diff --git a/src/scimilarity/cell_search_knn.py b/src/scimilarity/cell_search_knn.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..46249eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/scimilarity/cell_search_knn.py
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+from typing import Optional, Tuple, Union
+
+from scimilarity.cell_embedding import CellEmbedding
+
+
+class CellSearchKNN(CellEmbedding):
+    """A class for searching similar cells using cell embeddings kNN."""
+
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        model_path: str,
+        use_gpu: bool = False,
+        parameters: Optional[dict] = None,
+        filenames: Optional[dict] = None,
+        residual: bool = False,
+    ):
+        """Constructor.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        model_path: str
+            Path to the directory containing model files.
+        use_gpu: bool, default: False
+            Use GPU instead of CPU.
+        parameters: dict, optional, default: None
+            Use a dictionary of custom model parameters instead of infering from model files.
+        filenames: dict, optional, default: None
+            Use a dictionary of custom filenames for model files instead default.
+            The kNN filenames also need to be specified here.
+        residual: bool, default: False
+            Use residual connections.
+
+        Examples
+        --------
+        >>> filenames = {"knn": "knn.bin"}
+        >>> cs = CellSearch(model_path="/opt/data/model", filenames=filesnames)
+        """
+
+        super().__init__(
+            model_path=model_path,
+            use_gpu=use_gpu,
+            parameters=parameters,
+            filenames=filenames,
+            residual=residual,
+        )
+
+        if filenames is None:
+            filenames = {}
+
+        self.knn = None
+        self.safelist = None
+        self.blocklist = None
+
+    def load_knn_index(self, knn_file: str):
+        """Load the kNN index file
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        knn_file: str
+            Filename of the kNN index.
+        """
+
+        import hnswlib
+        import os
+
+        if os.path.isfile(knn_file):
+            self.knn = hnswlib.Index(space="cosine", dim=self.model.latent_dim)
+            self.knn.load_index(knn_file)
+        else:
+            print(f"Warning: No KNN index found at {knn_file}")
+            self.knn = None
+
+    def get_nearest_neighbors(
+        self, embeddings: "numpy.ndarray", k: int = 50, ef: int = 100
+    ) -> Tuple["numpy.ndarray", "numpy.ndarray"]:
+        """Get nearest neighbors.
+        Used by classes that inherit from CellEmbedding and have an instantiated kNN.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        embeddings: numpy.ndarray
+            Embeddings as a numpy array.
+        k: int, default: 50
+            The number of nearest neighbors.
+        ef: int, default: 100
+            The size of the dynamic list for the nearest neighbors.
+            See https://github.com/nmslib/hnswlib/blob/master/ALGO_PARAMS.md
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        nn_idxs: numpy.ndarray
+            A 2D numpy array of nearest neighbor indices [num_cells x k].
+        nn_dists: numpy.ndarray
+            A 2D numpy array of nearest neighbor distances [num_cells x k].
+
+        Examples
+        --------
+        >>> from scimilarity.utils import align_dataset
+        >>> ca = CellAnnotation(model_path="/opt/data/model")
+        >>> embedding = ca.get_embeddings(align_dataset(data, ca.gene_order).X)
+        >>> nn_idxs, nn_dists = get_nearest_neighbors(embeddings)
+        """
+
+        if self.knn is None:
+            raise RuntimeError("kNN is not initialized.")
+        self.knn.set_ef(ef)
+        return self.knn.knn_query(embeddings, k=k)