diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yaml b/.github/workflows/build.yaml
index 60ea2e4a9f..c2d564dfda 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yaml
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ concurrency:
 jobs:
   cpp-build:
     secrets: inherit
-    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/conda-cpp-build.yaml@cuda-120-arm
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/conda-cpp-build.yaml@branch-23.12
     with:
       build_type: ${{ inputs.build_type || 'branch' }}
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ jobs:
   python-build:
     needs: [cpp-build]
     secrets: inherit
-    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/conda-python-build.yaml@cuda-120-arm
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/conda-python-build.yaml@branch-23.12
     with:
       build_type: ${{ inputs.build_type || 'branch' }}
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ jobs:
   upload-conda:
     needs: [cpp-build, python-build]
     secrets: inherit
-    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/conda-upload-packages.yaml@cuda-120-arm
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/conda-upload-packages.yaml@branch-23.12
     with:
       build_type: ${{ inputs.build_type || 'branch' }}
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ jobs:
     if: github.ref_type == 'branch'
     needs: python-build
     secrets: inherit
-    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/custom-job.yaml@cuda-120-arm
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/custom-job.yaml@branch-23.12
     with:
       arch: "amd64"
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ jobs:
       sha: ${{ inputs.sha }}
   wheel-build-pylibraft:
     secrets: inherit
-    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-build.yaml@cuda-120-arm
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-build.yaml@branch-23.12
     with:
       build_type: ${{ inputs.build_type || 'branch' }}
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ jobs:
   wheel-publish-pylibraft:
     needs: wheel-build-pylibraft
     secrets: inherit
-    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-publish.yaml@cuda-120-arm
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-publish.yaml@branch-23.12
     with:
       build_type: ${{ inputs.build_type || 'branch' }}
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ jobs:
   wheel-build-raft-dask:
     needs: wheel-publish-pylibraft
     secrets: inherit
-    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-build.yaml@cuda-120-arm
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-build.yaml@branch-23.12
     with:
       build_type: ${{ inputs.build_type || 'branch' }}
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ jobs:
   wheel-publish-raft-dask:
     needs: wheel-build-raft-dask
     secrets: inherit
-    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-publish.yaml@cuda-120-arm
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-publish.yaml@branch-23.12
     with:
       build_type: ${{ inputs.build_type || 'branch' }}
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pr.yaml b/.github/workflows/pr.yaml
index 1b7fb8e1a5..8c99e3de6a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pr.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr.yaml
@@ -24,41 +24,41 @@ jobs:
       - wheel-tests-raft-dask
       - devcontainer
     secrets: inherit
-    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/pr-builder.yaml@cuda-120-arm
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/pr-builder.yaml@branch-23.12
   checks:
     secrets: inherit
-    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/checks.yaml@cuda-120-arm
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/checks.yaml@branch-23.12
     with:
       enable_check_generated_files: false
   conda-cpp-build:
     needs: checks
     secrets: inherit
-    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/conda-cpp-build.yaml@cuda-120-arm
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/conda-cpp-build.yaml@branch-23.12
     with:
       build_type: pull-request
       node_type: cpu16
   conda-cpp-tests:
     needs: conda-cpp-build
     secrets: inherit
-    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/conda-cpp-tests.yaml@cuda-120-arm
