14× faster embeddings: how we rebuilt the ONNX path in Manticore

manticoresearch.com
July 3, 2026
14 min read
48/100
Summary
Manticore has rebuilt the ONNX path for Auto Embeddings, achieving a 14× increase in speed for converting text columns into vectors. The previous method using SentenceTransformers and Candle limited throughput, resulting in low document processing rates and serialized concurrent calls.
Key Takeaways
- The new ONNX Runtime backend in Manticore Search 27.1.5 is approximately 14× faster than the previous SentenceTransformers/Candle path for embedding models.
- The ONNX path achieves document processing speeds ranging from 70 to 230 docs/sec, compared to the previous range of 5 to 11 docs/sec.
- Single-insert latency with the new backend is around 14 ms for a single client and 56 ms under 8-way concurrent load, significantly lower than the 200+ ms latency of the old path.
- The new backend allows for improved performance tuning options, enabling users to achieve higher throughput by adjusting batch sizes and concurrency.
Coverage & discussions
Hacker News · manticoresearch.com
Community discussions
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