diff --git a/gateway/main.py b/gateway/main.py
index f196249..27b0913 100644
--- a/gateway/main.py
+++ b/gateway/main.py
@@ -246,6 +246,7 @@ async def vectors_search_file(
     hnsw_ef: Optional[int] = Form(None),
     exact: bool = Form(False),
     indexed_only: bool = Form(False),
+    filter_metadata_json: Optional[str] = Form(None),
 ):
     data = await file.read()
     fields: Dict[str, Any] = {"limit": int(limit), "exact": exact, "indexed_only": indexed_only}
@@ -255,6 +256,8 @@ async def vectors_search_file(
         fields["collection"] = collection
     if hnsw_ef is not None:
         fields["hnsw_ef"] = int(hnsw_ef)
+    if filter_metadata_json is not None:
+        fields["filter_metadata_json"] = filter_metadata_json
     async with httpx.AsyncClient(timeout=VISION_TIMEOUT) as client:
         return await _post_file(client, f"{QDRANT_SVC_URL}/search/file", data, fields)
 
diff --git a/qdrant/main.py b/qdrant/main.py
index 4206e77..a7276ce 100644
--- a/qdrant/main.py
+++ b/qdrant/main.py
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ from qdrant_client.models import (
     OptimizersConfigDiff,
     SearchParams,
     PayloadSchemaType,
+    ScalarQuantizationConfig,
+    ScalarType,
 )
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -298,9 +300,13 @@ def create_collection(req: CollectionRequest):
     if req.name in collections:
         raise HTTPException(409, f"Collection '{req.name}' already exists")
 
+    # Apply the same production defaults as _ensure_collection so all
+    # collections start with tuned HNSW and optimizer settings.
     client.create_collection(
         collection_name=req.name,
         vectors_config=VectorParams(size=req.vector_dim, distance=dist),
+        hnsw_config=HnswConfigDiff(m=16, ef_construct=200, on_disk=False),
+        optimizers_config=OptimizersConfigDiff(indexing_threshold=20000, default_segment_number=4),
     )
     return {"created": req.name, "vector_dim": req.vector_dim, "distance": req.distance}
 
@@ -460,11 +466,19 @@ async def search_file(
     hnsw_ef: Optional[int] = Form(None),
     exact: bool = Form(False),
     indexed_only: bool = Form(False),
+    filter_metadata_json: Optional[str] = Form(None),
 ):
     """Embed an uploaded image via CLIP, then search Qdrant for similar vectors."""
+    import json
+    filter_metadata: Dict[str, Any] = {}
+    if filter_metadata_json:
+        try:
+            filter_metadata = json.loads(filter_metadata_json)
+        except json.JSONDecodeError:
+            raise HTTPException(400, "filter_metadata_json must be valid JSON")
     data = await file.read()
     vector = await _embed_bytes(data)
-    return _do_search(vector, int(limit), score_threshold, collection, {}, hnsw_ef, exact, indexed_only)
+    return _do_search(vector, int(limit), score_threshold, collection, filter_metadata, hnsw_ef, exact, indexed_only)
 
 
 @app.post("/search/vector")
@@ -685,6 +699,12 @@ class CollectionConfigRequest(BaseModel):
     hnsw_on_disk: Optional[bool] = Field(default=None, description="Store HNSW graph on disk (saves RAM, slightly slower queries).")
     indexing_threshold: Optional[int] = Field(default=None, ge=0, description="Min payload changes before a segment is indexed.")
     default_segment_number: Optional[int] = Field(default=None, ge=1, le=32, description="Target number of segments for parallelism.")
+    # Scalar quantization — reduces RAM ~4x, often speeds up search on large collections.
+    # Set quantization_type='int8' to enable. Use always_ram=True to keep quantized
+    # vectors in RAM (recommended on VPS with limited memory but fast disk).
+    quantization_type: Optional[str] = Field(default=None, description="Enable scalar quantization: 'int8'. Set to null to keep current setting.")
+    quantization_quantile: float = Field(default=0.99, ge=0.5, le=1.0, description="Fraction of vectors used to calibrate quantization range (0.99 recommended).")
+    quantization_always_ram: bool = Field(default=True, description="Keep quantized vectors in RAM even when raw vectors are on disk.")
 
 
 @app.post("/collections/{name}/configure")
@@ -705,7 +725,18 @@ def configure_collection(name: str, req: CollectionConfigRequest):
         "default_segment_number": req.default_segment_number,
     }.items() if v is not None}
 
-    if not hnsw_kwargs and not opt_kwargs:
+    # Build optional scalar quantization config
+    quant_config = None
+    if req.quantization_type is not None:
+        if req.quantization_type.lower() != "int8":
+            raise HTTPException(400, f"Unsupported quantization_type '{req.quantization_type}'. Only 'int8' is supported.")
+        quant_config = ScalarQuantizationConfig(
+            type=ScalarType.INT8,
+            quantile=req.quantization_quantile,
+            always_ram=req.quantization_always_ram,
+        )
+
+    if not hnsw_kwargs and not opt_kwargs and quant_config is None:
         raise HTTPException(400, "No configuration fields provided")
 
     try:
@@ -713,12 +744,14 @@ def configure_collection(name: str, req: CollectionConfigRequest):
             collection_name=name,
             hnsw_config=HnswConfigDiff(**hnsw_kwargs) if hnsw_kwargs else None,
             optimizers_config=OptimizersConfigDiff(**opt_kwargs) if opt_kwargs else None,
+            quantization_config=quant_config,
         )
         return {
             "collection": name,
             "status": "updated",
             "hnsw_changes": hnsw_kwargs,
             "optimizer_changes": opt_kwargs,
+            "quantization": {"type": req.quantization_type, "quantile": req.quantization_quantile, "always_ram": req.quantization_always_ram} if quant_config else None,
         }
     except Exception as exc:
         raise HTTPException(500, str(exc))