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/conda-cpp-tests.yaml@branch-23.12
     with:
       build_type: pull-request
   conda-python-build:
     needs: conda-cpp-build
     secrets: inherit
-    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/conda-python-build.yaml@cuda-120-arm
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/conda-python-build.yaml@branch-23.12
     with:
       build_type: pull-request
   conda-python-tests:
     needs: conda-python-build
     secrets: inherit
-    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/conda-python-tests.yaml@cuda-120-arm
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/conda-python-tests.yaml@branch-23.12
     with:
       build_type: pull-request
   docs-build:
     needs: conda-python-build
     secrets: inherit
-    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/custom-job.yaml@cuda-120-arm
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/custom-job.yaml@branch-23.12
     with:
       build_type: pull-request
       node_type: "gpu-v100-latest-1"
@@ -68,28 +68,28 @@ jobs:
   wheel-build-pylibraft:
     needs: checks
     secrets: inherit
-    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-build.yaml@cuda-120-arm
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-build.yaml@branch-23.12
     with:
       build_type: pull-request
       script: ci/build_wheel_pylibraft.sh
   wheel-tests-pylibraft:
     needs: wheel-build-pylibraft
     secrets: inherit
-    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-test.yaml@cuda-120-arm
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-test.yaml@branch-23.12
     with:
       build_type: pull-request
       script: ci/test_wheel_pylibraft.sh
   wheel-build-raft-dask:
     needs: wheel-tests-pylibraft
     secrets: inherit
-    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-build.yaml@cuda-120-arm
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-build.yaml@branch-23.12
     with:
       build_type: pull-request
       script: "ci/build_wheel_raft_dask.sh"
   wheel-tests-raft-dask:
     needs: wheel-build-raft-dask
     secrets: inherit
-    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-test.yaml@cuda-120-arm
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-test.yaml@branch-23.12
     with:
       build_type: pull-request
       script: ci/test_wheel_raft_dask.sh
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yaml b/.github/workflows/test.yaml
index 5c0c520188..4e45ae29f6 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yaml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ on:
 jobs:
   conda-cpp-tests:
     secrets: inherit
-    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/conda-cpp-tests.yaml@cuda-120-arm
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/conda-cpp-tests.yaml@branch-23.12
     with:
       build_type: nightly
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ jobs:
       sha: ${{ inputs.sha }}
   conda-python-tests:
     secrets: inherit
-    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/conda-python-tests.yaml@cuda-120-arm
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/conda-python-tests.yaml@branch-23.12
     with:
       build_type: nightly
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ jobs:
       sha: ${{ inputs.sha }}
   wheel-tests-pylibraft:
     secrets: inherit
-    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-test.yaml@cuda-120-arm
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-test.yaml@branch-23.12
     with:
       build_type: nightly
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ jobs:
       script: ci/test_wheel_pylibraft.sh
   wheel-tests-raft-dask:
     secrets: inherit
-    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-test.yaml@cuda-120-arm
+    uses: rapidsai/shared-action-workflows/.github/workflows/wheels-test.yaml@branch-23.12
     with:
       build_type: nightly
       branch: ${{ inputs.branch }}
diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index 66862ada5e..80ad3614bc 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -105,7 +105,10 @@ repos:
         hooks:
             - id: rapids-dependency-file-generator
               args: ["--clean"]
-
+      - repo: https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit-hooks
+        rev: v4.5.0
+        hooks:
+              - id: check-json
 
