Contestant

Vector search is a retrieval method that converts text, images, audio, and other data into numeric vectors using an AI model, and then searches for items that are semantically close. It enables “semantic similarity search” from free text, which is difficult with keyword search alone.

However, in real use, I encountered cases where results that are “close in meaning” but logically the opposite appeared near the top of the search results.

This is a serious issue in situations where affirmation vs. negation matters. If the system returns the wrong answer, the impact can be significant, so we cannot ignore this problem.

This article does not propose a new algorithm. I wrote it to share a practical way I found useful when semantic search fails due to negation.

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Contestant

TL;DR: This article demonstrates how to run GraphRAG-style hybrid retrieval—combining vector similarity, graph traversal, and full-text search—entirely within InterSystems IRIS using the iris-vector-graph package. We use a fraud detection scenario to show how graph patterns reveal what vector search alone would miss.

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Who hasn't been developing a beautiful example using a Docker IRIS image and had the image generation process fail in the Dockerfile because the license under which the image was created doesn't contain certain privileges?

In my case, what I was deploying in Docker is a small application that uses the Vector data type. With the Community version, this isn't a problem because it already includes Vector Search and vector storage. However, when I changed the IRIS image to a conventional IRIS (the latest-cd), I found that when I built the image, including the classes it had generated, it returned this error:

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Contestant

10:47 AM — Jose Garcia's creatinine test results arrive at the hospital FHIR server.
2.1 mg/dL — a 35% increase from last month.

What happens next?

  • Most systems: ❌ The result sits in a queue until a clinician reviews it manually — hours or days later.
  • This system: 👍 An AI agent evaluates the trend, consults clinical guidelines, and generates evidence-based recommendations — in seconds, automatically.

No chatbot. No manual prompts. No black-box reasoning.

This is event-driven clinical decision support with full explainability:

image

Triggered automatically by FHIR events
Multi-agent reasoning (context, guidelines, recommendations)
Complete audit trail in SQL (every decision, every evidence source)
FHIR-native outputs (DiagnosticReport published to server)

Built with:
- InterSystems IRIS for Health — Orchestration, FHIR, persistence, vector search
- CrewAI — Multi-agent framework for structured reasoning

You'll learn: 🖋️ How to orchestrate agentic AI workflows within production-grade interoperability systems — and why explainability matters more than accuracy alone.

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Hey Developers,

Enjoy the new video on InterSystems Developers YouTube

Inside Vector Search - Technical Innovations In InterSystems IRIS @ READY 2025

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ofEfLqi-kU8
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Article
· Dec 24, 2025 1m read
Using IRIS as a vector database

InterSystems IRIS embedded vector search capabilities lets us search unstructured and semi-structured data. Data is converted to vectors (also called ‘embeddings’) and then stored and indexed in InterSystems IRIS for semantic search, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), text analysis, recommendation engines, and other use cases.

This is a simple demo of IRIS being used as a vector database and similarity search on IRIS.

Prerequisites:

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Hey Developers,

Enjoy the new video on InterSystems Developers YouTube

First Customers Using Vector Search - Real World Experiences and Lessons Learned @ READY 2025

https://www.youtube.com/embed/HZrxAxrQges
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Hey Developers,

Enjoy the new video on InterSystems Developers YouTube

Enhancing Customer Engagement with Vector Search - Building a Customer Facing Chatbot @ READY 2025

https://www.youtube.com/embed/T3_TOxVZKwo
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Contestant

How to set up RAG for OpenAI agents using IRIS Vector DB in Python

In this article, I’ll walk you through an example of using InterSystems IRIS Vector DB to store embeddings and integrate them with an OpenAI agent.

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Article
· Mar 17, 2025 2m read
Ollama AI with IRIS

In this article I will be discussing the use of an alternative LLM for generative IA. OpenIA is commonly used, in this article I will show you how to use it and the advantages of using Ollama

In the generative AI usage model that we are used to, we have the following flow:

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Contestant

One objective of vectorization is to render unstructured text more machine-usable. Vector embeddings accomplish this by encoding the semantics of text as high-dimensional numeric vectors, which can be employed by advanced search algorithms (normally an approximate nearest neighbor algorithm like Hierarchical Navigable Small World). This not only improves our ability to interact with unstructured text programmatically but makes it searchable by context and by meaning beyond what is captured literally by keyword.

In this article I will walk through a simple vector search implementation that Kwabena Ayim-Aboagye and I fleshed out using embedded python in InterSystems IRIS for Health. I'll also dive a bit into how to use embedded python and dynamic SQL generally, and how to take advantage of vector search features offered natively through IRIS.

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Hello Community,

Great news for developers who have just started working with InterSystems IRIS! We have hands‑on interactive tutorials available via the Instruqt platform! These are perfect for getting up to speed quickly, playing in real environments, and building confidence with IRIS‑based development.

Here is the list of available tutorials:

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Hey Community,

Enjoy the new video on InterSystems Developers YouTube:

Using SerenityGPT to Build Out an Application GenAI Middleware at InterSystems @ Ready 2025

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZXULSWMmOD0
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Hi,

We very much appreciate the interest in the Developer Community for IRIS Vector Search and hope our technology has helped many of you build innovative applications or advanced your R&D efforts. With a dedicated index, integrated embeddings generation, and deep integration with our SQL engine now available in InterSystems IRIS, we're looking at the next frontier, and would love to hear your feedback on the technology to prioritize our investments.

