Categories:

Vector functions , Aggregate functions

VECTOR_SUM

Computes the element-wise sum of vectors in an aggregate. Returns a vector where each element is the sum of the corresponding elements across all input vectors.

See also:

VECTOR_MIN , VECTOR_MAX , VECTOR_AVG , SUM, Vector Embeddings

Syntax

VECTOR_SUM( <vector_column> )
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Arguments

vector_column

A column containing VECTOR values. All vectors in the column must have the same element type and dimension.

Returns

Returns a VECTOR value with the same element type and dimension as the input vectors. Each element in the result vector is the sum of the corresponding elements across all input vectors.

Usage notes

  • NULL values are ignored in the aggregation.

  • If all values in the group are NULL, the function returns NULL.

  • All input vectors in the column must have the same dimension and element type.

  • Vector functions are optimized in a way that can reduce floating point precision. This function’s results have a margin of error up to 1e-4.

Examples

This example demonstrates computing the element-wise sum of vectors:

CREATE OR REPLACE TABLE vector_data (
  id INT,
  category VARCHAR,
  embedding VECTOR(FLOAT, 3)
);

INSERT INTO vector_data
SELECT 1, 'A', [1.0, 2.0, 3.0]::VECTOR(FLOAT, 3)
UNION ALL SELECT 2, 'A', [4.0, 5.0, 6.0]::VECTOR(FLOAT, 3)
UNION ALL SELECT 3, 'B', [2.0, 1.0, 4.0]::VECTOR(FLOAT, 3)
UNION ALL SELECT 4, 'B', [3.0, 2.0, 1.0]::VECTOR(FLOAT, 3);

-- Compute sum for each category
SELECT category, VECTOR_SUM(embedding) AS sum_vector
  FROM vector_data
  GROUP BY category
  ORDER BY category;
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+----------+------------------+
| CATEGORY | SUM_VECTOR       |
+----------+------------------+
| A        | [5.0, 7.0, 9.0]  |
| B        | [5.0, 3.0, 5.0]  |
+----------+------------------+

This example shows scalar aggregation (no GROUP BY):

SELECT VECTOR_SUM(embedding) AS total_sum
  FROM vector_data;
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+--------------------+
| TOTAL_SUM          |
+--------------------+
| [10.0, 10.0, 14.0] |
+--------------------+
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