Chroma

---
name: chroma
description: Open-source embedding database for AI applications. Store embeddings and metadata, perform vector and full-text search, filter by metadata. Simple 4-function API. Scales from notebooks to production clusters. Use for semantic search, RAG applications, or document retrieval. Best for local development and open-source projects.
license: MIT
metadata:
  version: 1.0.0
  category: knowledge-and-rag
  maintainer: Kalaris Labs
  tags: RAG, Chroma, Vector Database, Embeddings, Semantic Search, Open Source, Self-Hosted, Document Retrieval, Metadata Filtering
  dependencies: chromadb, sentence-transformers
---

# Chroma - Open-Source Embedding Database

The AI-native database for building LLM applications with memory.

## When to use Chroma

**Use Chroma when:**
- Building RAG (retrieval-augmented generation) applications
- Need local/self-hosted vector database
- Want open-source solution (Apache 2.0)
- Prototyping in notebooks
- Semantic search over documents
- Storing embeddings with metadata

**Metrics**:
- **1,900+ forks**
- **v1.3.3** (stable, weekly releases)
- **Apache 2.0 license**

**Use alternatives instead**:
- **Pinecone**: Managed cloud, auto-scaling
- **FAISS**: Pure similarity search, no metadata
- **Weaviate**: Production ML-native database
- **Qdrant**: High performance, Rust-based

## Quick start

### Installation

```bash
# Python
pip install chromadb

# JavaScript/TypeScript
npm install chromadb @chroma-core/default-embed
```

### Basic usage (Python)

```python
import chromadb

# Create client
client = chromadb.Client()

# Create collection
collection = client.create_collection(name="my_collection")

# Add documents
collection.add(
    documents=["This is document 1", "This is document 2"],
    metadatas=[{"source": "doc1"}, {"source": "doc2"}],
    ids=["id1", "id2"]
)

# Query
results = collection.query(
    query_texts=["document about topic"],
    n_results=2
)

print(results)
```

## Core operations

### 1. Create collection

```python
# Simple collection
collection = client.create_collection("my_docs")

# With custom embedding function
from chromadb.utils import embedding_functions

openai_ef = embedding_functions.OpenAIEmbeddingFunction(
    api_key="your-key",
    model_name="text-embedding-3-small"
)

collection = client.create_collection(
    name="my_docs",
    embedding_function=openai_ef
)

# Get existing collection
collection = client.get_collection("my_docs")

# Delete collection
client.delete_collection("my_docs")
```

### 2. Add documents

```python
# Add with auto-generated IDs
collection.add(
    documents=["Doc 1", "Doc 2", "Doc 3"],
    metadatas=[
        {"source": "web", "category": "tutorial"},
        {"source": "pdf", "page": 5},
        {"source": "api", "timestamp": "2025-01-01"}
    ],
    ids=["id1", "id2", "id3"]
)

# Add with custom embeddings
collection.add(
    embeddings=[[0.1, 0.2, ...], [0.3, 0.4, ...]],
    documents=["Doc 1", "Doc 2"],
    ids=["id1", "id2"]
)
```

### 3. Query (similarity search)

```python
# Basic query
results = collection.query(
    query_texts=["machine learning tutorial"],
    n_results=5
)

# Query with filters
results = collection.query(
    query_texts=["Python programming"],
    n_results=3,
    where={"source": "web"}
)

# Query with metadata filters
results = collection.query(
    query_texts=["advanced topics"],
    where={
        "$and": [
            {"category": "tutorial"},
            {"difficulty": {"$gte": 3}}
        ]
    }
)

# Access results
print(results["documents"])      # List of matching documents
print(results["metadatas"])      # Metadata for each doc
print(results["distances"])      # Similarity scores
print(results["ids"])            # Document IDs
```

### 4. Get documents

```python
# Get by IDs
docs = collection.get(
    ids=["id1", "id2"]
)

# Get with filters
docs = collection.get(
    where={"category": "tutorial"},
    limit=10
)

# Get all documents
docs = collection.get()
```

### 5. Update documents

```python
# Update document content
collection.update(
    ids=["id1"],
    documents=["Updated content"],
    metadatas=[{"source": "updated"}]
)
```

### 6. Delete documents

```python
# Delete by IDs
collection.delete(ids=["id1", "id2"])

# Delete with filter
collection.delete(
    where={"source": "outdated"}
)
```

## Persistent storage

```python
# Persist to disk
client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path="./chroma_db")

collection = client.create_collection("my_docs")
collection.add(documents=["Doc 1"], ids=["id1"])

# Data persisted automatically
# Reload later with same path
client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path="./chroma_db")
collection = client.get_collection("my_docs")
```

## Embedding functions

### Default (Sentence Transformers)

```python
# Uses sentence-transformers by default
collection = client.create_collection("my_docs")
# Default model: all-MiniLM-L6-v2
```

### OpenAI

```python
from chromadb.utils import embedding_functions

openai_ef = embedding_functions.OpenAIEmbeddingFunction(
    api_key="your-key",
    model_name="text-embedding-3-small"
)

collection = client.create_collection(
    name="openai_docs",
    embedding_function=openai_ef
)
```

### HuggingFace

```python
huggingface_ef = embedding_functions.HuggingFaceEmbeddingFunction(
    api_key="your-key",
    model_name="sentence-transformers/all-mpnet-base-v2"
)

collection = client.create_collection(
    name="hf_docs",
    embedding_function=huggingface_ef
)
```

