Chroma
An open-source embedding database designed for AI applications. Chroma provides a simple API for storing and querying embeddings, with a focus on developer experience and easy local development. It's often the default choice for prototyping RAG applications.
Implements
Concepts this tool claims to implement:
- Vector Search primary
Core functionality is vector similarity search. HNSW index for approximate nearest neighbor queries.
- Knowledge Base primary
Collections store documents with embeddings and metadata. Persistent storage for knowledge bases.
- Embedding secondary
Built-in embedding functions or bring-your-own embeddings. Automatic embedding generation from text.
Integration Surfaces
Details
- Vendor
- Chroma
- License
- Apache-2.0
- Runs On
- local, cloud
- Used By
- system
Links
Notes
Chroma is popular for its simplicity—you can start with an in-memory database and scale to persistent storage. It's the default vector store in many LangChain and LlamaIndex tutorials, making it a common entry point for RAG development.