diff --git a/js/plugins/vertexai/package.json b/js/plugins/vertexai/package.json
index 401b6c40e..2b4571b97 100644
--- a/js/plugins/vertexai/package.json
+++ b/js/plugins/vertexai/package.json
@@ -84,6 +84,12 @@
       "import": "./lib/modelgarden/index.mjs",
       "types": "./lib/modelgarden/index.d.ts",
       "default": "./lib/modelgarden/index.js"
+    },
+    "./vectorsearch": {
+      "require": "./lib/vectorsearch/index.js",
+      "import": "./lib/vectorsearch/index.mjs",
+      "types": "./lib/vectorsearch/index.d.ts",
+      "default": "./lib/vectorsearch/index.js"
     }
   },
   "typesVersions": {
@@ -96,6 +102,9 @@
       ],
       "modelgarden": [
         "./lib/modelgarden/index"
+      ],
+      "vectorsearch": [
+        "./lib/vectorsearch/index"
       ]
     }
   }
diff --git a/js/plugins/vertexai/src/index.ts b/js/plugins/vertexai/src/index.ts
index 4454e24f5..1b6566e1a 100644
--- a/js/plugins/vertexai/src/index.ts
+++ b/js/plugins/vertexai/src/index.ts
@@ -40,22 +40,7 @@ import {
   imagen3Fast,
   imagenModel,
 } from './imagen.js';
-import { vertexAiIndexers, vertexAiRetrievers } from './vector-search/index.js';
 export { PluginOptions } from './common/types.js';
-export {
-  DocumentIndexer,
-  DocumentRetriever,
-  Neighbor,
-  VectorSearchOptions,
-  getBigQueryDocumentIndexer,
-  getBigQueryDocumentRetriever,
-  getFirestoreDocumentIndexer,
-  getFirestoreDocumentRetriever,
-  vertexAiIndexerRef,
-  vertexAiIndexers,
-  vertexAiRetrieverRef,
-  vertexAiRetrievers,
-} from './vector-search/index.js';
 export {
   gemini10Pro,
   gemini15Flash,
@@ -83,28 +68,9 @@ export function vertexAI(options?: PluginOptions): GenkitPlugin {
       defineGeminiModel(ai, name, vertexClientFactory, { projectId, location })
     );
 
-    const embedders = Object.keys(SUPPORTED_EMBEDDER_MODELS).map((name) =>
+    Object.keys(SUPPORTED_EMBEDDER_MODELS).map((name) =>
       defineVertexAIEmbedder(ai, name, authClient, { projectId, location })
     );
-
-    if (
-      options?.vectorSearchOptions &&
-      options.vectorSearchOptions.length > 0
-    ) {
-      const defaultEmbedder = embedders[0];
-
-      vertexAiIndexers(ai, {
-        pluginOptions: options,
-        authClient,
-        defaultEmbedder,
-      });
-
-      vertexAiRetrievers(ai, {
-        pluginOptions: options,
-        authClient,
-        defaultEmbedder,
-      });
-    }
   });
 }
 
diff --git a/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/index.ts b/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/index.ts
similarity index 85%
rename from js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/index.ts
rename to js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/index.ts
index 340d73de5..048e18b72 100644
--- a/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/index.ts
+++ b/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/index.ts
@@ -18,14 +18,6 @@ import { Genkit } from 'genkit';
 import { GenkitPlugin, genkitPlugin } from 'genkit/plugin';
 import { getDerivedParams } from '../common/index.js';
 import { PluginOptions } from './types.js';
-// import {
-//   SUPPORTED_EMBEDDER_MODELS,
-//   defineVertexAIEmbedder,
-//   textEmbedding004,
-//   textEmbeddingGecko003,
-//   textEmbeddingGeckoMultilingual001,
-//   textMultilingualEmbedding002,
-// } from '../embedder.js';
 import { vertexAiIndexers, vertexAiRetrievers } from './vector_search/index.js';
 export { PluginOptions } from '../common/types.js';
 export {
@@ -45,7 +37,7 @@ export {
 /**
  * Add Google Cloud Vertex AI to Genkit. Includes Gemini and Imagen models and text embedder.
  */
-export function vertexAI(options?: PluginOptions): GenkitPlugin {
+export function vertexAIVectorSearch(options?: PluginOptions): GenkitPlugin {
   return genkitPlugin('vertexai', async (ai: Genkit) => {
     const { projectId, location, vertexClientFactory, authClient } =
       await getDerivedParams(options);
@@ -68,5 +60,3 @@ export function vertexAI(options?: PluginOptions): GenkitPlugin {
     }
   });
 }
-
-export default vertexAI;
diff --git a/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/types.ts b/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/types.ts
similarity index 92%
rename from js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/types.ts
rename to js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/types.ts
index 63ffa7a3f..b3d790ff3 100644
--- a/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/types.ts
+++ b/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/types.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import { z } from 'genkit';
+import { EmbedderReference, z } from 'genkit';
 import { CommonPluginOptions } from '../common/types';
 import { VectorSearchOptions } from './vector_search';
 
