Weaviate Query Agent: Usage
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The Weaviate Query Agent is a pre-built agentic service designed to answer natural language queries based on the data stored in Weaviate Cloud.
The user simply provides a prompt/question in natural language, and the Query Agent takes care of all intervening steps to provide an answer.
This page describes how to use the Query Agent to answer natural language queries, using your data stored in Weaviate Cloud.
Prerequisites
Weaviate instance
This Agent is available exclusively for use with a Weaviate Cloud instance.
Refer to the Weaviate Cloud documentation for more information on how to set up a Weaviate Cloud instance.
You can try this Weaviate Agent with a free Sandbox instance on Weaviate Cloud.
Client library
At this time, this Agent is available only for Python. Support for other languages will be added in the future.
You can install the Weaviate client library with the optional agents extras to use Weaviate Agents. This will install the weaviate-agents package along with the weaviate-client package.
Install the client library using the following command:
- Python
pip install -U weaviate-client[agents]
Troubleshooting: Force pip to install the latest version
For existing installations, even pip install -U "weaviate-client[agents]" may not upgrade weaviate-agents to the latest version. If this occurs, additionally try to explicitly upgrade the weaviate-agents package:
pip install -U weaviate-agents
Or install a specific version:
pip install -U weaviate-agents==0.4.4
How to use the Query Agent
1. Instantiate the Query Agent
- Your Weaviate Cloud instance details (e.g. the
WeaviateClientobject in Python) to the Query Agent. - A list of the collections that the Query Agent may use to answer queries.
- Python
import os
import weaviate
from weaviate.classes.init import Auth
from weaviate.agents.query import QueryAgent
headers = {
# Provide your required API key(s), e.g. Cohere, OpenAI, etc. for the configured vectorizer(s)
"X-INFERENCE-PROVIDER-API-KEY": os.environ.get("YOUR_INFERENCE_PROVIDER_KEY", ""),
}
client = weaviate.connect_to_weaviate_cloud(
cluster_url=os.environ.get("WCD_URL"),
auth_credentials=Auth.api_key(os.environ.get("WCD_API_KEY")),
headers=headers,
)
# Instantiate a new agent object, and specify the collections to query
qa = QueryAgent(
client=client, collections=["ecommerce", "financial_contracts", "weather"]
)
The Query Agent derives its access credentials from the Weaviate client object passed to it. This can be further restricted by the collection names provided to the Query Agent.
For example, if the associated Weaviate credentials' user has access to only a subset of collections, the Query Agent will only be able to access those collections.
2. Perform queries
Provide a natural language query to the Query Agent. The Query Agent will process the query, perform the necessary searches in Weaviate, and return the answer.
This is a synchronous operation. The Query Agent will return the answer to the user as soon as it is available.
The Query Agent will formulate its strategy based on your query. So, aim to be unambiguous, complete, yet concise in your query as much as possible.
- Python
# Perform a query
response = qa.run(
"I like vintage clothes and and nice shoes. Recommend some of each below $60."
)
# Print the response
response.display()
2.1. Follow-up queries
The Query Agent can even handle follow-up queries, using the previous response as additional context.
- Python
# Perform a follow-up query
following_response = qa.run(
"I like the vintage clothes options, can you do the same again but above $200?",
context=response,
)
# Print the response
response.display()
Inspect responses
The response from the Query Agent will contain the final answer, as well as additional supporting information.
The supporting information may include searches or aggregations carried out, what information may have been missing, and how many LLM tokens were used by the Agent.
Helper function
Try the provided helper function (e.g. print_query_agent_response) to display the response in a readable format.
- Python
# Perform a query
response = qa.run(
"I like vintage clothes and and nice shoes. Recommend some of each below $60."
)
# Print the response
response.display()
This will print the response and a summary of the supporting information found by the Query Agent.
