pool = pool

    async def setup_schema(self):
        """Create tables and indexes."""
        async with self.pool.acquire() as conn:
            await conn.execute("""
                CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS vector;

                CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS documents (
                    id TEXT PRIMARY KEY,
                    content TEXT NOT NULL,
                    embedding vector(1536),
                    metadata JSONB DEFAULT '{}',
                    ts_content tsvector GENERATED ALWAYS AS (
                        to_tsvector('english', content)
                    ) STORED
                );

                -- Vector index (HNSW)
                CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS documents_embedding_idx
                ON documents USING hnsw (embedding vector_cosine_ops);

                -- Full-text index (GIN)
                CREATE INDEX IF NOT EXISTS documents_fts_idx
                ON documents USING gin (ts_content);
            """)

    async def hybrid_search(
        self,
        query: str,
        query_embedding: List[float],
        limit: int = 10,
        vector_weight: float = 0.5,
        filter_metadata: Optional[Dict] = None
    ) -> List[Dict]:
        """
        Perform hybrid search combining vector and full-text.

        Uses RRF fusion for combining results.
        """
        async with self.pool.acquire() as conn:
            # Build filter clause
            where_clause = "1=1"
            params = [query_embedding, query, limit * 3]

            if filter_metadata:
                for key, value in filter_metadata.items():
                    params.append(value)
                    where_clause += f" AND metadata->>'{key}' = ${len(params)}"

            results = await conn.fetch(f"""
                WITH vector_search AS (
                    SELECT
                        id,
                        content,
                        metadata,
                        ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY embedding <=> $1::vector) as vector_rank,
                        1 - (embedding <=> $1::vector) as vector_score
                    FROM documents
                    WHERE {where_clause}
                    ORDER BY embedding <=> $1::vector
                    LIMIT $3
                ),
                keyword_search AS (
                    SELECT
                        id,
                        content,
                        metadata,
                        ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY ts_rank(ts_content, websearch_to_tsquery('english', $2)) DESC) as keyword_rank,
                        ts_rank(ts_content, websearch_to_tsquery('english', $2)) as keyword_score
                    FROM documents
                    WHERE ts_content @@ websearch_to_tsquery('english', $2)
                      AND {where_clause}
                    ORDER BY ts_rank(ts_content, websearch_to_tsquery('english', $2)) DESC
                    LIMIT $3
                )
                SELECT
                    COALESCE(v.id, k.id) as id,
                    COALESCE(v.content, k.content) as content,
                    COALESCE(v.metadata, k.metadata) as metadata,
                    v.vector_score,
                    k.keyword_score,
                    -- RRF fusion
                    COALESCE(1.0 / (60 + v.vector_rank), 0) * $4::float +
                    COALESCE(1.0 / (60 + k.keyword_rank), 0) * (1 - $4::float) as rrf_score
                FROM vector_search v
                FULL OUTER JOIN keyword_search k ON v.id = k.id
                ORDER BY rrf_score DESC
                LIMIT $3 / 3
            """, *params, vector_weight)

            return [dict(row) for row in results]

    async def search_with_rerank(
        self,
        query: str,
        query_embedding: List[float],
        limit: int = 10,
        rerank_candidates: int = 50
    ) -> List[Dict]:
        """Hybrid search with cross-encoder reranking."""
        from sentence_transformers import CrossEncoder

        # Get candidates
        candidates = await self.hybrid_search(
            query, query_embedding, limit=rerank_candidates
        )

        if not candidates:
            return []

        # Rerank with cross-encoder
        model = CrossEncoder('cross-encoder/ms-marco-MiniLM-L-6-v2')

        pairs = [(query, c["content"]) for c in candidates]
        scores = model.predict(pairs)

        for candidate, score in zip(candidates, scores):
            candidate["rerank_score"] = float(score)

