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RAG & Knowledge Systems

Arcana

Arcana is an embeddable RAG library for Elixir and Phoenix applications, providing vector search, knowledge graphs and LLM-driven retrieval through an application's Ecto repository.

Explore the practical guide ↓

Independent OpenViST project profile, based on linked sources.

Arcana — OpenViST project profile in RAG & Knowledge Systems.
OpenViST project illustration. See the linked sources for product details.
Understand the project

Practical overview

When it fits

Use Arcana when retrieval needs to live inside an Elixir or Phoenix application that already has an Ecto repository, especially when you want to select between a direct query flow, a developer-composed pipeline and an LLM-directed loop.

Who it is for

  • Elixir or Phoenix developers adding document retrieval and question answering to an application.
  • Teams that want vector and graph retrieval within an existing Ecto and Postgres stack.
  • Developers composing modular or LLM-directed retrieval flows.

Documented uses

  • Ingest documents and retrieve relevant material for an application question.
  • Build knowledge search that combines vector search and graph retrieval.
  • Compose retrieval steps such as rewriting, decomposition, searching, reranking and answer generation.
  • Use an LLM to select retrieval tools across turns for questions whose search path is not obvious.
Before you choose

Requirements & limits

The public repository identifies the project as open source under the Apache-2.0 license.

  • The application needs an Ecto repository; Arcana stores documents, chunks, embeddings and graph data in the existing Postgres database.
  • The simplest query surface includes rewriting and reranking rather than offering a bare one-shot retrieval mode.
  • Local embedding options named in the project documentation are Bumblebee with EXLA, EMLX or Torchx; external providers can also be configured.
  • Installation through Igniter adds migrations and mounts a dashboard route; embedder and supervision setup are covered separately in the Getting Started guide.

Check current requirements in the official documentation. Source-based guidance does not mean OpenViST has run or independently tested this project.

Source-based practical guide

Install Arcana in an Elixir or Phoenix application

Add Arcana to an application, generate its database migrations and mount its dashboard route.

Before you start

  • An Elixir or Phoenix application with an Ecto repository.
  • Igniter and Ecto migration tooling.

Steps

  1. Run mix igniter.install arcana to add the dependency, create migrations, configure the Repo and mount the dashboard route.

  2. Run mix ecto.migrate.

Expected outcome

Arcana's dependency and migrations are added, the Repo is configured and the dashboard route is mounted.

Guide limitations

  • This covers the documented Igniter installation path, not embedder setup, supervision configuration or a working retrieval query.
  • Consult the Getting Started guide for those next steps.
Documentation 1 ↗
Evidence and transparency

Sources & review

Official repository ↗
Source record details
Source availability
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Sources checked
13 October 2026
Original website title
georgeguimaraes/arcana · Official homepage title · retained in its source language
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