### Custom embedding function

```python
from chromadb import Documents, EmbeddingFunction, Embeddings

class MyEmbeddingFunction(EmbeddingFunction):
    def __call__(self, input: Documents) -> Embeddings:
        # Your embedding logic
        return embeddings

my_ef = MyEmbeddingFunction()
collection = client.create_collection(
    name="custom_docs",
    embedding_function=my_ef
)
```

## Metadata filtering

```python
# Exact match
results = collection.query(
    query_texts=["query"],
    where={"category": "tutorial"}
)

# Comparison operators
results = collection.query(
    query_texts=["query"],
    where={"page": {"$gt": 10}}  # $gt, $gte, $lt, $lte, $ne
)

# Logical operators
results = collection.query(
    query_texts=["query"],
    where={
        "$and": [
            {"category": "tutorial"},
            {"difficulty": {"$lte": 3}}
        ]
    }  # Also: $or
)

# Contains
results = collection.query(
    query_texts=["query"],
    where={"tags": {"$in": ["python", "ml"]}}
)
```

## LangChain integration

```python
from langchain_chroma import Chroma
from langchain_openai import OpenAIEmbeddings
from langchain.text_splitter import RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter

# Split documents
text_splitter = RecursiveCharacterTextSplitter(chunk_size=1000)
docs = text_splitter.split_documents(documents)

# Create Chroma vector store
vectorstore = Chroma.from_documents(
    documents=docs,
    embedding=OpenAIEmbeddings(),
    persist_directory="./chroma_db"
)

# Query
results = vectorstore.similarity_search("machine learning", k=3)

# As retriever
retriever = vectorstore.as_retriever(search_kwargs={"k": 5})
```

## LlamaIndex integration

```python
from llama_index.vector_stores.chroma import ChromaVectorStore
from llama_index.core import VectorStoreIndex, StorageContext
import chromadb

# Initialize Chroma
db = chromadb.PersistentClient(path="./chroma_db")
collection = db.get_or_create_collection("my_collection")

# Create vector store
vector_store = ChromaVectorStore(chroma_collection=collection)
storage_context = StorageContext.from_defaults(vector_store=vector_store)

# Create index
index = VectorStoreIndex.from_documents(
    documents,
    storage_context=storage_context
)

# Query
query_engine = index.as_query_engine()
response = query_engine.query("What is machine learning?")
```

## Server mode

```python
# Run Chroma server
# Terminal: chroma run --path ./chroma_db --port 8000

# Connect to server
import chromadb
from chromadb.config import Settings

client = chromadb.HttpClient(
    host="localhost",
    port=8000,
    settings=Settings(anonymized_telemetry=False)
)

# Use as normal
collection = client.get_or_create_collection("my_docs")
```

## Best practices

1. **Use persistent client** - Don't lose data on restart
2. **Add metadata** - Enables filtering and tracking
3. **Batch operations** - Add multiple docs at once
4. **Choose right embedding model** - Balance speed/quality
5. **Use filters** - Narrow search space
6. **Unique IDs** - Avoid collisions
7. **Regular backups** - Copy chroma_db directory
8. **Monitor collection size** - Scale up if needed
9. **Test embedding functions** - Ensure quality
10. **Use server mode for production** - Better for multi-user

## Performance

| Operation | Latency | Notes |
|-----------|---------|-------|
| Add 100 docs | ~1-3s | With embedding |
| Query (top 10) | ~50-200ms | Depends on collection size |
| Metadata filter | ~10-50ms | Fast with proper indexing |

## Resources

- **GitHub**: https://github.com/chroma-core/chroma ⭐ 24,300+
- **Docs**: https://docs.trychroma.com
- **Discord**: https://discord.gg/MMeYNTmh3x
- **Version**: 1.3.3+
- **License**: Apache 2.0

## Agent operating procedure

1. **Check the environment.** Confirm the corpus, embedding model and vector store versions, and where the index will live.
2. **Pin down the inputs.** Confirm formats, identifiers and parameters from the data or the user. Ask rather than guess any value that changes the result.
3. **Run a small version first.** Index a small subset and test retrieval on known question-passage pairs.
4. **Execute the full task** using the instructions and references above.
5. **Validate the result.** Measure recall@k on a labeled set; answers cite retrieved passages only.
6. **Report.** State what was run (versions, commands, parameters), what was checked, and what is still uncertain.

| If this happens | Do this |
|---|---|
| Retrieval returns irrelevant chunks | Revisit chunking, add BM25/hybrid search, or re-rank before changing the generator. |
| A function, flag or endpoint in these instructions is missing in the installed version | Check the installed version's own documentation (`help()`, `--help`, official docs), adapt, and tell the user. Never invent an API. |
| A required input, identifier or parameter is ambiguous | Ask the user, or state the assumption explicitly before running. |

**Integrity rules**

- Never fabricate results, parameters, identifiers, citations or statistics. If something cannot be run or verified, say so plainly.
- Answers must come from retrieved text; say when the corpus does not contain the answer.
- Treat version-specific details here as possibly outdated: confirm them against the official documentation for the installed version.
- Ask before actions that cost money, consume shared GPUs or cloud quota, touch personal or patient data, or cannot be undone.

## Related skills

- `llamaindex`: Data framework for building LLM applications with RAG.
- `langchain`: Framework for building LLM-powered applications with agents, chains, and RAG.
- `qdrant-vector-search`: High-performance vector similarity search engine for RAG and semantic search.