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[BUG] Reranker Configuration Silently Ignored #89

@olddev94

Description

@olddev94

Project

vgrep

Description

The SearchEngine::new() function in src/core/search.rs lines 29-34 accepts a use_reranker parameter but completely ignores it. Users who download the reranker model (~400MB) and enable use_reranker = true in config get no benefit - the reranker is never used, but there's no warning.

Error Message

No error - silent feature non-implementation.

Debug Logs

System Information

- Bounty Version: 0.1.0
- OS: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
- Rust: 1.75+

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Steps to Reproduce

  1. Download both models: vgrep models download
  2. Enable reranker: vgrep config set use-reranker true
  3. Verify config: vgrep config show - shows "Reranker: enabled"
  4. Perform searches and observe no quality improvement
  5. Check code to confirm reranker is never invoked

Expected Behavior

Either:

  1. Implement the reranker functionality as advertised, OR
  2. Remove reranker configuration options and document it as "coming soon", OR
  3. Show a warning when use_reranker = true that the feature is not yet implemented

Actual Behavior

  • Users can download a 400MB reranker model
  • Users can enable reranker in config
  • Status shows reranker as "enabled"
  • Reranker is never actually used
  • No warning or indication that the feature is non-functional

Additional Context

The comment mentions "requires a separate backend which conflicts with the embedding engine's backend". This suggests a technical limitation with llama-cpp-rs that should be documented and tracked as a known issue.

Users relying on reranking for better search quality are silently getting degraded results.

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