# Manticore Search 28.4.4: Faster KNN, better conversational search, easier installs and more faceting controls > Source: > Published: 2026-07-14 11:24:55+00:00 [Manticore Search 28.4.4](https://manticoresearch.com/install/) has been released. This release brings faster KNN rescoring, more flexible conversational search, a simpler install and upgrade path, better faceting controls, per-table relevance defaults, and fixes across authentication, replication, SQL compatibility, distributed queries, and columnar/KNN internals. This post is a catch-up for everything shipped from **27.2.0 through 28.4.4**. Please review these before upgrading: `SPH_UDF_VERSION` to 12.`dict=keywords_32k` `embeddings_threads` [KNN search](https://manual.manticoresearch.com/Searching/KNN#KNN-vector-search) now batches distance calculations during the `rescore` pass. After HNSW returns the candidate set, Manticore recomputes final full-precision distances and re-sorts the results. Batching that work reduces per-candidate overhead in the final stage of vector search. For vector-heavy workloads, this takes work out of the part of the query that runs after candidate selection. Results do not change; the final ranking pass just has less overhead when many candidates are rescored. [Conversational search](https://manual.manticoresearch.com/Searching/Conversational_search) is now available through the `/search` JSON API as well as SQL `CALL CHAT` . That makes it easier to use Manticore's chat flow from applications that already talk to the HTTP API and do not want to add a separate SQL path just for chat requests. `CREATE CHAT MODEL` also gained `custom_prompt` support, so answers can follow application-specific instructions such as citation rules, tone, response length, or formatting. The feature is still built on the same Manticore Search flow: retrieve relevant documents from an existing vectorized table, build context, keep conversation history, and return an answer with supporting sources. The quick-start install path is now simpler: ``` curl https://manticoresearch.com | sh ``` The same installer can also upgrade an existing installation, list available versions, switch between stable and development repositories, and install a selected version. Package managers still remain the source of truth for installed files, repositories, services, and dependencies; the new path just removes the manual setup steps around them. For all options, run: ``` curl https://manticoresearch.com | sh -s help ``` [Faceted search](https://manual.manticoresearch.com/Searching/Faceted_search) now supports zero-count facet buckets through SQL `ZEROES` and JSON `"zeroes": true` . This is a small but important UI feature. In e-commerce-style filtering, you often want to keep an option visible even when the current filter combination gives it a count of `0` . Combined with `max` -mode facet behavior, zero-count buckets make it easier to show selected, available, and currently unavailable choices without hiding part of the filter vocabulary from the user. Manticore now supports [ CREATE TABLE ... profile='relevance'](https://manual.manticoresearch.com/Creating_a_table/Local_tables/Plain_and_real-time_table_settings#profile), plus stored per-table defaults for `ranker` `boolean_mode` Based on our search quality tests, `profile='relevance'` and the ranking settings it enables improve relevance in many cases. The application also no longer needs to repeat the same ranking parameters in every request. [ embeddings_threads](https://manual.manticoresearch.com/Server_settings/Searchd#embeddings_threads) caps the CPU threads used for auto-embedding inserts, `ALTER TABLE ... REBUILD KNN` , and text-to-vector KNN queries.This matters on shared hosts and mixed workloads. Embedding generation and KNN rebuilds can be CPU-heavy; a server-level cap makes those jobs easier to schedule without letting them take over the whole machine. This release includes **17 bug fixes**. The most important ones are: `COUNT(DISTINCT ...)` `GETFIELD` fetch errors or malformed replies instead of returning apparently successful rows with empty or untrusted stored-field values.`.tmp.spc.*` files from breaking later table rename, attach, or drop operations.`SELECT` queries.`SET` statements no longer fail under auth.`здоров'ям` match `здоров'я` under `lemmatize_uk_all` .`blend_mode` , restoring separator-stripped variants consistently for indexing and keyword extraction.`percentiles` aggregations together with terms aggregations in the same `/search` request on multi-chunk RT tables was fixed.For the complete list, see the [changelog](https://manual.manticoresearch.com/Changelog#Version-28.4.4).