        # Sort by rerank score and return top results
        reranked = sorted(candidates, key=lambda x: x["rerank_score"], reverse=True)
        return reranked[:limit]
from elasticsearch import Elasticsearch
from typing import List, Dict, Optional

class ElasticsearchHybridSearch:
    """Hybrid search with Elasticsearch and dense vectors."""

    def __init__(
        self,
        es_client: Elasticsearch,
        index_name: str = "documents"
    ):
        self.es = es_client
        self.index_name = index_name

    def create_index(self, vector_dims: int = 1536):
        """Create index with dense vector and text fields."""
        mapping = {
            "mappings": {
                "properties": {
                    "content": {
                        "type": "text",
                        "analyzer": "english"
                    },
                    "embedding": {
                        "type": "dense_vector",
                        "dims": vector_dims,
                        "index": True,
                        "similarity": "cosine"
                    },
                    "metadata": {
                        "type": "object",
                        "enabled": True
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        self.es.indices.create(index=self.index_name, body=mapping, ignore=400)

    def hybrid_search(
        self,
        query: str,
        query_embedding: List[float],
        limit: int = 10,
        boost_vector: float = 1.0,
        boost_text: float = 1.0,
        filter: Optional[Dict] = None
    ) -> List[Dict]:
        """
        Hybrid search using Elasticsearch's built-in capabilities.
        """
        # Build the hybrid query
        search_body = {
            "size": limit,
            "query": {
                "bool": {
                    "should": [
                        # Vector search (kNN)
                        {
                            "script_score": {
                                "query": {"match_all": {}},
                                "script": {
                                    "source": f"cosineSimilarity(params.query_vector, 'embedding') * {boost_vector} + 1.0",
                                    "params": {"query_vector": query_embedding}
                                }
                            }
                        },
                        # Text search (BM25)
                        {
                            "match": {
                                "content": {
                                    "query": query,
                                    "boost": boost_text
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    ],
                    "minimum_should_match": 1
                }
            }
        }

        # Add filter if provided
        if filter:
            search_body["query"]["bool"]["filter"] = filter

        response = self.es.search(index=self.index_name, body=search_body)

        return [
            {
                "id": hit["_id"],
                "content": hit["_source"]["content"],
                "metadata": hit["_source"].get("metadata", {}),
                "score": hit["_score"]
            }
            for hit in response["hits"]["hits"]
        ]

    def hybrid_search_rrf(
        self,
        query: str,
        query_embedding: List[float],
        limit: int = 10,
        window_size: int = 100
    ) -> List[Dict]:
        """
        Hybrid search using Elasticsearch 8.x RRF.
        """
        search_body = {
            "size": limit,
            "sub_searches": [
                {
                    "query": {
                        "match": {
                            "content": query
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "query": {
                        "knn": {
                            "field": "embedding",
                            "query_vector": query_embedding,
                            "k": window_size,
                            "num_candidates": window_size * 2
                        }
                    }
                }
            ],
            "rank": {
                "rrf": {
                    "window_size": window_size,
                    "rank_constant": 60
                }
            }
        }

        response = self.es.search(index=self.index_name, body=search_body)

        return [
            {
                "id": hit["_id"],
                "content": hit["_source"]["content"],
                "score": hit["_score"]
            }
            for hit in response["hits"]["hits"]
        ]
Template 4: Custom Hybrid RAG Pipeline
from typing import List, Dict, Optional, Callable
from dataclasses import dataclass

@dataclass
class SearchResult:
    id: str
    content: str
    score: float
    source: str  # "vector", "keyword", "hybrid"
    metadata: Dict = None


class HybridRAGPipeline:
    """Complete hybrid search pipeline for RAG."""

    def __init__(
        self,
        vector_store,
        keyword_store,
        embedder,
        reranker=None,
        fusion_method: str = "rrf",
        vector_weight: float = 0.5
    ):
        self.vector_store = vector_store
        self.keyword_store = keyword_store
        self.embedder = embedder
        self.reranker = reranker
        self.fusion_method = fusion_method
        self.vector_weight = vector_weight

    async def search(
        self,
        query: str,
        top_k: int = 10,
        filter: Optional[Dict] = None,
        use_rerank: bool = True
    ) -> List[SearchResult]:
        """Execute hybrid search pipeline."""