 default_language_version:
       python: python3
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 8642f2bdf3..8edc900ccb 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,94 @@
+# raft 23.10.00 (11 Oct 2023)
+
+## 🚨 Breaking Changes
+
+- Change CAGRA auto mode selection ([#1830](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1830)) [@enp1s0](https://github.com/enp1s0)
+- Update CAGRA serialization ([#1755](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1755)) [@benfred](https://github.com/benfred)
+- Improvements to ANN Benchmark Python scripts and docs ([#1734](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1734)) [@divyegala](https://github.com/divyegala)
+- Update to Cython 3.0.0 ([#1688](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1688)) [@vyasr](https://github.com/vyasr)
+- ANN-benchmarks: switch to use gbench ([#1661](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1661)) [@achirkin](https://github.com/achirkin)
+
+## 🐛 Bug Fixes
+
+- [BUG] Fix a bug in the filtering operation in CAGRA multi-kernel ([#1862](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1862)) [@enp1s0](https://github.com/enp1s0)
+- Fix conf file for benchmarking glove datasets ([#1846](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1846)) [@dantegd](https://github.com/dantegd)
+- raft-ann-bench package fixes for plotting and conf files ([#1844](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1844)) [@dantegd](https://github.com/dantegd)
+- Fix update-version.sh for all pyproject.toml files ([#1839](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1839)) [@raydouglass](https://github.com/raydouglass)
+- Make RMM a run dependency of the raft-ann-bench conda package ([#1838](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1838)) [@dantegd](https://github.com/dantegd)
+- Printing actual exception in `require base set` ([#1816](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1816)) [@cjnolet](https://github.com/cjnolet)
+- Adding rmm to `raft-ann-bench` dependencies ([#1815](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1815)) [@cjnolet](https://github.com/cjnolet)
+- Use `conda mambabuild` not `mamba mambabuild` ([#1812](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1812)) [@bdice](https://github.com/bdice)
+- Fix `raft-dask` naming in wheel builds ([#1805](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1805)) [@divyegala](https://github.com/divyegala)
+- neighbors::refine_host: check the dataset bounds ([#1793](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1793)) [@achirkin](https://github.com/achirkin)
+- [BUG] Fix search parameter check in CAGRA ([#1784](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1784)) [@enp1s0](https://github.com/enp1s0)
+- IVF-Flat: fix search batching ([#1764](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1764)) [@achirkin](https://github.com/achirkin)
+- Using expanded distance computations in `pylibraft` ([#1759](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1759)) [@cjnolet](https://github.com/cjnolet)
+- Fix ann-bench Documentation ([#1754](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1754)) [@divyegala](https://github.com/divyegala)
+- Make get_cache_idx a weak symbol with dummy template ([#1733](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1733)) [@ahendriksen](https://github.com/ahendriksen)
+- Fix IVF-PQ fused kernel performance problems ([#1726](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1726)) [@achirkin](https://github.com/achirkin)
+- Fix build.sh to enable NEIGHBORS_ANN_CAGRA_TEST ([#1724](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1724)) [@enp1s0](https://github.com/enp1s0)
+- Fix template types for create_descriptor function. ([#1680](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1680)) [@csadorf](https://github.com/csadorf)
+
+## 📖 Documentation
+
+- Fix the CAGRA paper citation ([#1788](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1788)) [@enp1s0](https://github.com/enp1s0)
+- Add citation info for the CAGRA paper preprint ([#1787](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1787)) [@enp1s0](https://github.com/enp1s0)
+- [DOC] Fix grouping for ANN in C++ doxygen ([#1782](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1782)) [@lowener](https://github.com/lowener)
+- Update RAFT documentation ([#1717](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1717)) [@lowener](https://github.com/lowener)
+- Additional polishing of README and docs ([#1713](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1713)) [@cjnolet](https://github.com/cjnolet)
+
+## 🚀 New Features
+
+- [FEA] Add `bitset_filter` for CAGRA indices removal ([#1837](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1837)) [@lowener](https://github.com/lowener)
+- ann-bench: miscellaneous improvements ([#1808](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1808)) [@achirkin](https://github.com/achirkin)
+- [FEA] Add bitset for ANN pre-filtering and deletion ([#1803](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1803)) [@lowener](https://github.com/lowener)
+- Adding config files for remaining (relevant) ann-benchmarks million-scale datasets ([#1761](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1761)) [@cjnolet](https://github.com/cjnolet)
+- Port NN-descent algorithm to use in `cagra::build()` ([#1748](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1748)) [@divyegala](https://github.com/divyegala)
+- Adding conda build for libraft static ([#1746](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1746)) [@cjnolet](https://github.com/cjnolet)
+- [FEA] Provide device_resources_manager for easy generation of device_resources ([#1716](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1716)) [@wphicks](https://github.com/wphicks)
+
+## 🛠️ Improvements
+
