LlamaIndex - Data Framework for LLM Applications
The leading framework for connecting LLMs with your data.
When to use LlamaIndex
Use LlamaIndex when:
- Building RAG (retrieval-augmented generation) applications
- Need document question-answering over private data
- Ingesting data from multiple sources (300+ connectors)
- Creating knowledge bases for LLMs
- Building chatbots with enterprise data
- Need structured data extraction from documents
Metrics:
- 45,100+ GitHub stars
- 23,000+ repositories use LlamaIndex
- 300+ data connectors (LlamaHub)
- 1,715+ contributors
- v0.14.7 (stable)
Use alternatives instead:
- LangChain: More general-purpose, better for agents
- Haystack: Production search pipelines
- txtai: Lightweight semantic search
- Chroma: Just need vector storage
Quick start
Installation
5-line RAG example
Core concepts
1. Data connectors - Load documents
2. Indices - Structure data
3. Query engines - Ask questions
4. Retrievers - Find relevant chunks
Agents with tools
Basic agent
RAG agent (document search + tools)
Advanced RAG patterns
Chat engine (conversational)
Metadata filtering
Structured output
Data ingestion patterns
Multiple file types
Web scraping
Database
API endpoints
Vector store integrations
Chroma (local)
Pinecone (cloud)
FAISS (fast)
Customization
Custom LLM
Custom embeddings
Custom prompt templates
Multi-modal RAG
Image + text
Evaluation
Response quality
Best practices
- Use vector indices for most cases - Best performance
- Save indices to disk - Avoid re-indexing
- Chunk documents properly - 512-1024 tokens optimal
- Add metadata - Enables filtering and tracking
- Use streaming - Better UX for long responses
- Enable verbose during dev - See retrieval process
- Evaluate responses - Check relevance and faithfulness
- Use chat engine for conversations - Built-in memory
- Persist storage - Don't lose your index
- Monitor costs - Track embedding and LLM usage
Common patterns
Document Q&A system
Chatbot with memory
Performance benchmarks
LlamaIndex vs LangChain
Use LlamaIndex when:
- Your primary use case is RAG
- Need many data connectors
- Want simpler API for document Q&A
- Building knowledge retrieval system
Use LangChain when:
- Building complex agents
- Need more general-purpose tools
- Want more flexibility
- Complex multi-step workflows
References
- Query Engines Guide [blocked] - Query modes, customization, streaming
- Agents Guide [blocked] - Tool creation, RAG agents, multi-step reasoning
- Data Connectors Guide [blocked] - 300+ connectors, custom loaders
Resources
- GitHub: https://github.com/run-llama/llama_index ⭐ 45,100+
- Docs: https://developers.llamaindex.ai/python/framework/
- LlamaHub: https://llamahub.ai (data connectors)
- LlamaCloud: https://cloud.llamaindex.ai (enterprise)
- Discord: https://discord.gg/dGcwcsnxhU
- Version: 0.14.7+
- License: MIT