Example output
╭──────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 🔍 Original Query ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ │
│ I like vintage clothes and and nice shoes. Recommend some of each below $60. │
│ │
╰────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
╭───────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 📝 Final Answer ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ │
│ For vintage clothes under $60, here are some great options: │
│ │
│ 1. **Vintage Scholar Turtleneck** - $55.00: This piece from the Dark Academia collection offers comfort with a stylish pleated │
│ detail, perfect for a scholarly wardrobe (available in black and grey). │
│ 2. **Retro Pop Glitz Blouse** - $46.00: Part of the Y2K collection, this blouse adds shimmer and features a dramatic collar for a │
│ pop culture-inspired look (available in silver). │
│ 3. **Retro Glitz Halter Top** - $29.98: Embrace early 2000s glamour with this halter top, suitable for standing out with its shiny │
│ pastel fabric (available in pink and purple). │
│ 4. **Metallic Pastel Dream Cardigan** - $49.00: This cardigan features a metallic sheen and is perfect for a colorful, nostalgic │
│ touch (available in blue and pink). │
│ │
│ For nice shoes under $60: │
│ │
│ 1. **Mystic Garden Strappy Flats** - $59.00: These gold flats feature delicate vine and floral patterns, ideal for adding a touch │
│ of magic to your outfit. │
│ 2. **Garden Serenade Sandals** - $56.00: These sandals from the Cottagecore collection have ivy-green straps with cream floral │
│ patterns, embodying a romantic countryside aesthetic. │
│ 3. **Forest Murmur Sandals** - $59.00: With a soft green hue and gold accents, these sandals from the Fairycore collection are │
│ both elegant and whimsical. │
│ │
╰────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
╭───────────────────────────────────────────────────── 🔭 Searches Executed 1/2 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ │
│ QueryResultWithCollection( │
│ queries=['vintage clothes'], │
│ filters=[[IntegerPropertyFilter(property_name='price', operator=<ComparisonOperator.LESS_THAN: '<'>, value=60.0)]], │
│ filter_operators='AND', │
│ collection='Ecommerce' │
│ ) │
│ │
╰────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
╭───────────────────────────────────────────────────── 🔭 Searches Executed 2/2 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ │
│ QueryResultWithCollection( │
│ queries=['nice shoes'], │
│ filters=[[IntegerPropertyFilter(property_name='price', operator=<ComparisonOperator.LESS_THAN: '<'>, value=60.0)]], │
│ filter_operators='AND', │
│ collection='Ecommerce' │
│ ) │
│ │
╰────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
╭────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ │
│ 📊 No Aggregations Run │
│ │
╰────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
╭──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 📚 Sources ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮
│ │
│ - object_id='3e3fc965-0a08-4095-b538-5362404a4aab' collection='Ecommerce' │
│ - object_id='3ce04def-fe06-48bd-ba0e-aa491ba2b3c5' collection='Ecommerce' │
│ - object_id='cece6613-0ad8-44a5-9da3-a99bcbe67141' collection='Ecommerce' │
│ - object_id='1be234ae-7665-4e8c-9758-07ba87997ca1' collection='Ecommerce' │
│ - object_id='5ee7874b-e70b-4af7-b053-cce74c10e406' collection='Ecommerce' │
│ - object_id='c7dd08d3-fe8e-44c2-8f99-8271c3ba24ee' collection='Ecommerce' │
│ - object_id='5f35dc8f-18f5-4388-845d-0383927dfee0' collection='Ecommerce' │
│ │
╰────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
📊 Usage Statistics
┌────────────────┬──────┐
│ LLM Requests: │ 4 │
│ Input Tokens: │ 8621 │
│ Output Tokens: │ 504 │
│ Total Tokens: │ 9125 │
└────────────────┴──────┘
Total Time Taken: 15.80s
Inspection example
This example outputs:
- The original user query
- The answer provided by the Query Agent
- Searches & aggregations (if any) conducted by the Query Agent
- Any missing information
- Python
print("\n=== Query Agent Response ===")
print(f"Original Query: {response.original_query}\n")
print("🔍 Final Answer Found:")
print(f"{response.final_answer}\n")
print("🔍 Searches Executed:")
for collection_searches in response.searches:
for result in collection_searches:
print(f"- {result}\n")
if response.has_aggregation_answer:
print("📊 Aggregation Results:")
for collection_aggs in response.aggregations:
for agg in collection_aggs:
print(f"- {agg}\n")
if response.missing_information:
if response.is_partial_answer:
print("⚠️ Answer is Partial - Missing Information:")
else:
print("⚠️ Missing Information:")
for missing in response.missing_information:
print(f"- {missing}")
Advanced options
Agent instantiation
The Query Agent can be instantiated with additional options, such as:
system_prompt: A custom system prompt to replace the default system prompt provided by the Weaviate team.timeout: The maximum time the Query Agent will spend on a single query, in seconds (server-side default: 60).
Collection selection
Use .add_collection or .remove_collection methods on an instantiated QueryAgent object to add or remove collections from the Query Agent's list of collections.
Queries
Use .view_properties to define the properties that the Query Agent can look at when answering queries.
Limitations & Troubleshooting
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Multi-tenant collections
The Query Agent is currently not able to access collections with multi-tenancy enabled. This will be added im the future.
Custom collection descriptions
The Query Agent makes use of each collection's description metadata in deciding what collection to query.
We are investigating an ability to specify a custom collection description at runtime.
Execution times
The Query Agent performs multiple operations to translate a natural language query into Weaviate queries, and to process the response.
This typically requires multiple calls to generative models (e.g. LLMs) and multiple queries to Weaviate.
As a result, each Query Agent run may take some time to complete. Depending on the query complexity, it may not be uncommon to see execution times of ~10 seconds.
Questions and feedback
The official changelog for Weaviate Agents can be found here. If you have feedback, such as feature requests, bug reports or questions, please submit them here, where you will be able to see the status of your feedback and vote on others' feedback.
If you have any questions or feedback, let us know in the user forum.