ChromaDB is an open-source vector database used for storing and querying embeddings (e.g., for LLM apps). It’s commonly used with tools like LangChain, LlamaIndex, and other LLM applications/services.
Running ChromaDB locally
import chromadb
client = chromadb.Client()
# Or for persistent storage:
client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path="my_chroma_db")This runs the ChromaDB entirely in-process - there’s no server process running separately, unless we are building an API layer around it.
Storage modes
- Ephemeral (in-memory): Fast, but data is lost on restart.
- Persistent: Stores to disk (via DuckDB under the hood) if you specify a path.
Examples
[[Google-5-Day-Gen-AI-Intensive-Course#summary-of-the-key-points—callouts|Summary of the key points & callouts]]