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Introduction

In a previous article, I presented the IRIStool module, which seamlessly integrates the pandas Python library with the IRIS database. Now, I'm explaining how we can use IRIStool to leverage InterSystems IRIS as a foundation for intelligent, semantic search over healthcare data in FHIR format.

This article covers what I did to create the database for another of my projects, the FHIR Data Explorer. Both projects are candidates in the current InterSystems contest, so please vote for them if you find them useful.

You can find them at the Open Exchange:

In this article we'll cover:

  • Connecting to InterSystems IRIS database through Python
  • Creating a FHIR-ready database schema
  • Importing FHIR data with vector embeddings for semantic search

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With the rapid adoption of telemedicine, remote consultations, and digital dictation, healthcare professionals are communicating more through voice than ever before. Patients engaging in virtual conversations generate vast amounts of unstructured audio data, so how can clinicians or administrators search and extract information from hours of voice recordings?

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Hi Community,

We’re excited to share a brand-new Instruqt tutorial:

🧑‍🏫 RAG using InterSystems IRIS Vector Search

This hands-on lab walks you through building a Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) AI chatbot powered by InterSystems IRIS Vector Search. You’ll see how vector search can be leveraged to deliver up-to-date and accurate responses, combining the strengths of IRIS with generative AI.

✨ Why try it?

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Hey Community,

We're excited to invite you to the next InterSystems UKI Tech Talk webinar:

👉AI Vector Search Technology in InterSystems IRIS

Date & Time: Thursday, September 25, 2025 10:30-11:30 UK

Speakers:
👨‍🏫 @Saurav Gupta, Data Platform Team Leader, InterSystems
👨‍🏫 @Ruby Howard, Sales Engineer, InterSystems

2025 Upcoming Tech Talk Social Tile template (6).png

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In the previous article, we saw how to build a customer service AI agent with smolagents and InterSystems IRIS, combining SQL, RAG with vector search, and interoperability.

In that case, we used cloud models (OpenAI) for the LLM and embeddings.

This time, we’ll take it one step further: running the same agent, but with local models thanks to Ollama.

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Customer support questions span structured data (orders, products 🗃️), unstructured knowledge (docs/FAQs 📚), and live systems (shipping updates 🚚). In this post we’ll ship a compact AI agent that handles all three—using:

  • 🧠 Python + smolagents to orchestrate the agent’s “brain”
  • 🧰 InterSystems IRIS for SQL, Vector Search (RAG), and Interoperability (a mock shipping status API)

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Article
· Jul 22, 2025 5m read
Vector Search Performance

Test Objectives

InterSystems has been testing Vector Search since it was announced as an “experimental feature” in IRIS 2024.1. The first test cycle was aimed at identifying algorithmic inefficiencies and performance constraints during the Development/QD cycle. The next test cycle used simple vector searches for single threaded performance analysis to model reliable, scalable and performant behaviour at production database scale in IRIS, and performed a series of comparative tests of key IRIS vector search features against PostgreSQL/pgvector. The current test cycle models the expected behaviour of real-world customer deployments using complex queries that span multiple indices (vector and non-vector) and run in up to 1000 concurrent threads. These tests will be run against IRIS, PostgreSQL/pgvector, and ElasticSearch

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Hey Community,

Last week, the InterSystems team held our monthly Developer Meetup in a new venue for the first time ever! In the AWS Boston office location in the Seaport, over 71 attendees showed up to chat, network, and listen to talks from two amazing speakers. The event was a huge success; we had a packed house, tons of engagement and questions, and attendees lining up to chat with our speakers afterwards!

Photo of a large audience watching the speaker Jayesh Gupta present his topic
Jayesh presents on Testing Frameworks for Agentic Systems to a full house

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#InterSystems Demo Games entry


⏯️ Care Compass – InterSystems IRIS powered RAG AI assistant for Care Managers

Care Compass is a prototype AI assistant that helps caseworkers prioritize clients by analyzing clinical and social data. Using Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) and large language models, it generates narrative risk summaries, calculates dynamic risk scores, and recommends next steps. The goal is to reduce preventable ER visits and support early, informed interventions.

Presenters:
🗣 @Brad Nissenbaum, Sales Engineer, InterSystems
🗣 @Andrew Wardly, Sales Engineer, InterSystems
🗣 @Fan Ji, Solution Developer, InterSystems
🗣 @Lynn Wu, Sales Engineer, InterSystems

https://www.youtube.com/embed/oJ4wfEOAz50
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☤ Care 🩺 Compass 🧭 - Proof-of-Concept - Demo Games Contest Entry

Introducing Care Compass: AI-Powered Case Prioritization for Human Services

In today’s healthcare and social services landscape, caseworkers face overwhelming challenges. High caseloads, fragmented systems, and disconnected data often lead to missed opportunities to intervene early and effectively. This results in worker burnout and preventable emergency room visits, which are both costly and avoidable.

Care Compass was created to change that.

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