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Adds explanation on when to use dense or sparse embeddings#6727

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sparse-dense
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Adds explanation on when to use dense or sparse embeddings#6727
kosabogi wants to merge 3 commits into
mainfrom
sparse-dense

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@kosabogi
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Summary

This PR adds explanation on when to use dense and sparse vectors to the Tutorial: Dense and sparse workflows using ingest pipelines page.

Related issue: https://github.com/elastic/docs-content-internal/issues/854

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  1. Did you use a generative AI (GenAI) tool to assist in creating this contribution?
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@kosabogi kosabogi requested a review from seanhandley May 27, 2026 08:40
@kosabogi kosabogi requested a review from a team as a code owner May 27, 2026 08:40
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github-actions Bot commented May 27, 2026

🔍 Preview links for changed docs

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@seanhandley seanhandley left a comment

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Looks almost ready @kosabogi - just a couple of thoughts.

Comment thread solutions/search/vector/dense-versus-sparse-ingest-pipelines.md Outdated
Comment thread solutions/search/vector/dense-versus-sparse-ingest-pipelines.md
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Elastic Docs Style Checker (Vale)

Summary: 1 suggestion found

💡 Suggestions (1): Optional style improvements. Apply when helpful.
File Line Rule Message
solutions/search/vector/dense-versus-sparse-ingest-pipelines.md 55 Elastic.FirstPerson Use caution when using first-person pronouns such as 'my.'

The Vale linter checks documentation changes against the Elastic Docs style guide. To use Vale locally or report issues, refer to Elastic style guide for Vale.

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Thanks for the feedback, @seanhandley and @leemthompo! I’ve added context engineering as a use case for dense vectors. Let me know how it looks now.

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@leemthompo leemthompo left a comment

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Nice! I wonder if this is the right spot to mention that you can also combine these approaches. A production search setup might combine lexical, dense, and sparse in a tiered approach. But this page is set up as a "versus" so perhaps food for a follow-up...

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3 participants