+- Add option to brute_force index to store non-owning reference to norms ([#1865](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1865)) [@benfred](https://github.com/benfred)
+- Pin `dask` and `distributed` for `23.10` release ([#1864](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1864)) [@galipremsagar](https://github.com/galipremsagar)
+- Update image names ([#1835](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1835)) [@AyodeAwe](https://github.com/AyodeAwe)
+- Fixes for OOM during CAGRA benchmarks ([#1832](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1832)) [@benfred](https://github.com/benfred)
+- Change CAGRA auto mode selection ([#1830](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1830)) [@enp1s0](https://github.com/enp1s0)
+- Update to clang 16.0.6. ([#1829](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1829)) [@bdice](https://github.com/bdice)
+- Add IVF-Flat C++ example ([#1828](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1828)) [@tfeher](https://github.com/tfeher)
+- matrix::select_k: extra tests and benchmarks ([#1821](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1821)) [@achirkin](https://github.com/achirkin)
+- Add index class for brute_force knn ([#1817](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1817)) [@benfred](https://github.com/benfred)
+- [FEA] Add pre-filtering to CAGRA ([#1811](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1811)) [@enp1s0](https://github.com/enp1s0)
+- More updates to ann-bench docs ([#1810](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1810)) [@cjnolet](https://github.com/cjnolet)
+- Add best deep-100M configs for IVF-PQ to ANN benchmarks ([#1807](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1807)) [@tfeher](https://github.com/tfeher)
+- A few fixes to `raft-ann-bench` recipe and docs ([#1806](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1806)) [@cjnolet](https://github.com/cjnolet)
+- Simplify wheel build scripts and allow alphas of RAPIDS dependencies ([#1804](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1804)) [@divyegala](https://github.com/divyegala)
+- Various fixes to reproducible benchmarks ([#1800](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1800)) [@cjnolet](https://github.com/cjnolet)
+- ANN-bench: more flexible cuda_stub.hpp ([#1792](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1792)) [@achirkin](https://github.com/achirkin)
+- Add RAFT devcontainers ([#1791](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1791)) [@trxcllnt](https://github.com/trxcllnt)
+- Cagra memory optimizations ([#1790](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1790)) [@benfred](https://github.com/benfred)
+- Fixing a couple security concerns in `raft-dask` nccl unique id generation ([#1785](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1785)) [@cjnolet](https://github.com/cjnolet)
+- Don't serialize dataset with CAGRA bench ([#1781](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1781)) [@benfred](https://github.com/benfred)
+- Use `copy-pr-bot` ([#1774](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1774)) [@ajschmidt8](https://github.com/ajschmidt8)
+- Add GPU and CPU packages for ANN benchmarks ([#1773](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1773)) [@dantegd](https://github.com/dantegd)
+- Improvements to raft-ann-bench scripts, docs, and benchmarking implementations. ([#1769](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1769)) [@cjnolet](https://github.com/cjnolet)
+- [REVIEW] Introducing host API for PCG ([#1767](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1767)) [@vinaydes](https://github.com/vinaydes)
+- Unpin `dask` and `distributed` for `23.10` development ([#1760](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1760)) [@galipremsagar](https://github.com/galipremsagar)
+- Add ivf-flat notebook ([#1758](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1758)) [@tfeher](https://github.com/tfeher)
+- Update CAGRA serialization ([#1755](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1755)) [@benfred](https://github.com/benfred)
+- Remove block size template parameter from CAGRA search ([#1740](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1740)) [@enp1s0](https://github.com/enp1s0)
+- Add NVTX ranges for cagra search/serialize functions ([#1737](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1737)) [@benfred](https://github.com/benfred)
+- Improvements to ANN Benchmark Python scripts and docs ([#1734](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1734)) [@divyegala](https://github.com/divyegala)
+- Fixing forward merger for 23.08 -> 23.10 ([#1731](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1731)) [@cjnolet](https://github.com/cjnolet)
+- [FEA] Use CAGRA in C++ template ([#1730](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1730)) [@lowener](https://github.com/lowener)
+- fixed box around raft image ([#1710](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1710)) [@nwstephens](https://github.com/nwstephens)
+- Enable CUTLASS-based distance kernels on CTK 12 ([#1702](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1702)) [@ahendriksen](https://github.com/ahendriksen)
+- Update bench-ann configuration ([#1696](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1696)) [@lowener](https://github.com/lowener)
+- Update to Cython 3.0.0 ([#1688](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1688)) [@vyasr](https://github.com/vyasr)
+- Update CMake version ([#1677](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1677)) [@vyasr](https://github.com/vyasr)
+- Branch 23.10 merge 23.08 ([#1672](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1672)) [@vyasr](https://github.com/vyasr)
+- ANN-benchmarks: switch to use gbench ([#1661](https://github.com/rapidsai/raft/pull/1661)) [@achirkin](https://github.com/achirkin)
+
 # raft 23.08.00 (9 Aug 2023)
 
