vertical
stringRestricts the query to one vertical core, skipping the routing step entirely.
The index is a federation of vertical cores rather than one undifferentiated pile. Naming the vertical is disambiguation by construction: a query for "rust" in the code vertical cannot return metallurgy results, because the metallurgy passages are not in that core.
Omit it and the query auto-routes, which is right when you do not know the domain in advance. Name it when you do — it is both more accurate and cheaper.
Example
curl -H "x-api-key: $UNLOB_API_KEY" \
"https://api.unlob.com/search?q=rust&vertical=code"Common questions
What does the vertical filter do?
Restricts the query to one vertical core, skipping the routing step entirely.
When should I use vertical?
You know the domain your agent is working in. Always set it for a domain-specific agent.
How does vertical behave in practice?
Omit it and the query auto-routes, which is right when you do not know the domain in advance. Name it when you do — it is both more accurate and cheaper.
Filters are free
Every filter is evaluated against a stored field, so it narrows the candidate set before scoring — a filtered query is often faster than an unfiltered one.