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Three ways to run VecturaDB: the Python package, the Docker image and the CLI.

Python

pip uninstall -y chromadb
pip install VecturaDB

The VecturaDB package keeps the import name chromadb, so existing code runs as it is.

import chromadb

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

While only previews exist, pip install VecturaDB installs the newest preview. Once 1.0.0 is out, a preview needs pip install --pre VecturaDB.

Packages that depend on chromadb

VecturaDB and chromadb install the same modules, so they cannot be installed side by side. Packages that declare a dependency on chromadb, such as langchain-chroma, make pip install chromadb too, and its files replace those of VecturaDB. Install those packages first and VecturaDB last:

pip install langchain-chroma
pip install --force-reinstall --no-deps VecturaDB

• Run the last line again after any command that installs or upgrades chromadb.
• Do not uninstall chromadb afterwards: it removes files that VecturaDB uses.

Docker

docker run -p 127.0.0.1:8000:8000 -v ./data:/data ghcr.io/vecturadb/vecturadb:preview

Images for amd64 and arm64. preview is the newest preview; every release also has a tag with its version. The data lives in /data.

CLI

Linux (x86_64 and arm64) and macOS (x64 and arm64):

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

Windows (x64), in PowerShell:

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

The scripts install the newest release, previews included. Every binary is also in the releases. The binary keeps the name chroma.

Moving data out of Chroma Cloud

Guides for every destination, Chroma included: Leaving Chroma Cloud.

The CLI copies collections from Chroma Cloud into a running VecturaDB:

chroma login --api-key <your Chroma Cloud API key>
chroma copy --from-cloud --to-local --host http://localhost:8000 --db <database> --all

To copy only some collections, use --collections <name> once per collection instead of --all. The collections must not exist yet in VecturaDB.

The copy stops at the first collection it cannot create. The collections copied before it stay in VecturaDB: copy the rest with --collections. Collections whose metadata holds the legacy hnsw:* settings fail with Cannot set both collection config and schema simultaneously; Chroma gives the same error.

What arrives: every record with its document, metadata, embedding and URI, the metadata of the collection, and its schema, sparse and BM25 indexes included. Sparse and BM25 searches give the same scores as on Chroma Cloud. The settings of the dense index do not arrive: Chroma Cloud uses SPANN, VecturaDB uses HNSW with its default settings.

Telemetry

Off by default. ANONYMIZED_TELEMETRY=TRUE turns on the anonymized telemetry inherited from Chroma, in the Python package only. The server binary sends none.