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import { VectorSearchOptions } from './vector_search';
 export interface VectorSearchOptionsConfig {
   /** Configure Vertex AI vector search index options */
   vectorSearchOptions?: VectorSearchOptions<z.ZodTypeAny, any, any>[];
+  embedder?: EmbedderReference;
 }
 
 export interface PluginOptions
diff --git a/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/vector_search/bigquery.ts b/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/vector_search/bigquery.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/vector_search/bigquery.ts
rename to js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/vector_search/bigquery.ts
diff --git a/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/vector_search/firestore.ts b/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/vector_search/firestore.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/vector_search/firestore.ts
rename to js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/vector_search/firestore.ts
diff --git a/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/vector_search/index.ts b/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/vector_search/index.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/vector_search/index.ts
rename to js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/vector_search/index.ts
diff --git a/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/vector_search/indexers.ts b/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/vector_search/indexers.ts
similarity index 93%
rename from js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/vector_search/indexers.ts
rename to js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/vector_search/indexers.ts
index 66a00e913..aabd23a1f 100644
--- a/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/vector_search/indexers.ts
+++ b/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/vector_search/indexers.ts
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@ export function vertexAiIndexers<EmbedderCustomOptions extends z.ZodTypeAny>(
   params: VertexVectorSearchOptions<EmbedderCustomOptions>
 ): IndexerAction<z.ZodTypeAny>[] {
   const vectorSearchOptions = params.pluginOptions.vectorSearchOptions;
-  const defaultEmbedder = params.defaultEmbedder;
   const indexers: IndexerAction<z.ZodTypeAny>[] = [];
 
   if (!vectorSearchOptions || vectorSearchOptions.length === 0) {
@@ -67,7 +66,14 @@ export function vertexAiIndexers<EmbedderCustomOptions extends z.ZodTypeAny>(
 
   for (const vectorSearchOption of vectorSearchOptions) {
     const { documentIndexer, indexId } = vectorSearchOption;
-    const embedder = vectorSearchOption.embedder ?? defaultEmbedder;
+    const embedderReference =
+      vectorSearchOption.embedder ?? params.defaultEmbedder;
+
+    if (!embedderReference) {
+      throw new Error(
+        'Embedder reference is required to define Vertex AI retriever'
+      );
+    }
     const embedderOptions = vectorSearchOption.embedderOptions;
 
     const indexer = ai.defineIndexer(
@@ -87,7 +93,7 @@ export function vertexAiIndexers<EmbedderCustomOptions extends z.ZodTypeAny>(
         }
 
         const embeddings = await ai.embedMany({
-          embedder,
+          embedder: embedderReference,
           content: docs,
           options: embedderOptions,
         });
diff --git a/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/vector_search/query_public_endpoint.ts b/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/vector_search/query_public_endpoint.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/vector_search/query_public_endpoint.ts
rename to js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/vector_search/query_public_endpoint.ts
diff --git a/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/vector_search/retrievers.ts b/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/vector_search/retrievers.ts
similarity index 93%
rename from js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/vector_search/retrievers.ts
rename to js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/vector_search/retrievers.ts
index 67f47f33d..0f8a64024 100644
--- a/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/vector_search/retrievers.ts
+++ b/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/vector_search/retrievers.ts
@@ -57,8 +57,17 @@ export function vertexAiRetrievers<EmbedderCustomOptions extends z.ZodTypeAny>(
         configSchema: VertexAIVectorRetrieverOptionsSchema.optional(),
       },
       async (content, options) => {
+        const embedderReference =
+          vectorSearchOption.embedder ?? defaultEmbedder;
+
+        if (!embedderReference) {
+          throw new Error(
+            'Embedder reference is required to define Vertex AI retriever'
+          );
+        }
+
         const queryEmbeddings = await ai.embed({
-          embedder,
+          embedder: embedderReference,
           options: embedderOptions,
           content,
         });
diff --git a/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/vector_search/types.ts b/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/vector_search/types.ts
similarity index 97%
rename from js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/vector_search/types.ts
rename to js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/vector_search/types.ts
index ce0929847..7034d1489 100644
--- a/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/vector_search/types.ts
+++ b/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/vector_search/types.ts
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 import * as aiplatform from '@google-cloud/aiplatform';
 import { z } from 'genkit';
-import { EmbedderArgument } from 'genkit/embedder';
+import { EmbedderReference } from 'genkit/embedder';
 import { CommonRetrieverOptionsSchema, Document } from 'genkit/retriever';
 import { GoogleAuth } from 'google-auth-library';
 import { PluginOptions } from '../types';
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ export interface VertexVectorSearchOptions<
 > {
   pluginOptions: PluginOptions;
   authClient: GoogleAuth;
-  defaultEmbedder: EmbedderArgument<EmbedderCustomOptions>;
+  defaultEmbedder?: EmbedderReference<EmbedderCustomOptions>;
 }
 
