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Installation

Chroma provides packages for Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, Go, and Rust.

Quick Start

Get a Chroma server running quickly with the CLI or Docker:

pip install chromadb
chroma run --path ./getting-started

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chroma-core/chroma/main/rust/cli/install/install.sh | bash
chroma run --path ./getting-started

docker pull chromadb/chroma:1.5.2 && docker run -p 8000:8000 chromadb/chroma:1.5.2
Version pinning

Avoid relying on latest for production or repeatable environments. Pin to a specific image tag (for example chromadb/chroma:1.5.2) and upgrade intentionally after validation.

Chroma CLI (Standalone Installer)

If you prefer not to install Chroma through Python or JavaScript package managers, use the standalone CLI installer:

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chroma-core/chroma/main/rust/cli/install/install.sh | bash

iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chroma-core/chroma/main/rust/cli/install/install.ps1'))

The standalone installer installs the chroma CLI binary so you can run:

chroma run --path ./getting-started

For the full CLI installation matrix (pip, pipx, uv, npm, pnpm, bun, yarn, and standalone installers), see Running Chroma and the official CLI installation docs.

Python

The chromadb package includes everything needed for both local (embedded) usage and connecting to a remote Chroma server. Here's a minimal working example to confirm your installation.

Backward compatibility

While Chroma strives to be as compatible with older versions as possible, certain releases introduce breaking changes and most importantly database migrations. All database migrations are irreversible and once upgraded to a new version of Chroma, you cannot downgrade to an older version.

Releases

You can find Chroma releases on PyPI here.

pip install chromadb

Directly from GitHub:

pip install git+https://github.com/chroma-core/chroma.git@main

From test PyPI:

pip install --index-url https://test.pypi.org/simple/ chromadb

Installing a specific version of Chroma is useful when you want to ensure that your code works with a specific version of Chroma. To install a specific version of Chroma, run:

From PyPI:

pip install chromadb==<x.y.z>

Directly from GitHub (replace x.y.z with the tag of the version you want to install):

pip install git+https://github.com/chroma-core/[email protected]

It is sometimes useful to install a version of Chroma that has still some unreleased functionality. Like a PR that either fixes a bug or brings in a new functionality you may need. To test such unreleased code it is possible to install directly from a GH PR branch.

pip install git+https://github.com/chroma-core/chroma.git@<branch_name>

JavaScript/TypeScript

To install the Chroma JS/TS client package, use the following command depending on your package manager. Here's a minimal working example to confirm your installation.

yarn add chromadb @chroma-core/default-embed

npm install --save chromadb @chroma-core/default-embed

pnpm add chromadb @chroma-core/default-embed
Embedding Function Packages

All embedding function packages for JS/TS use the @chroma-core/* namespace. For example:

  • @chroma-core/default-embed - Default embedding function
  • @chroma-core/openai - OpenAI embeddings
  • @chroma-core/cohere - Cohere embeddings

Go

go get github.com/amikos-tech/chroma-go

Here's a minimal working example to confirm your installation.

Rust

cargo add chroma

Here's a minimal working example to confirm your installation.