ChromaDB Python Skill

ChromaDB is an open-source embedding database for building applications with semantic search and retrieval. This skill covers the Python client API for creating collections, storing documents with embeddings, and querying with semantic search and metadata filtering.

Client Initialization

In-memory (ephemeral)

import chromadb

client = chromadb.Client()

Data is lost when the process exits. Use for testing and prototyping.

Persistent (file-based)

client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path="./chroma_data")

Data is saved to disk at the specified path. Use for local applications and development.

HTTP client (remote server)

client = chromadb.HttpClient(host="localhost", port=8000)

Connects to a standalone Chroma server. Use for production deployments.

Collection Management

Create or get a collection

collection = client.get_or_create_collection(
    name="my_collection",
    embedding_function=embedding_fn,
    metadata={"hnsw:space": "cosine"}
)

• get_or_create_collection — idempotent; creates if absent, returns existing if present.
• create_collection — raises if the collection already exists.
• get_collection — raises if the collection does not exist.

List, delete, count

client.list_collections()                    # list all collections
client.delete_collection("my_collection")    # delete by name
collection.count()                           # number of records

Adding Data

Add documents (auto-embedded)

collection.add(
    ids=["id1", "id2", "id3"],
    documents=["First document", "Second document", "Third document"],
    metadatas=[
        {"source": "web", "year": 2024},
        {"source": "api", "year": 2024},
        {"source": "manual", "year": 2023},
    ],
)

• ids — required, must be unique strings.
• documents — raw text; Chroma uses the collection's embedding function to generate embeddings.
• metadatas — optional dict per document for filtering.

Add pre-computed embeddings

collection.add(
    ids=["id1", "id2"],
    embeddings=[[0.1, 0.2, 0.3], [0.4, 0.5, 0.6]],
    metadatas=[{"source": "precomputed"}, {"source": "precomputed"}],
    documents=["doc one", "doc two"],  # optional when embeddings provided
)

Upsert (insert or update)

collection.upsert(
    ids=["id1", "id2", "id3"],
    documents=["new content 1", "new content 2", "new content 3"],
    metadatas=[{"version": 2}, {"version": 2}, {"version": 2}],
)

Inserts records if the ID does not exist; updates if it does. Prefer upsert over add when re-indexing data that may already exist.

Querying

Semantic search with text

results = collection.query(
    query_texts=["search phrase"],
    n_results=5,
)

Returns a dict with keys: ids, documents, metadatas, distances, embeddings. Each value is a list of lists (one inner list per query). Lower distance = more similar.

Important: query() returns nested lists, while get() returns flat lists. This is a common source of bugs:

# query() — nested: results["ids"] == [["id1", "id2"]]
# get()   — flat:   results["ids"] == ["id1", "id2"]

Semantic search with embeddings

results = collection.query(
    query_embeddings=[[0.1, 0.2, 0.3]],
    n_results=10,
)

Control returned fields with include

results = collection.query(
    query_texts=["search phrase"],
    n_results=5,
    include=["documents", "metadatas", "distances"],
)

Valid include values: "documents", "metadatas", "distances", "embeddings".

Get by ID (no search)

results = collection.get(
    ids=["id1", "id2"],
    include=["documents", "metadatas"],
)

Get with filter (no search)

results = collection.get(
    where={"source": "web"},
    include=["documents", "metadatas"],
)

Filtering

Filters are applied via where (metadata) and where_document (text content) parameters on both query and get.

Filter operators quick reference

Shorthand: {"key": "value"} is equivalent to {"key": {"$eq": "value"}}.

Logical operators

# AND
where={"$and": [{"category": "electronics"}, {"price": {"$gte": 500}}]}

# OR
where={"$or": [{"category": "electronics"}, {"category": "wearables"}]}

Document content filtering

results = collection.query(
    query_texts=["search"],
    where_document={"$contains": "specific phrase"},
)

For complete filter operator details and advanced patterns, consult references/api-reference.md.

Embedding Functions

Chroma supports pluggable embedding functions. Set the embedding function when creating a collection — it is used automatically for add, update, upsert, and query operations.

SentenceTransformers (local, no API key)

from chromadb.utils.embedding_functions import SentenceTransformerEmbeddingFunction

ef = SentenceTransformerEmbeddingFunction(model_name="all-MiniLM-L6-v2")
collection = client.get_or_create_collection("my_col", embedding_function=ef)

OpenAI

from chromadb.utils.embedding_functions import OpenAIEmbeddingFunction

ef = OpenAIEmbeddingFunction(model_name="text-embedding-3-small")
collection = client.create_collection("my_col", embedding_function=ef)

Requires the OPENAI_API_KEY environment variable.

Default embedding function

If no embedding_function is specified, Chroma uses its built-in default (all-MiniLM-L6-v2 via ONNX). This is suitable for prototyping but should be replaced with a purpose-chosen model for production.

Collection Configuration

Distance metrics

Set via the hnsw:space metadata key at creation time:

collection = client.create_collection(
    name="my_col",
    metadata={"hnsw:space": "cosine"},
)

For HNSW tuning parameters and advanced configuration, consult references/patterns.md.

Update and Delete

Update existing records

collection.update(
    ids=["id1"],
    documents=["updated content"],
    metadatas=[{"version": 3}],
)

Only provided fields are updated. Omitted fields remain unchanged.

Delete records

collection.delete(ids=["id1", "id2"])
collection.delete(where={"status": "archived"})
collection.delete(where_document={"$contains": "deprecated"})

Peek (sample data)

sample = collection.peek(limit=5)  # returns a sample of records (default 10)

Useful for inspecting collection contents during development.

Common Errors

Chroma does not persist the embedding function. Omitting it when calling get_collection causes query(query_texts=...) to silently use the default ONNX model, producing incorrect results.

Additional Resources

Reference Files

For detailed API documentation and advanced patterns, consult:

• references/api-reference.md — Complete method signatures, all filter operators with examples, include options, result structure
• references/patterns.md — Batch ingestion, metadata schema design, HNSW tuning, collection lifecycle, common query patterns, error handling