diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 3bf320d1..0397dae2 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -20,3 +20,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.5 // indirect
 	golang.org/x/sys v0.13.0 // indirect
 )
+
+// Use bleve_index_api branch with VFS support
+replace github.com/blevesearch/bleve_index_api => github.com/ajroetker/bleve_index_api v0.0.0-20251111010750-7b3692d79f01
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 1555d8e7..91d4f84f 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 github.com/RoaringBitmap/roaring/v2 v2.4.5 h1:uGrrMreGjvAtTBobc0g5IrW1D5ldxDQYe2JW2gggRdg=
 github.com/RoaringBitmap/roaring/v2 v2.4.5/go.mod h1:FiJcsfkGje/nZBZgCu0ZxCPOKD/hVXDS2dXi7/eUFE0=
+github.com/ajroetker/bleve_index_api v0.0.0-20251111010750-7b3692d79f01 h1:SbGoS4vY5GDtDwxKy4iT+s0LsEBQMKd/FNRwTCnWssI=
+github.com/ajroetker/bleve_index_api v0.0.0-20251111010750-7b3692d79f01/go.mod h1:rKQDl4u51uwafZxFrPD1R7xFOwKnzZW7s/LSeK4lgo0=
 github.com/bits-and-blooms/bitset v1.12.0/go.mod h1:7hO7Gc7Pp1vODcmWvKMRA9BNmbv6a/7QIWpPxHddWR8=
 github.com/bits-and-blooms/bitset v1.22.0 h1:Tquv9S8+SGaS3EhyA+up3FXzmkhxPGjQQCkcs2uw7w4=
 github.com/bits-and-blooms/bitset v1.22.0/go.mod h1:7hO7Gc7Pp1vODcmWvKMRA9BNmbv6a/7QIWpPxHddWR8=
-github.com/blevesearch/bleve_index_api v1.2.11 h1:bXQ54kVuwP8hdrXUSOnvTQfgK0KI1+f9A0ITJT8tX1s=
-github.com/blevesearch/bleve_index_api v1.2.11/go.mod h1:rKQDl4u51uwafZxFrPD1R7xFOwKnzZW7s/LSeK4lgo0=
 github.com/blevesearch/go-faiss v1.0.26 h1:4dRLolFgjPyjkaXwff4NfbZFdE/dfywbzDqporeQvXI=
 github.com/blevesearch/go-faiss v1.0.26/go.mod h1:OMGQwOaRRYxrmeNdMrXJPvVx8gBnvE5RYrr0BahNnkk=
 github.com/blevesearch/mmap-go v1.0.4 h1:OVhDhT5B/M1HNPpYPBKIEJaD0F3Si+CrEKULGCDPWmc=
diff --git a/plugin.go b/plugin.go
index f67297ec..86027e07 100644
--- a/plugin.go
+++ b/plugin.go
@@ -14,6 +14,18 @@
 
 package zap
 
+import (
+	"bufio"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+
+	"github.com/RoaringBitmap/roaring/v2"
+	"github.com/blevesearch/bleve_index_api/vfs"
+	mmap "github.com/blevesearch/mmap-go"
+	segment "github.com/blevesearch/scorch_segment_api/v2"
+	"github.com/blevesearch/vellum"
+)
+
 // ZapPlugin implements the Plugin interface of
 // the blevesearch/scorch_segment_api pkg
 type ZapPlugin struct{}
@@ -25,3 +37,142 @@ func (*ZapPlugin) Type() string {
 func (*ZapPlugin) Version() uint32 {
 	return Version
 }
+
+// OpenVFS opens a segment file through the VFS directory abstraction.
+// This implementation uses OpenAt() for direct memory-mapping without temporary files.
