What does NOT as a Metadata Filter Condition mean?

[strawgate]

A Metadata Filters object:

class MetadataFilters(BaseModel):
    """Metadata filters for vector stores."""

    # Exact match filters and Advanced filters with operators like >, <, >=, <=, !=, etc.
    filters: List[Union[MetadataFilter, ExactMatchFilter, "MetadataFilters"]]
    # and/or such conditions for combining different filters
    condition: Optional[FilterCondition] = FilterCondition.AND

Can contain a list of filters, or a list of lists of filters.

It also has a FilterCondition which can be set to AND, OR, or NOT

What does NOT mean when the MetadataFilters contains a list[MetadataFilter]? There's no specified conjunction or disjunction?

[dosubot[bot]]

The meaning of NOT as a Metadata Filter Condition depends on the vector store backend you are using. In some backends (like Azure AI Search and Qdrant), NOT negates the filters in the list: all the filters are combined (usually as an implicit AND), and the result is negated—so it matches items that do not satisfy all the listed filters. For example, in Azure, this is translated to a not (...) clause in the OData filter string, and in Qdrant, all filters are placed in the must_not field, which excludes items matching any of those conditions (Azure example, Qdrant example).

However, in the core logic and some simple adapters, NOT is not supported and will raise an error if used (core logic). So, the actual effect of NOT with a list of filters is backend-specific, but where supported, it negates the combined result of all filters in the list (typically as if they were joined by AND). If you rely on this, it's best to check the documentation or test the behavior for your specific vector store.

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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[strawgate]

that's sad