For AI agents: The documentation index is at https://docs.digitalocean.com/llms.txt. Markdown versions of pages use the same URL with index.html.md in place of the HTML page (for example, append index.html.md to the directory path instead of opening the HTML document).

How you create a vector database cluster depends on the engine.

• Weaviate (private preview): Use the dedicated Vector Databases API at /v2/vector-databases. Control Panel and doctl are not available during preview. See Managed Weaviate for the full provisioning walkthrough.
• OpenSearch and PostgreSQL with pgvector: Use the Control Panel, the Managed Databases API, or doctl.

The rest of this page covers the OpenSearch and PostgreSQL flow.

Create a Cluster Using the Control Panel

In the left menu of the DigitalOcean Control Panel, click Data Services, then choose Vector Databases. Click Create Database, then choose OpenSearch or PostgreSQL.

Select a machine configuration. For engine-specific sizing guidance, see the engine how-to pages:

• Create an OpenSearch vector cluster
• For PostgreSQL, use the Create a PostgreSQL Database Cluster how-to; no vector-specific sizing differences apply at cluster-creation time.

Select a datacenter region. To minimize query latency, choose the same region as the applications that connect to the cluster.

Optionally, select a VPC. By default, clusters join the region’s default VPC.

Name and tag the cluster.

Click Create Vector Database Cluster. Provisioning takes 3 to 15 minutes depending on the plan.

Create a Cluster from the API

Use the POST /v2/databases endpoint. The engine field selects the engine:

• opensearch for OpenSearch
• pg for PostgreSQL with pgvector

For a full request example and all supported parameters, see the OpenSearch how-to.

Create a Cluster from doctl

If you have doctl installed and authenticated, doctl databases create provisions a Vector Database cluster. Pass --engine opensearch or --engine pg. See the doctl databases reference for all supported flags.