+func (*ZapPlugin) OpenVFS(dir vfs.Directory, name string) (segment.Segment, error) {
+	// 1. Open file for random access from VFS
+	rac, err := dir.OpenAt(name)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("VFS openAt %s: %w", name, err)
+	}
+
+	// 2. Get file descriptor for mmap
+	fd := rac.AsFd()
+	if fd == 0 {
+		rac.Close()
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("VFS does not provide file descriptor for mmap (not file-backed)")
+	}
+
+	// 3. Get the underlying *os.File for mmap
+	// FileReaderAtCloser embeds *os.File, so we can type assert to access it
+	var f *os.File
+	if frac, ok := rac.(*vfs.FileReaderAtCloser); ok {
+		f = frac.File
+	} else {
+		// Fallback: not a FileReaderAtCloser, can't get *os.File for mmap
+		rac.Close()
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("VFS ReaderAtCloser is not file-backed, cannot mmap")
+	}
+
+	// 4. Memory-map the file
+	// First check file size to ensure it's valid for mmap
+	fileInfo, err := f.Stat()
+	if err != nil {
+		rac.Close()
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to stat file: %w", err)
+	}
+	if fileInfo.Size() == 0 {
+		rac.Close()
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot mmap empty file")
+	}
+
+	mm, err := mmap.Map(f, mmap.RDONLY, 0)
+	if err != nil {
+		rac.Close()
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("mmap failed (file size: %d): %w", fileInfo.Size(), err)
+	}
+
+	// 5. Create segment with mmap
+	rv := &Segment{
+		SegmentBase: SegmentBase{
+			fieldsMap:      make(map[string]uint16),
+			fieldFSTs:      make(map[uint16]*vellum.FST),
+			vecIndexCache:  newVectorIndexCache(),
+			synIndexCache:  newSynonymIndexCache(),
+			fieldDvReaders: make([]map[uint16]*docValueReader, len(segmentSections)),
+		},
+		f:    f,
+		mm:   mm,
+		path: name, // Use VFS name instead of filesystem path
+		refs: 1,
+	}
+	rv.SegmentBase.updateSize()
+
+	// 6. Load segment metadata
+	if err := rv.loadConfig(); err != nil {
+		rv.Close()
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	if err := rv.loadFieldsNew(); err != nil {
+		rv.Close()
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	if err := rv.loadDvReaders(); err != nil {
+		rv.Close()
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return rv, nil
+}
+
+// MergeVFS merges segments and writes the result through the VFS directory abstraction.
+// This implementation writes directly to the VFS writer, avoiding temporary files.
+func (*ZapPlugin) MergeVFS(dir vfs.Directory, name string,
+	segments []segment.Segment, drops []*roaring.Bitmap,
+	closeCh chan struct{}, s segment.StatsReporter) ([][]uint64, uint64, error) {
+
+	// 1. Extract SegmentBases from segments
+	segmentBases := make([]*SegmentBase, len(segments))
+	for segmenti, seg := range segments {
+		switch segmentx := seg.(type) {
+		case *Segment:
+			segmentBases[segmenti] = &segmentx.SegmentBase
+		case *SegmentBase:
+			segmentBases[segmenti] = segmentx
+		default:
+			return nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("unexpected segment type: %T", seg)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// 2. Create VFS writer for output
+	w, err := dir.Create(name)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("VFS create %s: %w", name, err)
+	}
+	defer w.Close()
+
+	// 3. Buffer the VFS output for performance
+	br := bufio.NewWriterSize(w, DefaultFileMergerBufferSize)
+
+	// 4. Wrap writer for counting and stats
+	cr := NewCountHashWriterWithStatsReporter(br, s)
+
+	// 5. Perform merge to writer (existing logic)
+	newDocNums, numDocs, storedIndexOffset, _, _, sectionsIndexOffset, err :=
+		mergeToWriter(segmentBases, drops, DefaultChunkMode, cr, closeCh)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("merge to writer: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	// 6. Write footer
+	err = persistFooter(numDocs, storedIndexOffset, sectionsIndexOffset, sectionsIndexOffset,
+		0, DefaultChunkMode, cr.Sum32(), cr)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("persist footer: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	// 7. Flush buffer
+	if err := br.Flush(); err != nil {
+		return nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("flush buffer: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	// 8. Sync to VFS for durability
+	if err := w.Sync(); err != nil {
+		return nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("VFS sync: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	return newDocNums, uint64(cr.Count()), nil
+}