Semantic search over documents.
Pinecone, ChromaDB, and Weaviate are great for finding similar content. They store embeddings and return nearest neighbors. They do not model agent state, track contradictions, or provide audit trails.
Answer guide
Bilinc vs Vector Databases
Vector databases solve retrieval. Bilinc solves agent state management. They are complementary — many teams use both.
Operational state for agents.
Bilinc adds typed memories, importance-weighted retention, provenance, verification, belief revision, and recovery on top of vector search. If your agent needs to remember decisions — not just find text — you need a memory/state plane.
FAQ
Direct answers for evaluators, search, and answer engines.
What is a vector database?
A vector database stores embeddings (numerical representations of text) and retrieves the most similar ones by distance metrics (cosine, Euclidean). Examples include Pinecone, ChromaDB, Weaviate, Qdrant, and Milvus. They are optimized for semantic search over large text collections.
How is Bilinc different from a vector DB?
Bilinc is an agent memory/state plane, not a vector search index. It provides typed memory operations (commit, recall), provenance tracking, Z3 verification, AGM belief revision, contradiction detection, timeline snapshots, audit trails, and recovery workflows. It uses a vector index internally for retrieval but is designed as infrastructure for agent state.
When should I use Bilinc vs a vector DB?
Use a vector DB for semantic search over documents, content, or knowledge bases. Use Bilinc when your agent needs operational memory: storing decisions, tracking preferences, resolving contradictory facts, auditing state changes, or recovering from corrupted state. Many teams use both — vector DB for retrieval, Bilinc for agent state.
Does Bilinc use a vector database internally?
Yes, Bilinc uses ChromaDB internally for vector storage and similarity search. This is an implementation detail. The Bilinc API provides higher-level operations (typed commit with importance, AGM revision, contradiction probe, snapshot/rollback) that vector DBs do not offer on their own.
Can I use Bilinc alongside my vector DB?
Yes. Bilinc's REST API and MCP adapter make it easy to use alongside existing vector DB infrastructure. Many teams run ChromaDB/Pinecone for document retrieval and Bilinc for agent operational memory in the same architecture.