lance-format · beinan · Jan 19, 2026 · Jan 19, 2026 · Jan 19, 2026 · Jan 19, 2026
diff --git a/.codex/skills/ci-pr-helper/SKILL.md b/.codex/skills/ci-pr-helper/SKILL.md
@@ -57,4 +57,7 @@ When ready:
 gh pr create --title "<title>" --body "<body>"
 ```
 
+- Some environments emit a spurious `Unsupported subcommand 'pr'` warning before running
+  `gh`; ignore that message and continue with the command.
+
 - If `gh` is missing or fails, print the command instead so the user can run it locally.
diff --git a/python/Cargo.lock b/python/Cargo.lock
diff --git a/python/python/lance_context/api.py b/python/python/lance_context/api.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+from datetime import datetime
 from io import BytesIO
 from typing import Any
 
@@ -96,6 +97,34 @@ def _normalize_content(value: Any, content_type: str | None):
     return value, content_type
 
 
+def _coerce_vector(query: Any) -> list[float]:
+    if hasattr(query, "tolist"):
+        query = query.tolist()
+    elif hasattr(query, "__array__"):
+        query = query.__array__().tolist()
+    if isinstance(query, (list, tuple)):
+        return [float(item) for item in query]
+    raise TypeError("search query must be a sequence of floats")
+
+
+def _normalize_search_hit(raw: dict[str, Any]) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    created_at = raw.get("created_at")
+    if isinstance(created_at, str):
+        created_at = datetime.fromisoformat(created_at.replace("Z", "+00:00"))
+    return {
+        "id": raw.get("id"),
+        "run_id": raw.get("run_id"),
+        "role": raw.get("role"),
+        "content_type": raw.get("content_type"),
+        "text": raw.get("text_payload"),
+        "binary": raw.get("binary_payload"),
+        "embedding": raw.get("embedding"),
+        "distance": raw.get("distance"),
+        "created_at": created_at,
+        "state_metadata": raw.get("state_metadata"),
+    }
+
+
 class Context:
     def __init__(self, uri: str) -> None:
         self._inner = _Context.create(uri)
@@ -140,6 +169,11 @@ def fork(self, branch_name: str) -> Context:
     def checkout(self, version_id: int | str) -> None:
         self._inner.checkout(int(version_id))
 
+    def search(self, query: Any, limit: int | None = None) -> list[dict[str, Any]]:
+        vector = _coerce_vector(query)
+        results = self._inner.search(vector, limit)
+        return [_normalize_search_hit(item) for item in results]
+
     def __repr__(self) -> str:
         return (
             f"Context(uri={self._inner.uri()!r}, "

diff --git a/python/src/lib.rs b/python/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
-use chrono::Utc;
+use chrono::{SecondsFormat, Utc};
 use pyo3::exceptions::PyRuntimeError;
 use pyo3::prelude::*;
-use pyo3::types::PyType;
+use pyo3::types::{PyBytes, PyDict, PyType};
+use pyo3::IntoPyObject;
 use tokio::runtime::Runtime;
 
 use lance_context::serde::CONTENT_TYPE_TEXT;
-use lance_context::{Context as RustContext, ContextRecord, ContextStore};
+use lance_context::{Context as RustContext, ContextRecord, ContextStore, SearchResult};
 
 const DEFAULT_BINARY_CONTENT_TYPE: &str = "application/octet-stream";
 const BINARY_PLACEHOLDER: &str = "[binary]";
@@ -68,9 +69,7 @@ impl Context {
         let (content_type, text_payload, binary_payload, inner_content) =
             match content.extract::<&[u8]>() {
                 Ok(bytes) => (
-                    data_type
-                        .unwrap_or(DEFAULT_BINARY_CONTENT_TYPE)
-                        .to_string(),
+                    data_type.unwrap_or(DEFAULT_BINARY_CONTENT_TYPE).to_string(),
                     None,
                     Some(bytes.to_vec()),
                     BINARY_PLACEHOLDER.to_string(),
@@ -127,10 +126,76 @@ impl Context {
         self.run_id = new_run_id();
         Ok(())
     }
+
+    #[pyo3(signature = (query, limit = None))]
+    fn search(
+        &self,
+        py: Python<'_>,
+        query: Vec<f32>,
+        limit: Option<usize>,
+    ) -> PyResult<Vec<PyObject>> {
+        let hits = self
+            .runtime
+            .block_on(self.store.search(&query, limit))
+            .map_err(to_py_err)?;
+        hits.into_iter()
+            .map(|hit| search_hit_to_py(py, hit))
+            .collect()
+    }
 }
 
 fn new_run_id() -> String {
-    format!("run-{}-{}", Utc::now().timestamp_micros(), std::process::id())
+    format!(
+        "run-{}-{}",
+        Utc::now().timestamp_micros(),
+        std::process::id()
+    )
+}
+
+fn search_hit_to_py(py: Python<'_>, hit: SearchResult) -> PyResult<PyObject> {
+    let SearchResult { record, distance } = hit;
+    let ContextRecord {
+        id,
+        run_id,
+        created_at,
