---
id: databricks-vectorsearch
version: "0.75"
license: unclear
license_treatment: unclear
maintenance: active
---

# databricks-vectorsearch — Databricks Vector Search Client

License: unclear · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 3.6M/mo

## What it is and what it does

databricks-vectorsearch is a deprecated compatibility shim that re-exports databricks-ai-search. The product formerly known as Databricks Vector Search has been renamed to Databricks AI Search, and the canonical SDK is now published under the new name. This package exists solely to preserve backward compatibility: existing code that imports from databricks.vector_search.* will continue to work, with VectorSearchClient available as an alias for AISearchClient. On import, it emits a DeprecationWarning to signal that new code should migrate to the renamed package.

The package depends on mlflow-skinny, protobuf, requests, deprecation, httpx, and databricks-ai-search. It carries a custom Databricks license that restricts use to connection with Databricks Platform Services under an Agreement. For new projects, installing databricks-ai-search directly is the recommended path; this package is useful only for maintaining existing codebases that have not yet migrated their imports.

Use it for:

- Maintaining legacy code that imports from databricks.vector_search.* without immediate refactoring to the new databricks.ai_search.* namespace.
- Gradual migration of a large codebase where both old and new import paths need to coexist during a transition period.
- Ensuring existing Vector Search client code continues to run while the underlying product is rebranded.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

A deprecated re-export shim that forwards to databricks-ai-search and emits a deprecation warning; existing code using databricks.vector_search.* imports continues to work with backward-compatible aliases.

No, unless you are maintaining existing code that has not yet migrated to databricks-ai-search. This is a deprecated shim; new projects should install databricks-ai-search directly. The custom Databricks license restricts use to Databricks Platform Services contexts, which may limit applicability outside that ecosystem.

## Install

pip install databricks-vectorsearch
uv add databricks-vectorsearch
poetry add databricks-vectorsearch

## Installing databricks-vectorsearch

Before you install: Low install friction with a pure-Python wheel. Marked active with a recent release (65 days ago), though this is a deprecated package maintained primarily as a compatibility shim.

License in practice: License treatment is unclear in the fact sheet. The package carries a custom Databricks license requiring use only in connection with Databricks Platform Services and an Agreement with Databricks; it is not a standard open-source license. Review the full license terms before use.

Quickstart:

pip install databricks-vectorsearch

from databricks.vector_search.client import VectorSearchClient
# Emits DeprecationWarning on import

Requires Python >=3.7; this is a deprecated package—new code should migrate to databricks-ai-search.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the backward-compatibility aliases (e.g., VectorSearchClient as AISearchClient) are guaranteed indefinitely or will be removed in a future version.
- Whether the custom Databricks license permits use outside a Databricks Platform Services context or Community Edition.
- What specific use cases within Databricks Platform Services this package is intended to support.

## Package facts

- License: not declared (unclear)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 3.6M/month (top 5,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

databricks vector search client, ai search sdk python, databricks deprecated migration, vector search backward compatibility, databricks platform sdk, deprecated, backward-compat, databricks

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