        # Step 1: Get query embedding
        query_embedding = self.embedder.embed(query)

        # Step 2: Execute parallel searches
        vector_results, keyword_results = await asyncio.gather(
            self._vector_search(query_embedding, top_k * 3, filter),
            self._keyword_search(query, top_k * 3, filter)
        )

        # Step 3: Fuse results
        if self.fusion_method == "rrf":
            fused = self._rrf_fusion(vector_results, keyword_results)
        else:
            fused = self._linear_fusion(vector_results, keyword_results)

        # Step 4: Rerank if enabled
        if use_rerank and self.reranker:
            fused = await self._rerank(query, fused[:top_k * 2])

        return fused[:top_k]

    async def _vector_search(
        self,
        embedding: List[float],
        limit: int,
        filter: Dict
    ) -> List[SearchResult]:
        results = await self.vector_store.search(embedding, limit, filter)
        return [
            SearchResult(
                id=r["id"],
                content=r["content"],
                score=r["score"],
                source="vector",
                metadata=r.get("metadata")
            )
            for r in results
        ]

    async def _keyword_search(
        self,
        query: str,
        limit: int,
        filter: Dict
    ) -> List[SearchResult]:
        results = await self.keyword_store.search(query, limit, filter)
        return [
            SearchResult(
                id=r["id"],
                content=r["content"],
                score=r["score"],
                source="keyword",
                metadata=r.get("metadata")
            )
            for r in results
        ]

    def _rrf_fusion(
        self,
        vector_results: List[SearchResult],
        keyword_results: List[SearchResult]
    ) -> List[SearchResult]:
        """Fuse with RRF."""
        k = 60
        scores = {}
        content_map = {}

        for rank, result in enumerate(vector_results):
            scores[result.id] = scores.get(result.id, 0) + 1 / (k + rank + 1)
            content_map[result.id] = result

        for rank, result in enumerate(keyword_results):
            scores[result.id] = scores.get(result.id, 0) + 1 / (k + rank + 1)
            if result.id not in content_map:
                content_map[result.id] = result

        sorted_ids = sorted(scores.keys(), key=lambda x: scores[x], reverse=True)

        return [
            SearchResult(
                id=doc_id,
                content=content_map[doc_id].content,
                score=scores[doc_id],
                source="hybrid",
                metadata=content_map[doc_id].metadata
            )
            for doc_id in sorted_ids
        ]

    async def _rerank(
        self,
        query: str,
        results: List[SearchResult]
    ) -> List[SearchResult]:
        """Rerank with cross-encoder."""
        if not results:
            return results

        pairs = [(query, r.content) for r in results]
        scores = self.reranker.predict(pairs)

        for result, score in zip(results, scores):
            result.score = float(score)

        return sorted(results, key=lambda x: x.score, reverse=True)

Requirements and compatibility

Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta

“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.

Security

No issues found by our static scan· No issues found

A static scan is not a guarantee. Skills are third-party content: review a skill before you let an agent use it.

Attribution and licence

Created by
Seth Hobson
Publisher
Seth Hobson (Community)
Source
wshobson/agents · plugins/llm-application-dev/skills/hybrid-search-implementation · commit 4bde316
Licence
MIT License (redistribution allowed)
  • LICENSE (added by AutoGineer from LICENSE)
  • ATTRIBUTION.md (written by AutoGineer)
Synced

AutoGineer is not affiliated with or endorsed by Seth Hobson or Seth Hobson.

Download ZIP

The ZIP holds the skill’s files, its licence files and an ATTRIBUTION.md. Download hybrid-search-implementation.zip