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<aside role="status">Qdrant Edge is in beta. The API and functionality may change in future releases.</aside>

# What Is Qdrant Edge?

Qdrant Edge is a lightweight, embedded vector search engine for in-process retrieval with a minimal memory footprint and no background services. Qdrant Edge is designed for applications requiring low-latency vector search in environments with limited or intermittent connectivity, such as robots, kiosks, home assistants, and mobile phones.

Unlike Qdrant Server, which uses a client-server architecture, Qdrant Edge runs inside the application process. Think of it as SQLite, but for vector search. Data is stored and queried locally, ensuring low-latency access and enhanced privacy since data does not need to be transmitted to an external server. That said, Qdrant Edge provides APIs to [synchronize data with a Qdrant server](https://qdrant.tech/documentation/edge/edge-data-synchronization-patterns/index.md). This enables you to offload heavy computations such as indexing to more powerful server instances, back up and restore data, and centrally aggregate data from multiple edge devices. 

## Qdrant Edge Shard

Qdrant Edge is built around the concept of an **Edge Shard**: a self-contained storage unit that can operate independently. Each Edge Shard manages its own data, including vector and payload storage, and can perform local search and retrieval operations.

![Qdrant Edge Shards operate on edge devices](/md/documentation/edge/qdrant-edge.png)

*Ingest and query run inside the application process on the device. A Qdrant server is optional, for backups and heavier indexing.*


To work with a Qdrant Edge Shard, use the [Python Bindings for Qdrant Edge](https://pypi.org/project/qdrant-edge-py/) package or the [`qdrant-edge` Rust crate](https://crates.io/crates/qdrant-edge). Both expose an `EdgeShard` type with methods to manage data, query it, and restore snapshots. To learn more about the available methods, refer to the [Edge API](https://qdrant.tech/documentation/edge/edge-api/index.md) page.

## Using Qdrant Edge

| Type         | Guide                                                                                  | What you'll learn                                                                                  |
|--------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| **Beginner** | [Qdrant Edge Quickstart](https://qdrant.tech/documentation/edge/edge-quickstart/index.md)             | Get started with Qdrant Edge and learn the basics of managing and querying data |
| **Beginner** | [On-Device Embeddings](https://qdrant.tech/documentation/edge/edge-fastembed-embeddings/index.md)     | Generate vector embeddings directly on edge devices using FastEmbed |
| **Beginner** | [On-Device BM25](https://qdrant.tech/documentation/edge/edge-bm25/index.md)                          | Generate BM25 sparse embeddings on-device for keyword search |
| **Reference** | [Data Synchronization Patterns](https://qdrant.tech/documentation/edge/edge-data-synchronization-patterns/index.md) | Overview of patterns for synchronizing data between Edge Shards and Qdrant server collections |
| **Advanced** | [Synchronize with a Server](https://qdrant.tech/documentation/edge/edge-synchronization-guide/index.md) | Synchronize an Edge Shard with a Qdrant server collection to offload indexing and synchronize data between devices |
| **Reference** | [Edge API](https://qdrant.tech/documentation/edge/edge-api/index.md)                                 | Reference for the `EdgeShard` methods available in Python and Rust, with their parameters and return values |
| **Reference** | [Edge vs. Qdrant Cluster](https://qdrant.tech/documentation/edge/edge-vs-qdrant-cluster/index.md) | Comparison of Qdrant Edge and Qdrant Server across architecture, operations, and API surface |

### More Examples

The Qdrant GitHub repository contains examples of using the Qdrant Edge API in [Python](https://github.com/qdrant/qdrant/tree/dev/lib/edge/python/examples) and [Rust](https://github.com/qdrant/qdrant/tree/dev/lib/edge/publish/examples).
## Subsites to Search

https://search.qdrant.tech/md/documentation/edge/edge-api
https://search.qdrant.tech/md/documentation/edge/edge-api/configuration
https://search.qdrant.tech/md/documentation/edge/edge-api/reading-data
https://search.qdrant.tech/md/documentation/edge/edge-api/shard-lifecycle
https://search.qdrant.tech/md/documentation/edge/edge-api/snapshots
https://search.qdrant.tech/md/documentation/edge/edge-api/updating-data
https://search.qdrant.tech/md/documentation/edge/edge-bm25
https://search.qdrant.tech/md/documentation/edge/edge-data-synchronization-patterns
https://search.qdrant.tech/md/documentation/edge/edge-fastembed-embeddings
https://search.qdrant.tech/md/documentation/edge/edge-quickstart
https://search.qdrant.tech/md/documentation/edge/edge-synchronization-guide
https://search.qdrant.tech/md/documentation/edge/edge-vs-qdrant-cluster