 ## 🚨 Breaking Changes
diff --git a/cpp/include/raft/core/mdspan.hpp b/cpp/include/raft/core/mdspan.hpp
index f1a1adb916..15414b9af3 100644
--- a/cpp/include/raft/core/mdspan.hpp
+++ b/cpp/include/raft/core/mdspan.hpp
@@ -312,6 +312,41 @@ RAFT_INLINE_FUNCTION auto unravel_index(Idx idx,
 
 /** @} */
 
+/**
+ * @defgroup mdspan_contiguous Whether the strides imply a contiguous layout.
+ * @{
+ */
+
+/**
+ * @brief Whether the strides imply a c-contiguous layout.
+ */
+template <typename Extents, typename Strides>
+[[nodiscard]] auto is_c_contiguous(Extents const& extents, Strides const& strides) -> bool
+{
+  typename Extents::index_type stride = 1;
+  for (auto r = extents.rank(); r > 0; r--) {
+    if (stride != strides[r - 1]) { return false; }
+    stride *= extents.extent(r - 1);
+  }
+  return true;
+}
+
+/**
+ * @brief Whether the strides imply a f-contiguous layout.
+ */
+template <typename Extents, typename Strides>
+[[nodiscard]] auto is_f_contiguous(Extents const& extents, Strides const& strides) -> bool
+{
+  typename Extents::index_type stride = 1;
+  for (typename Extents::rank_type r = 0; r < extents.rank(); r++) {
+    if (stride != strides[r]) { return false; }
+    stride *= extents.extent(r);
+  }
+  return true;
+}
+
+/** @} */
+
 /**
  * @brief Const accessor specialization for default_accessor
  *
diff --git a/cpp/test/core/mdspan_utils.cu b/cpp/test/core/mdspan_utils.cu
index ad212569c2..90ecba1a10 100644
--- a/cpp/test/core/mdspan_utils.cu
+++ b/cpp/test/core/mdspan_utils.cu
@@ -247,4 +247,29 @@ void test_const_mdspan()
 
 TEST(MDSpan, ConstMDSpan) { test_const_mdspan(); }
 
+void test_contiguous_predicates()
+{
+  raft::resources handle;
+  extents<std::int64_t, dynamic_extent, dynamic_extent, dynamic_extent> exts{4, 4, 4};
+
+  {
+    std::array<std::int64_t, 3> strides{16, 4, 1};
+    ASSERT_TRUE(is_c_contiguous(exts, strides));
+    ASSERT_FALSE(is_f_contiguous(exts, strides));
+
+    // ensure that we are using the same stride unit (elements v.s. bytes) as mdarray
+    auto arr = make_host_mdarray<float>(handle, exts);
+    for (std::int32_t i = 0; i < 3; ++i) {
+      auto s = arr.stride(i);
+      ASSERT_EQ(s, strides[i]);
+    }
+  }
+  {
+    std::array<std::int64_t, 3> strides{1, 4, 16};
+    ASSERT_FALSE(is_c_contiguous(exts, strides));
+    ASSERT_TRUE(is_f_contiguous(exts, strides));
+  }
+}
+
+TEST(MDArray, Contiguous) { test_contiguous_predicates(); }
 }  // namespace raft
diff --git a/docs/source/conf.py b/docs/source/conf.py
index 822bce12fc..6c523cceb5 100644
--- a/docs/source/conf.py
+++ b/docs/source/conf.py
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@
 # Example configuration for intersphinx: refer to the Python standard library.
 intersphinx_mapping = {
     "python": ("https://docs.python.org/", None),
-    "scipy": ("https://docs.scipy.org/doc/scipy/reference", None),
+    "scipy": ("https://docs.scipy.org/doc/scipy/", None),
 }
 
 # Config numpydoc
diff --git a/docs/source/cpp_api/mdspan_mdspan.rst b/docs/source/cpp_api/mdspan_mdspan.rst
index 6011a9f103..f9f972aa74 100644
--- a/docs/source/cpp_api/mdspan_mdspan.rst
+++ b/docs/source/cpp_api/mdspan_mdspan.rst
@@ -24,6 +24,11 @@ mdspan: Multi-dimensional Non-owning View
     :members:
     :content-only:
 
+.. doxygengroup:: mdspan_contiguous
+    :project: RAFT
+    :members:
+    :content-only:
+
 .. doxygengroup:: mdspan_make_const
     :project: RAFT
     :members:
diff --git a/python/raft-ann-bench/src/raft-ann-bench/get_dataset/__main__.py b/python/raft-ann-bench/src/raft-ann-bench/get_dataset/__main__.py
index d2cb8ebe98..4e6a0119b4 100644
--- a/python/raft-ann-bench/src/raft-ann-bench/get_dataset/__main__.py
+++ b/python/raft-ann-bench/src/raft-ann-bench/get_dataset/__main__.py
@@ -36,12 +36,13 @@ def convert_hdf5_to_fbin(path, normalize):
     ann_bench_scripts_path = os.path.join(scripts_path, "hdf5_to_fbin.py")
     print(f"calling script {ann_bench_scripts_path}")
     if normalize and "angular" in path:
-        p = subprocess.Popen(
-            ["python", ann_bench_scripts_path, "-n", "%s" % path]
+        subprocess.run(
+            ["python", ann_bench_scripts_path, "-n", "%s" % path], check=True
         )
     else:
-        p = subprocess.Popen(["python", ann_bench_scripts_path, "%s" % path])
-    p.wait()
+        subprocess.run(
+            ["python", ann_bench_scripts_path, "%s" % path], check=True
+        )
 