 export type IIndexDatapoint =
@@ -184,6 +184,6 @@ export interface VectorSearchOptions<
   documentRetriever: DocumentRetriever<RetrieverOptions>;
   documentIndexer: DocumentIndexer<IndexerOptions>;
   // Embedder and default options to use for indexing and retrieval
-  embedder?: EmbedderArgument<EmbedderCustomOptions>;
+  embedder?: EmbedderReference<EmbedderCustomOptions>;
   embedderOptions?: z.infer<EmbedderCustomOptions>;
 }
diff --git a/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/vector_search/upsert_datapoints.ts b/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/vector_search/upsert_datapoints.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/vector_search/upsert_datapoints.ts
rename to js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/vector_search/upsert_datapoints.ts
diff --git a/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/vector_search/utils.ts b/js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/vector_search/utils.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from js/plugins/vertexai/src/vector-search/vector_search/utils.ts
rename to js/plugins/vertexai/src/vectorsearch/vector_search/utils.ts
diff --git a/js/testapps/model-tester/src/index.ts b/js/testapps/model-tester/src/index.ts
index cc9fb5361..7c1fe1fcb 100644
--- a/js/testapps/model-tester/src/index.ts
+++ b/js/testapps/model-tester/src/index.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,12 @@
  */
 
 import { googleAI } from '@genkit-ai/googleai';
-import { claude3Sonnet, llama31, vertexAI } from '@genkit-ai/vertexai';
+import { vertexAI } from '@genkit-ai/vertexai';
+import {
+  claude3Sonnet,
+  llama31,
+  vertexAIModelGarden,
+} from '@genkit-ai/vertexai/modelgarden';
 import * as clc from 'colorette';
 import { genkit } from 'genkit';
 import { testModels } from 'genkit/testing';
@@ -27,6 +32,9 @@ export const ai = genkit({
     googleAI(),
     vertexAI({
       location: 'us-central1',
+    }),
+    vertexAIModelGarden({
+      location: 'us-central1',
       modelGarden: {
         models: [claude3Sonnet, llama31],
       },
diff --git a/js/testapps/rag/src/genkit.ts b/js/testapps/rag/src/genkit.ts
index 5e2cd4163..b8436f752 100644
--- a/js/testapps/rag/src/genkit.ts
+++ b/js/testapps/rag/src/genkit.ts
@@ -17,12 +17,12 @@
 import { devLocalVectorstore } from '@genkit-ai/dev-local-vectorstore';
 import { genkitEval, GenkitMetric } from '@genkit-ai/evaluator';
 import { gemini15Flash, googleAI } from '@genkit-ai/googleai';
+import { textEmbedding004, vertexAI } from '@genkit-ai/vertexai';
 import {
   claude3Sonnet,
   llama31,
-  textEmbedding004,
-  vertexAI,
-} from '@genkit-ai/vertexai';
+  vertexAIModelGarden,
+} from '@genkit-ai/vertexai/modelgarden';
 import { genkit } from 'genkit';
 import { chroma } from 'genkitx-chromadb';
 import { langchain } from 'genkitx-langchain';
@@ -76,6 +76,9 @@ export const ai = genkit({
     }),
     vertexAI({
       location: 'us-central1',
+    }),
+    vertexAIModelGarden({
+      location: 'us-central1',
       modelGarden: {
         models: [claude3Sonnet, llama31],
       },
diff --git a/js/testapps/vertexai-vector-search-bigquery/src/index.ts b/js/testapps/vertexai-vector-search-bigquery/src/index.ts
index 59c7763ee..a2b13b6ee 100644
--- a/js/testapps/vertexai-vector-search-bigquery/src/index.ts
+++ b/js/testapps/vertexai-vector-search-bigquery/src/index.ts
@@ -18,16 +18,16 @@
 
