LanceDB Hybrid Search (Memory Plugin)
This skill packages a drop-in OpenClaw memory plugin that adds hybrid search to LanceDB memory:
- Vector search (semantic)
- BM25 full-text search (exact terms)
- Configurable reranking:
rrf
(Reciprocal Rank Fusion, recommended)linear
(weighted combination)
It is based on (and credits) OpenClaw PR openclaw/openclaw#7636.
What you get
A local plugin (extension) located at:
plugin/
→ overrides the built-in plugin id memory-lancedb
(adds hybrid search)
Once enabled, it provides the same tools as the bundled LanceDB memory plugin:
memory_store
memory_recall
memory_forget
…but
memory_recall
/auto-recall/forget now use hybrid search when enabled.
Install / Enable
- Ensure the skill folder exists (ClawHub install puts it under your workspace):
~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/memory-lancedb-hybrid/plugin
- Install the plugin dependencies (once):
cd ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/memory-lancedb-hybrid/plugin
npm install --omit=dev
- Add the plugin to OpenClaw’s plugin load paths.
This plugin keeps the id
memory-lancedb
, so it will
override the bundled
memory-lancedb
extension when discovered via
plugins.load.paths
(higher precedence than bundled).
Edit
~/.openclaw/openclaw.json
:
{
plugins: {
load: {
// Point at the plugin directory inside this skill
paths: ["~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/memory-lancedb-hybrid/plugin"]
},
// Ensure the memory slot points at LanceDB memory
slots: {
memory: "memory-lancedb"
},
// Configure LanceDB memory (this override adds the `hybrid` config block)
entries: {
"memory-lancedb": {
enabled: true,
config: {
embedding: {
apiKey: "${OPENAI_API_KEY}",
model: "text-embedding-3-small"
},
// Optional
dbPath: "~/.openclaw/memory/lancedb",
// Optional
autoCapture: true,
autoRecall: true,
// Hybrid search options
hybrid: {
enabled: true,
reranker: "rrf"
// If using reranker: "linear", you can also set:
// vectorWeight: 0.7,
// textWeight: 0.3,
}
}
}
}
}
}
- Restart the Gateway.
Hybrid search needs an FTS index on the
text
column; the plugin will attempt to create it automatically. If FTS setup fails for any reason, the plugin logs a debug message and falls back to vector-only search.
Config reference
All config lives under
plugins.entries.memory-lancedb.config
.
hybrid.enabled
(boolean, default true
)hybrid.reranker
(rrf
| linear
, default rrf
)hybrid.vectorWeight
(number 0–1, default 0.7
, only used for linear
)hybrid.textWeight
(number 0–1, default 0.3
, only used for linear
)
Notes / troubleshooting
- This plugin does not modify OpenClaw’s install on disk; it overrides the bundled
memory-lancedb
at runtime (remove plugins.load.paths
to revert).
- If you already have LanceDB memory data on disk, you can keep using the same
dbPath
.
- If you see no hybrid effect, make sure
hybrid.enabled
is true and that the FTS index was created (check Gateway logs).
Files
plugin/index.ts
– plugin implementation (hybrid search)plugin/config.ts
– config parsing + UI hintsplugin/openclaw.plugin.json
– manifest + JSON Schema (used for strict config validation)
