fix(engine): prefilter(true) for filtered vector/FTS search

Lance's scanner defaults to prefilter=false: a filter riding the same
scanner as nearest()/bm25() is applied AFTER the ANN/FTS top-k, so
`limit k` meant top-k of the whole table and a selective predicate
silently starved results (the deny-list's silent-partial-result shape;
measured by the nearest-prefilter bench scenario: 20k rows, s=0.05,
k=10 -> 1000 matching rows exist, 0 returned). Set prefilter(true)
whenever a structured filter is pushed to the scanner: one flag governs
both the vector and FTS sources, plain scans ignore it, and it
re-enables scalar-index acceleration for the predicate under nearest.

The red test turns green: filtered nearest now returns the top-k of
MATCHING rows. Docs state the filters-before-search contract explicitly
(docs/user/search/index.md).

Closes iss-nearest-postfilter-starves-results.
This commit is contained in:
aaltshuler 2026-07-05 05:05:41 +03:00 committed by Andrew Altshuler
parent 31134db440
commit 281525cf7a
2 changed files with 16 additions and 0 deletions

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@ -1923,6 +1923,18 @@ async fn execute_node_scan(
// Apply the structured IR filter via Lance's Expr pushdown.
if let Some(ref expr) = filter_expr {
scanner.filter_expr(expr.clone());
// The filter must run BEFORE any ANN/FTS search on this
// scanner. Lance defaults to prefilter=false, which applies
// the filter to the search's top-k results — "you may get
// back fewer results than you ask for (or none at all)"
// (lance scanner.rs) — i.e. `limit k` would mean top-k of
// the whole table, silently starved by a selective filter.
// One flag governs both the vector and FTS sources, and it
// is unused by plain scans, so setting it whenever a filter
// is present is safe. Prefiltering also re-enables scalar-
// index acceleration for the predicate (Lance gates
// use_scalar_index on prefilter when a nearest is present).
scanner.prefilter(true);
}
// Apply FTS queries from hoisted search filters (search/fuzzy/match_text in match clause)

View file

@ -20,6 +20,10 @@ rank).
- `nearest()` requires a `limit`. The query vector is resolved from the param map,
or embedded from a text input at runtime via the configured
[embedding client](embeddings.md).
- Match filters apply **before** the search: combining a `match` predicate with
`nearest()` (or `bm25()`) returns the top-`limit` of the *matching* rows —
never a post-filtered remainder of the global top-k. A selective filter
narrows the candidate set; it cannot starve the result count.
- Scores and ranks propagate as ordinary columns, so you can `return` a score and
`order` by it.