# RushDB 3

Source: https://docs.rushdb.com/

RushDB is the database for AI. Push JSON and get connected records you can filter, traverse, aggregate, and search by keywords, by meaning, or both, without designing a schema first.

RushDB 3 runs on its own engine: a single Rust binary, `rushdb`, with its own storage, query planner, and vector and text indexes. You can use it two ways:

| | **RushDB Cloud** | **Self-hosted engine** |
| --- | --- | --- |
| What it is | The managed service at [app.rushdb.com](https://app.rushdb.com): the engine plus the dashboard, managed embeddings and AI features | The Apache-2.0 engine on your own infrastructure |
| Connect with | An API key: SDKs, REST API, MCP (local or hosted) | The engine URL and token: SDKs and MCP in direct mode, or the engine's own HTTP, PostgreSQL wire, Bolt and gRPC interfaces |

The engine is the part of RushDB you can self-host. The dashboard, managed embeddings and the AI features — natural-language search, relationship-pattern suggestions — are part of RushDB Cloud.

## Start here

| I want to… | Go to |
| --- | --- |
| Try RushDB in five minutes | [Get Started](./get-started/index.mdx) → [Quick Tutorial](./get-started/quick-tutorial.mdx) |
| Choose between Cloud and self-hosting | [RushDB Cloud or a self-hosted engine](./learn/tutorials/use-cases/cloud-vs-self-hosted.mdx) |
| Connect an app, an MCP client or an agent | [Connect](./connect/index.mdx) |
| Learn records, relationships and SearchQuery | [Learn](./learn/records-and-queries/index.mdx) |
| Add keyword, semantic or hybrid search | [Search](./learn/semantic-search/semantic-search.mdx) |
| Install and operate the engine | [Engine manual](./engine/README.md) |
| Upgrade from RushDB 2.x | [Migrate from 2.x](./migration/from-2x.mdx) |

## What's new in RushDB 3

- **A database of its own.** RushDB 2.x was an application layer over Neo4j. RushDB 3 is a standalone engine with its own storage, write-ahead log, MVCC transactions, backups and replication.
- **Self-host the engine.** One binary or container, installed with a script, Homebrew, Docker or Cargo. The SDKs and MCP server connect to it directly.
- **Keyword and hybrid search.** BM25 text indexes, and hybrid search that fuses vector and keyword rankings (RRF or DBSF) inside one filter.
- **Named embedding indexes** and faster vector search: exact for small indexes, ANN for large ones, with a report of which ran.
- **More ways in.** On a self-hosted engine: SQL over the PostgreSQL wire protocol, openCypher over Bolt, ISO GQL, Gremlin, SQL/PGQ, Mongo-style statements, and gRPC.
- **Transactions staged in the engine,** with records named by id, and clear refusals for writes that can't be staged.

See the [migration guide](./migration/from-2x.mdx) for what changed in the SDKs.