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Overview

Qdrant is the vector database used by Cobi to store and search document embeddings. The qdrant dependency chart deploys it as a StatefulSet with persistent storage. Default ports:
  • 6333 — HTTP REST API (used by the backend)
  • 6334 — gRPC API
The backend connects to Qdrant at http://<release-name>-qdrant:6333 via the QDRANT_URL environment variable.

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Configuration in values.yaml

qdrant:
  enabled: true

  image:
    repository: qdrant/qdrant
    tag: "v1.16.2"          # pin to a specific version — "latest" can break on upgrades
    pullPolicy: IfNotPresent

  service:
    httpPort: 6333
    grpcPort: 6334

  persistence:
    enabled: true
    storageClass: ""        # use cluster default; set to "local-path" or "nfs-csi" for on-prem
    accessModes:
      - ReadWriteOnce
    size: 10Gi              # increase for large document collections

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Sizing the PVC

Qdrant stores vectors on disk. The required space depends on:
FactorImpact
Number of documentsEach document generates one or more vectors
Embedding dimensionTypical embedding models use 384–1536 dimensions
Index typeHNSW graph adds ~1.5× overhead over raw vectors
A rough estimate: ~1 Gi per 500 000 vectors at 768 dimensions with HNSW indexing. Start with 10Gi and expand the PVC when utilization reaches 70%.

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On-Premises StorageClass

For clusters without a cloud storage provisioner, set a local or NFS-backed StorageClass: 
qdrant:
  persistence:
    storageClass: "local-path"   # rancher local-path-provisioner
    size: 20Gi

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Exposing Qdrant (optional)

Qdrant is a ClusterIP service by default (internal only). To expose it for external tooling (e.g., Qdrant Web UI or admin scripts), add an Ingress: 
qdrant:
  ingress:
    enabled: true
    ingressClassName: nginx
    annotations: {}
    hosts:
      - host: qdrant.example.com
        paths:
          - path: /
            pathType: Prefix
            servicePort: 6333
    tls: []
Do not expose Qdrant publicly without authentication. The Qdrant HTTP API has no built-in auth by default — restrict access to internal networks or use an ingress that enforces authentication.

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Verify Qdrant

# Port-forward the Qdrant HTTP API
kubectl port-forward -n cobi svc/cobi-dashboard-qdrant 6333:6333

# Check cluster health
curl http://localhost:6333/healthz

# List collections
curl http://localhost:6333/collections
A healthy response from /healthz returns {"title":"qdrant - vector search engine","version":"..."}.

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Connecting the Backend

Set the following variables in the backend Secret. The service name follows the pattern <release-name>-qdrant — if your release is named cobi-dashboard, the service is cobi-dashboard-qdrant.

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In-cluster Qdrant (deployed via this chart)

kubectl create secret generic cobi-backend-secrets \
  --namespace cobi \
  --from-literal=QDRANT_URL="http://cobi-dashboard-qdrant:6333" \
  --from-literal=QDRANT_LOCAL_ONLY="true" \
  --from-literal=QDRANT_API_KEY="" \
  --from-literal=QDRANT_CLUSTER_KEY="" \
  --from-literal=QDRANT_COLLECTION_PREFIX="prod_" \
  # ... other keys

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External / standalone on-prem Qdrant

If Qdrant is running on a separate server or another cluster: 
kubectl create secret generic cobi-backend-secrets \
  --namespace cobi \
  --from-literal=QDRANT_URL="http://qdrant.internal.example.com:6333" \
  --from-literal=QDRANT_LOCAL_ONLY="true" \
  --from-literal=QDRANT_API_KEY="" \
  --from-literal=QDRANT_CLUSTER_KEY="" \
  --from-literal=QDRANT_COLLECTION_PREFIX="prod_" \
  # ... other keys
Keep QDRANT_LOCAL_ONLY="true" for any self-hosted Qdrant regardless of where it runs. Set it to "false" only when using Qdrant Cloud.

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Qdrant Cloud

kubectl create secret generic cobi-backend-secrets \
  --namespace cobi \
  --from-literal=QDRANT_URL="https://<cluster-id>.us-east4-0.gcp.cloud.qdrant.io:6333" \
  --from-literal=QDRANT_LOCAL_ONLY="false" \
  --from-literal=QDRANT_API_KEY="<qdrant-cloud-api-key>" \
  --from-literal=QDRANT_CLUSTER_KEY="<qdrant-cluster-key>" \
  --from-literal=QDRANT_COLLECTION_PREFIX="prod_" \
  # ... other keys

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Backend environment variable reference

VariableRequiredDescription
QDRANT_URLYesFull HTTP(S) URL of the Qdrant REST API, including port
QDRANT_LOCAL_ONLYYes"true" for self-hosted (in-cluster or on-prem); "false" for Qdrant Cloud
QDRANT_API_KEYCloud onlyAPI key from the Qdrant Cloud console. Leave empty for local
QDRANT_CLUSTER_KEYCloud onlyCluster key from the Qdrant Cloud console. Leave empty for local
QDRANT_COLLECTION_PREFIXNoPrefix prepended to all collection names. Use to namespace multiple environments (e.g. "prod_", "staging_") sharing one Qdrant instance

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Backup

Qdrant supports snapshot-based backups via its REST API: 
# Create a snapshot of a collection
curl -X POST http://localhost:6333/collections/<collection-name>/snapshots

# List snapshots
curl http://localhost:6333/collections/<collection-name>/snapshots
Snapshots are written to the Qdrant PVC. Copy them to external storage using a CronJob or kubectl cp.