+        role,
+        state_metadata,
+        content_type,
+        text_payload,
+        binary_payload,
+        embedding,
+    } = record;
+
+    let dict = PyDict::new(py);
+    dict.set_item("id", id)?;
+    dict.set_item("run_id", run_id)?;
+    dict.set_item(
+        "created_at",
+        created_at.to_rfc3339_opts(SecondsFormat::Micros, true),
+    )?;
+    dict.set_item("role", role)?;
+
+    let state_obj: PyObject = match state_metadata {
+        Some(metadata) => {
+            let state_dict = PyDict::new(py);
+            state_dict.set_item("step", metadata.step)?;
+            state_dict.set_item("active_plan_id", metadata.active_plan_id)?;
+            state_dict.set_item("tokens_used", metadata.tokens_used)?;
+            state_dict.set_item("custom", metadata.custom)?;
+            state_dict.into_pyobject(py)?.unbind().into()
+        }
+        None => py.None().into_pyobject(py)?.unbind().into(),
+    };
+    dict.set_item("state_metadata", state_obj)?;
+    dict.set_item("content_type", content_type)?;
+    dict.set_item("text_payload", text_payload)?;
+    match binary_payload {
+        Some(payload) => dict.set_item("binary_payload", PyBytes::new(py, &payload))?,
+        None => dict.set_item("binary_payload", py.None())?,
+    }
+    dict.set_item("embedding", embedding)?;
+    dict.set_item("distance", distance)?;
+    Ok(dict.into_pyobject(py)?.unbind().into())
 }
 
 fn to_py_err<E: std::fmt::Display>(err: E) -> PyErr {

diff --git a/python/tests/test_search.py b/python/tests/test_search.py
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+from datetime import datetime
+
+import pytest
+
+from lance_context.api import Context, _coerce_vector, _normalize_search_hit
+
+
+class DummyInner:
+    def __init__(self) -> None:
+        self.calls: list[tuple[list[float], int | None]] = []
+
+    def search(self, vector: list[float], limit: int | None):
+        self.calls.append((vector, limit))
+        return [
+            {
+                "id": "rec-1",
+                "run_id": "run-1",
+                "role": "user",
+                "content_type": "text/plain",
+                "text_payload": "hello",
+                "binary_payload": None,
+                "embedding": [0.1, 0.2],
+                "distance": 0.12,
+                "created_at": "2024-01-01T12:00:00Z",
+                "state_metadata": {"step": 1},
+            }
+        ]
+
+
+def test_coerce_vector_from_list():
+    assert _coerce_vector([1, 2.5]) == [1.0, 2.5]
+
+
+def test_coerce_vector_rejects_invalid():
+    with pytest.raises(TypeError):
+        _coerce_vector("invalid")
+
+
+def test_normalize_search_hit_converts_timestamp():
+    result = _normalize_search_hit(
+        {
+            "id": "rec-2",
+            "created_at": "2024-01-01T00:00:00Z",
+            "content_type": "text/plain",
+            "text_payload": None,
+            "binary_payload": None,
+            "embedding": None,
+            "distance": 0.5,
+            "run_id": "run-2",
+            "role": "assistant",
+            "state_metadata": None,
+        }
+    )
+    assert isinstance(result["created_at"], datetime)
+
+
+def test_context_search_formats_results():
+    ctx = Context.__new__(Context)
+    dummy = DummyInner()
+    ctx._inner = dummy  # type: ignore[attr-defined]
+
+    hits = ctx.search([0.5, 0.4], limit=3)
+
+    assert dummy.calls == [([0.5, 0.4], 3)]
+    assert hits[0]["id"] == "rec-1"
+    assert hits[0]["text"] == "hello"
+    assert hits[0]["binary"] is None
+    assert isinstance(hits[0]["created_at"], datetime)
diff --git a/rust/lance-context/Cargo.lock b/rust/lance-context/Cargo.lock
diff --git a/rust/lance-context/Cargo.toml b/rust/lance-context/Cargo.toml
@@ -20,3 +20,8 @@ lancedb = "0.23.1"
 lance-namespace = "1.0.1"
 lance-graph = "0.4.0"
 serde = { version = "1", features = ["derive"] }
+futures = "0.3"
+
+[dev-dependencies]
+tempfile = "3"
+tokio = { version = "1", features = ["rt-multi-thread"] }
diff --git a/rust/lance-context/src/lib.rs b/rust/lance-context/src/lib.rs
@@ -6,5 +6,5 @@ pub mod serde;
 mod store;
 
 pub use context::{Context, ContextEntry, Snapshot};
-pub use record::{ContextRecord, StateMetadata};
+pub use record::{ContextRecord, SearchResult, StateMetadata};
 pub use store::ContextStore;
diff --git a/rust/lance-context/src/record.rs b/rust/lance-context/src/record.rs
@@ -22,3 +22,10 @@ pub struct ContextRecord {
     pub binary_payload: Option<Vec<u8>>,
     pub embedding: Option<Vec<f32>>,
 }
+
+/// Result returned from a vector similarity search.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+pub struct SearchResult {
+    pub record: ContextRecord,
+    pub distance: f32,
+}