| name | arrowspace |
| description | Spectral vector search using graph Laplacian eigenstructure. Use when cosine/L2 similarity misses latent structure in your embeddings. |
| category | data |
| risk | safe |
| source | community |
| source_repo | Genefold/arrowspace-skills |
| source_type | community |
| date_added | 2026-06-25 |
| author | Genefold AI |
| license | Apache-2.0 |
| license_source | https://github.com/Genefold/arrowspace-skills/blob/main/LICENSE |
| tags | ["vector-search","spectral-analysis","graph-laplacian","embeddings","lambda-tau"] |
| tools | ["claude","cursor","codex","gemini","opencode"] |
ArrowSpace
Spectral vector search that augments nearest-neighbour search with graph Laplacian features. Computes a Laplacian over the item graph and uses the Rayleigh quotient to produce a λτ (lambda-tau) score per item, enabling search that respects both semantic similarity and structural role.
When to Use This Skill
- Cosine or L2 similarity misses latent structure in your embeddings
- You want graph-based retrieval with spectral awareness
- You need to characterise the spectral properties of an embedding space
- You are building RAG pipelines where contextual role matters alongside semantic content
How It Works
Step 1: Install and import
pip install arrowspace
from arrowspace import ArrowSpaceBuilder
import numpy as np
Step 2: Prepare your data
Pass an (N, d) float64 NumPy array of embedding vectors:
items = np.array([[0.1, 0.2, 0.3],
[0.0, 0.5, 0.1],
[0.9, 0.1, 0.0]], dtype=np.float64)
Step 3: Configure graph parameters
graph_params = {"eps": 0.2, "k": 6, "topk": 3, "p": 2.0, "sigma": 1.0}
builder = ArrowSpaceBuilder(items, graph_params=graph_params)
aspace = builder.build()
Step 4: Query
lambdas = aspace.lambdas()
sorted_res = aspace.lambdas_sorted()
Higher λτ values indicate items that are both semantically close and structurally central.
Examples
Example 1: Basic spectral retrieval
items = np.random.randn(100, 64).astype(np.float64)
builder = ArrowSpaceBuilder(items, graph_params={"eps": 0.5, "k": 10, "topk": 5, "p": 2.0, "sigma": None})
aspace = builder.build()
scores = aspace.lambdas()
top_indices = np.argsort(scores)[-5:]
Example 2: Compare spectral vs cosine ranking
from sklearn.metrics.pairwise import cosine_similarity
cos_sim = cosine_similarity(items)
cosine_order = np.argsort(cos_sim[0])[::-1]
spectral_order = np.argsort(aspace.lambdas())[::-1]
Best Practices
- ✅ Normalise embeddings to unit norm before passing to ArrowSpace
- ✅ Start with eps proportional to 1/sqrt(dim) and tune from there
- ✅ Use k between 3 and 25 depending on dataset size (rule: N/50)
- ✅ Set sigma=None to auto-select kernel width from distance distribution
- ❌ Don't use with fewer than 10 items (graph structure is not meaningful)
- ❌ Don't use for real-time streaming data (ArrowSpace is batch-oriented)
Limitations
- This skill does not replace environment-specific validation, testing, or expert review.
- ArrowSpace is batch-oriented and not designed for real-time indexing of streaming data.
Common Pitfalls
-
Problem: eps is too small, producing a disconnected graph
Solution: Increase eps, or set it proportional to 1/sqrt(embedding_dim)
-
Problem: k is too large, producing a dense graph with washed-out spectral features
Solution: Keep k ≤ 25 for most datasets
Related Skills
vector-database-engineer — General vector database expertise
embedding-strategies — Embedding model selection and chunking
similarity-search-patterns — Semantic search implementation patterns
hybrid-search-implementation — Combined semantic + keyword search