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Client

EphemeralClient​

def EphemeralClient(settings: Settings = Settings()) -> API

Creates an in-memory instance of Chroma. This is useful for testing and development, but not recommended for production use.

PersistentClient​

def PersistentClient(path: str = "./chroma",
                     settings: Settings = Settings()) -> API

Creates a persistent instance of Chroma that saves to disk. This is useful for testing and development, but not recommended for production use.

Arguments:

  • path - The directory to save Chroma's data to. Defaults to "./chroma".

HttpClient​

def HttpClient(
    host: str = "localhost",
    port: str = "8000",
    ssl: bool = False,
    headers: Dict[str, str] = {},
    settings: Settings = Settings()) -> API

Creates a client that connects to a remote Chroma server. This supports many clients connecting to the same server, and is the recommended way to use Chroma in production.

Arguments:

  • host - The hostname of the Chroma server. Defaults to "localhost".
  • port - The port of the Chroma server. Defaults to "8000".
  • ssl - Whether to use SSL to connect to the Chroma server. Defaults to False.
  • headers - A dictionary of headers to send to the Chroma server. Defaults to {}.

Client​

def Client(settings: Settings = __settings) -> API

Return a running chroma.API instance

Client Methods

class API(Component, ABC)

heartbeat​

def heartbeat() -> int

Get the current time in nanoseconds since epoch. Used to check if the server is alive.

Returns:

  • int - The current time in nanoseconds since epoch

list_collections​

def list_collections() -> Sequence[Collection]

List all collections.

Returns:

  • Sequence[Collection] - A list of collections

Examples:

client.list_collections()
# [collection(name="my_collection", metadata={})]

create_collection​

def create_collection(name: str,
                      metadata: Optional[CollectionMetadata] = None,
                      embedding_function: Optional[EmbeddingFunction] = ef.
                      DefaultEmbeddingFunction(),
                      get_or_create: bool = False) -> Collection

Create a new collection with the given name and metadata.

Arguments:

  • name - The name of the collection to create.
  • metadata - Optional metadata to associate with the collection.
  • embedding_function - Optional function to use to embed documents. Uses the default embedding function if not provided.
  • get_or_create - If True, return the existing collection if it exists.

Returns:

  • Collection - The newly created collection.

Raises:

  • ValueError - If the collection already exists and get_or_create is False.
  • ValueError - If the collection name is invalid.

Examples:

client.create_collection("my_collection")
# collection(name="my_collection", metadata={})

client.create_collection("my_collection", metadata={"foo": "bar"})
# collection(name="my_collection", metadata={"foo": "bar"})

get_collection​

def get_collection(
    name: str,
    embedding_function: Optional[EmbeddingFunction] = ef.
    DefaultEmbeddingFunction()
) -> Collection

Get a collection with the given name.

Arguments:

  • name - The name of the collection to get
  • embedding_function - Optional function to use to embed documents. Uses the default embedding function if not provided.

Returns:

  • Collection - The collection

Raises:

  • ValueError - If the collection does not exist

Examples:

client.get_collection("my_collection")
# collection(name="my_collection", metadata={})

get_or_create_collection​

def get_or_create_collection(
    name: str,
    metadata: Optional[CollectionMetadata] = None,
    embedding_function: Optional[EmbeddingFunction] = ef.
    DefaultEmbeddingFunction()
) -> Collection

Get or create a collection with the given name and metadata.

Arguments:

  • name - The name of the collection to get or create
  • metadata - Optional metadata to associate with the collection
  • embedding_function - Optional function to use to embed documents

Returns:

The collection

Examples:

client.get_or_create_collection("my_collection")
# collection(name="my_collection", metadata={})

delete_collection​

def delete_collection(name: str) -> None

Delete a collection with the given name.

Arguments:

  • name - The name of the collection to delete.

Raises:

  • ValueError - If the collection does not exist.

Examples:

client.delete_collection("my_collection")

reset​

def reset() -> bool

Resets the database. This will delete all collections and entries.

Returns:

  • bool - True if the database was reset successfully.

get_version​

def get_version() -> str

Get the version of Chroma.

Returns:

  • str - The version of Chroma

get_settings​

def get_settings() -> Settings

Get the settings used to initialize the client.

Returns:

  • Settings - The settings used to initialize the client.