Decoder. plain-English AI glossary

Embedding Cache

▲ Rising

Also called Vector Cache

Saving embeddings you’ve already computed so you don’t pay to re-embed the same text.

Think of it like

Keeping receipts so you never re-do a calculation you already finished.

Example

When the same paragraph appears in ten documents, the cache returns its stored vector instead of calling the embedding model ten times.

How it actually works

Embedding calls cost money and time, and lots of text repeats or reappears unchanged. A cache keyed by a hash of the input (and model version) returns prior vectors instantly, which speeds ingestion and lowers bills. The subtlety is invalidation: if you change embedding models, the cache must be keyed by model too, or you’ll silently mix incompatible vectors.

For product teams

A quiet cost-saver on large or frequently re-ingested corpora.

For engineers

Content+model-hash keyed vector store; must invalidate on model change to avoid mixing embedding spaces.

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