 import { Document, genkit, z } from 'genkit';
 // important imports for this sample:
+import { textEmbedding004, vertexAI } from '@genkit-ai/vertexai';
 import {
+  DocumentIndexer,
+  DocumentRetriever,
   getBigQueryDocumentIndexer,
   getBigQueryDocumentRetriever,
-  vertexAI,
+  vertexAIVectorSearch,
   vertexAiIndexerRef,
   vertexAiRetrieverRef,
-  type DocumentIndexer,
-  type DocumentRetriever,
-} from '@genkit-ai/vertexai';
-
+} from '@genkit-ai/vertexai/vectorsearch';
 // // Environment variables set with dotenv for simplicity of sample
 import {
   BIGQUERY_DATASET,
@@ -81,6 +81,11 @@ const ai = genkit({
       googleAuth: {
         scopes: ['https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform'],
       },
+    }),
+    vertexAIVectorSearch({
+      location: LOCATION,
+      projectId: PROJECT_ID,
+      embedder: textEmbedding004,
       vectorSearchOptions: [
         {
           publicDomainName: VECTOR_SEARCH_PUBLIC_DOMAIN_NAME,
@@ -95,7 +100,6 @@ const ai = genkit({
   ],
 });
 
-// // Define indexing flow
 export const indexFlow = ai.defineFlow(
   {
     name: 'indexFlow',
diff --git a/js/testapps/vertexai-vector-search-custom/src/index.ts b/js/testapps/vertexai-vector-search-custom/src/index.ts
index 96a708d4a..581fa5079 100644
--- a/js/testapps/vertexai-vector-search-custom/src/index.ts
+++ b/js/testapps/vertexai-vector-search-custom/src/index.ts
@@ -18,14 +18,15 @@
 
 import { Document, genkit, z } from 'genkit';
 // important imports for this sample:
+import { textEmbedding004, vertexAI } from '@genkit-ai/vertexai';
 import {
-  vertexAI,
+  vertexAIVectorSearch,
   vertexAiIndexerRef,
   vertexAiRetrieverRef,
   type DocumentIndexer,
   type DocumentRetriever,
   type Neighbor,
-} from '@genkit-ai/vertexai';
+} from '@genkit-ai/vertexai/vectorsearch';
 
 // // Environment variables set with dotenv for simplicity of sample
 import {
@@ -148,6 +149,10 @@ const ai = genkit({
       googleAuth: {
         scopes: ['https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform'],
       },
+    }),
+    vertexAIVectorSearch({
+      location: LOCATION,
+      projectId: PROJECT_ID,
       vectorSearchOptions: [
         {
           publicDomainName: VECTOR_SEARCH_PUBLIC_DOMAIN_NAME,
@@ -156,6 +161,7 @@ const ai = genkit({
           deployedIndexId: VECTOR_SEARCH_DEPLOYED_INDEX_ID,
           documentRetriever: localDocumentRetriever,
           documentIndexer: localDocumentIndexer,
+          embedder: textEmbedding004,
         },
       ],
     }),
diff --git a/js/testapps/vertexai-vector-search-firestore/src/index.ts b/js/testapps/vertexai-vector-search-firestore/src/index.ts
index fda773418..bad5aba88 100644
--- a/js/testapps/vertexai-vector-search-firestore/src/index.ts
+++ b/js/testapps/vertexai-vector-search-firestore/src/index.ts
@@ -19,15 +19,18 @@
 import { initializeApp } from 'firebase-admin/app';
 import { Document, genkit, z } from 'genkit';
 // important imports for this sample:
+
+import { textEmbedding004, vertexAI } from '@genkit-ai/vertexai';
+
 import {
   DocumentIndexer,
   DocumentRetriever,
   getFirestoreDocumentIndexer,
   getFirestoreDocumentRetriever,
-  vertexAI,
   vertexAiIndexerRef,
   vertexAiRetrieverRef,
-} from '@genkit-ai/vertexai';
+  vertexAIVectorSearch,
+} from '@genkit-ai/vertexai/vectorsearch';
 
 // // Environment variables set with dotenv for simplicity of sample
 import { getFirestore } from 'firebase-admin/firestore';
@@ -80,6 +83,10 @@ const ai = genkit({
       googleAuth: {
         scopes: ['https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform'],
       },
+    }),
+    vertexAIVectorSearch({
+      projectId: PROJECT_ID,
+      location: LOCATION,
       vectorSearchOptions: [
         {
           publicDomainName: VECTOR_SEARCH_PUBLIC_DOMAIN_NAME,
@@ -88,6 +95,7 @@ const ai = genkit({
           deployedIndexId: VECTOR_SEARCH_DEPLOYED_INDEX_ID,
           documentRetriever: firestoreDocumentRetriever,
           documentIndexer: firestoreDocumentIndexer,
+          embedder: textEmbedding004,
         },
       ],
     }),