MongoDB Atlas Vector Search: SearchNotEnabled / code 31082 on $vectorSearch

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

TL;DR $search and $vectorSearch need Atlas Search on a real Atlas cluster, or a local mongot sidecar on port 7027 for self-hosted setups. ## Fix 1. $search and $vectorSearch need Atlas Search on a real Atlas cluster, or a local mongot sidecar on port 7027 for self-hosted setups. Expected: you can confirm this matches your situation. ## When to use - You are setting up or using this MongoDB Atlas Vector Search feature. - The symptom matches: SearchNotEnabled / code 31082 on $vectorSearch. ## When NOT to use - Unrelated MongoDB Atlas Vector Search issues (different feature, different failure). - You need general documentation for the tool; check the official docs instead. ## Compatibility Reported against MongoDB Atlas Vector Search. Source: a local/non-public address.com/jaewilson07/rag_mongodb. ## Variant phrasings ### SearchNotEnabled / code 31082 on $vectorSearch ## Why it happens $vectorSearch fails with SearchNotEnabled (code 31082).

Fix

1. TL;DR $search and $vectorSearch need Atlas Search on a real Atlas cluster, or a local mongot sidecar on port 7027 for self-hosted setups. ## Fix 1. $search and $vectorSearch need Atlas Search on a real Atlas cluster, or a local mongot sidecar on port 7027 for self-hosted setups.

   Expected: You get the expected result; the problem is gone.

2. Expected: you can confirm this matches your situation. ## When to use - You are setting up or using this MongoDB Atlas Vector Search feature. - The symptom matches: SearchNotEnabled / code 31082 on $vectorSearch. ## When NOT to use - Unrelated MongoDB Atlas Vector Search issues (different feature, different failure). - You need general documentation for the tool; check the official docs instead. ## Compatibility Reported against MongoDB Atlas Vector Search. Expected: You see the expected output instead of the problem.

3. Atlas Search is not available on the deployment the query is pointed at. ## Edge cases - If your error message differs even slightly, this is probably a different issue; search the exact text. - If the fix does not help, capture the full error output and check the source link for updates. ## Source a local/non-public address.com/jaewilson07/rag_mongodb Expected: You see the expected output instead of the problem.

When to use

• You are setting up or using this MongoDB Atlas Vector Search feature.
• The symptom matches: SearchNotEnabled / code 31082 on $vectorSearch.

When NOT to use

• Unrelated MongoDB Atlas Vector Search issues (different feature, different failure).
• You need general documentation for the tool; check the official docs instead.

Compatibility

Reported against MongoDB Atlas Vector Search.

Variant phrasings

SearchNotEnabled / code 31082 on $vectorSearch

Why it happens

Source: a local/non-public address.com/jaewilson07/rag_mongodb. ## Variant phrasings ### SearchNotEnabled / code 31082 on $vectorSearch ## Why it happens $vectorSearch fails with SearchNotEnabled (code 31082).

Edge cases

• If your error message differs even slightly, this is probably a different issue; search the exact text.
• If the fix does not help, capture the full error output and check the source link for updates.

Source: $vectorSearch fails with SearchNotEnabled (code 31082). Atlas Search is not available on the deployment the query is pointed at.

Verified resolution: [field troubleshooting]: $search and $vectorSearch need Atlas Search on a real Atlas cluster, or a local mongot sidecar on port 7027 for self-hosted setups. Community Edition without the search node cannot run them at all; use the enterprise image or Atlas. On Atlas itself, the error means the vector index was not created or is still building: create it in the Atlas UI under Search Indexes on the collection and wait for Active status. M0 uses IVF, M10+ uses HNSW; queries on a still-building index return nothing.

Source URL: https://github.com/jaewilson07/rag_mongodb

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

The $vectorSearch aggregation stage is Atlas-only; running it against local MongoDB raises the '$vectorSearch is only valid for Atlas' error, so update the connection string to the Atlas cluster. Index Building Failed has three usual causes: the cluster tier must be M10 or higher for full Vector Search, the cluster version must be 6.0.11+ or 7.0.2+, and the collection needs at least one document.

Fix

1. The $vectorSearch aggregation stage is Atlas-only; running it against local MongoDB raises the '$vectorSearch is only valid for Atlas' error, so update the connection string to the Atlas cluster. Expected: You get the expected result; the problem is gone.

When to use

• You are setting up or using this MongoDB Atlas Vector Search feature.
• The symptom matches: '$vectorSearch is only valid for Atlas'.

When NOT to use

• Unrelated MongoDB Atlas Vector Search issues (different feature, different failure).
• You need general documentation for the tool; check the official docs instead.

Compatibility

Reported against MongoDB Atlas Vector Search (mentions 6.0.11, 7.0.2). Source: a local/non-public address.com/luvadlamudi/tamuhack26/blob/HEAD/backend/rag/VECTORINDEXSETUP.md.

Variant phrasings

'$vectorSearch is only valid for Atlas'

Why it happens

Pointing a vector-search app at a local or self-hosted MongoDB fails at runtime. The stage only exists on Atlas.

Edge cases

• If your error message differs even slightly, this is probably a different issue; search the exact text.
• Behavior can change between releases; the linked source reflects the versions above.
• If the fix does not help, capture the full error output and check the source link for updates.

Source

a local/non-public address.com/luvadlamudi/tamuhack26/blob/HEAD/backend/rag/VECTORINDEXSETUP.md

Source: Pointing a vector-search app at a local or self-hosted MongoDB fails at runtime. The stage only exists on Atlas.

Verified resolution: [luvadlamudi/tamuhack26 + tarun-swastya-ai/rag-pipeline-llamaindex]: the $vectorSearch aggregation stage is Atlas-only; running it against local MongoDB raises the '$vectorSearch is only valid for Atlas' error, so update the connection string to the Atlas cluster. Index Building Failed has three usual causes: the cluster tier must be M10 or higher for full Vector Search, the cluster version must be 6.0.11+ or 7.0.2+, and the collection needs at least one document. A new index takes 1-2 minutes to reach Active status; queries before that fail.

Source URL: https://github.com/luvadlamudi/tamuhack26/blob/HEAD/backend/rag/VECTORINDEXSETUP.md

Not specified by the original author.

TL;DR

Run the pipeline with a known-similar document and confirm it ranks first with a sane score. There is no score without it. - For hybrid search, run $vectorSearch and $search in separate pipelines and fuse ranks in code (reciprocal rank fusion).

Steps

1. Run the pipeline with a known-similar document and confirm it ranks first with a sane score.
2. There is no score without it. - For hybrid search, run $vectorSearch and $search in separate pipelines and fuse ranks in code (reciprocal rank fusion).

When to use

You are seeing this: ``js db.docs.aggregate([ { $vectorSearch: { index: "vec\_idx", path: "embedding", queryVector: embeddingArray, // floats from your embedding model numCandidates: 200, // ANN beam width, 10-20x limit is a good start limit: 10, filter: { tenantId: "t1" } //... Use this skill when you run into "MongoDB Atlas: query with $vectorSearch correctly".

When not to use

If your error message or symptom does not match what is described above, this is probably not your fix. Search for your exact error text instead of forcing this one to fit.

Versions

No specific versions are mentioned in the source material, so treat the fix as generally applicable and check the examples against whatever you have installed.

Why this happens

The original report does not dig into a root cause. It documents the symptom and the fix that resolved it.

$vectorSearch stage requirements (first stage, numCandidates, limit, filter, vectorSearchScore) verified against current MongoDB Atlas Search documentation, including https://www.mongodb.com/docs/search/indexes/manage-indexes/, on 2026-09-26.