 
 def move(name, ann_bench_data_path):
diff --git a/python/raft-ann-bench/src/raft-ann-bench/run/__main__.py b/python/raft-ann-bench/src/raft-ann-bench/run/__main__.py
index 347c68c477..9e2da7328d 100644
--- a/python/raft-ann-bench/src/raft-ann-bench/run/__main__.py
+++ b/python/raft-ann-bench/src/raft-ann-bench/run/__main__.py
@@ -110,9 +110,7 @@ def run_build_and_search(
             if force:
                 cmd = cmd + ["--overwrite"]
             cmd = cmd + [temp_conf_filepath]
-            print(cmd)
-            p = subprocess.Popen(cmd)
-            p.wait()
+            subprocess.run(cmd, check=True)
 
         if search:
             search_folder = os.path.join(legacy_result_folder, "search")
@@ -132,9 +130,7 @@ def run_build_and_search(
             if force:
                 cmd = cmd + ["--overwrite"]
             cmd = cmd + [temp_conf_filepath]
-            print(cmd)
-            p = subprocess.Popen(cmd)
-            p.wait()
+            subprocess.run(cmd, check=True)
 
         os.remove(temp_conf_filepath)
 
diff --git a/python/raft-ann-bench/src/raft-ann-bench/run/conf/glove-100-inner.json b/python/raft-ann-bench/src/raft-ann-bench/run/conf/glove-100-inner.json
index ce54ce3f6b..06ce6e3ac4 100644
--- a/python/raft-ann-bench/src/raft-ann-bench/run/conf/glove-100-inner.json
+++ b/python/raft-ann-bench/src/raft-ann-bench/run/conf/glove-100-inner.json
@@ -207,7 +207,6 @@
       "algo": "faiss_gpu_ivf_flat",
       "build_param": {"nlist":8192},
       "file": "glove-100-inner/faiss_gpu_ivf_flat/nlist8192",
-      "file": "index/glove-100-inner/faiss_ivf_flat/nlist8192",
       "search_params": [
         {
           "nprobe": 1
@@ -682,7 +681,7 @@
       "algo": "faiss_gpu_flat",
       "build_param": {},
       "file": "glove-100-inner/faiss_gpu_flat/flat",
-      "search_params": [{}]
+      "search_params": [{}],
       "search_result_file": "result/glove-100-inner/faiss_gpu_flat/flat"
     },
 
diff --git a/python/raft-ann-bench/src/raft-ann-bench/run/conf/mnist-784-euclidean.json b/python/raft-ann-bench/src/raft-ann-bench/run/conf/mnist-784-euclidean.json
index 6e982873bb..fff3bca1d7 100644
--- a/python/raft-ann-bench/src/raft-ann-bench/run/conf/mnist-784-euclidean.json
+++ b/python/raft-ann-bench/src/raft-ann-bench/run/conf/mnist-784-euclidean.json
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-c{
+{
   "dataset": {
     "name": "mnist-784-euclidean",
     "base_file": "mnist-784-euclidean/base.fbin",
diff --git a/python/raft-ann-bench/src/raft-ann-bench/split_groundtruth/__main__.py b/python/raft-ann-bench/src/raft-ann-bench/split_groundtruth/__main__.py
index 161617f85c..e8625ce7d7 100644
--- a/python/raft-ann-bench/src/raft-ann-bench/split_groundtruth/__main__.py
+++ b/python/raft-ann-bench/src/raft-ann-bench/split_groundtruth/__main__.py
@@ -23,10 +23,10 @@ def split_groundtruth(groundtruth_filepath):
     pwd = os.getcwd()
     os.chdir("/".join(groundtruth_filepath.split("/")[:-1]))
     groundtruth_filename = groundtruth_filepath.split("/")[-1]
-    p = subprocess.Popen(
-        [ann_bench_scripts_path, groundtruth_filename, "groundtruth"]
+    subprocess.run(
+        [ann_bench_scripts_path, groundtruth_filename, "groundtruth"],
+        check=True,
     )
-    p.wait()
     os.chdir(pwd)