RuntimeError: Chroma is running in http-only client mode

[Andrej0909]

I got this error message and I just don't get the solution how to fix it:

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "c:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\Chatgpt\A320privatGPTv5\ingest.py", line 166, in
main()
File "c:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\Chatgpt\A320privatGPTv5\ingest.py", line 158, in main
db = Chroma.from_documents(texts, embeddings, persist_directory=persist_directory, client_settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "C:\Program Files\Python311\Lib\site-packages\langchain\vectorstores\chroma.py", line 578, in from_documents
return cls.from_texts(
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "C:\Program Files\Python311\Lib\site-packages\langchain\vectorstores\chroma.py", line 533, in from_texts
chroma_collection = cls(
^^^^
File "C:\Program Files\Python311\Lib\site-packages\langchain\vectorstores\chroma.py", line 109, in init
self._client = chromadb.Client(client_settings)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "C:\Program Files\Python311\Lib\site-packages\chromadb_init.py", line 107, in Client
system = System(settings)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
File "C:\Program Files\Python311\Lib\site-packages\chromadb\config.py", line 168, in init
raise RuntimeError(
RuntimeError: Chroma is running in http-only client mode, and can only be run with 'chromadb.api.fastapi.FastAPI' as the chroma_api_impl. see https://docs.trychroma.com/usage-guide?lang=py#using-the-python-http-only-client for more information.

Does anybody know the solution?
Thx!

[Andrej0909]

The issue:

Starting chromadb 0.40 the chroma_db_impl is no longer a supported parameter, it uses sqlite instead.

Removing the line
chroma_db_impl="duckdb+parquet",
from langchain.vectorstores/chroma.py solves the issue, but the earlier DB cannot be used or migrated.

[whykay-01]

I have a similar issue, it looks like they depreciated code for that functionality, but forgot to update the docs. Let me know if there is a solution

[rithesh6]

The issue:

Starting chromadb 0.40 the chroma_db_impl is no longer a supported parameter, it uses sqlite instead.

Removing the line chroma_db_impl="duckdb+parquet", from langchain.vectorstores/chroma.py solves the issue, but the earlier DB cannot be used or migrated.

I am exactly stuck at this error since 2 hours, removing the above mentioned line is not solving the error. Is there any other possible solution for it ? Thanks @Andrej0909

[logan-markewich]

I get this error with just

import chromadb
chroma_client = chromadb.EphemeralClient()

[Byusa]

I am also stuck with this error:

RuntimeError: Chroma is running in http-only client mode, and can only be run with 'chromadb.api.fastapi.FastAPI' as the chroma_api_impl.             see https://docs.trychroma.com/usage-guide?lang=py#using-the-python-http-only-client for more information.

I am using:

import chromadb
chroma_client = chromadb.HttpClient(host='localhost', port=8000) 

And the code works well on my macbook but not on my windows or linux. Any help is appreciated.

[sarthak7399]

Hi,
I also tried various solutions for the same issue with ChromaDB from the internet while integrating the embeddings, but I couldn't succeed until I used an older version of ChromaDB.
Try using:
name = "chromadb"
version = "0.4.15"

[dbardi]

I am getting this error when running chroma:

chroma run --path /mydata

Error:
RuntimeError: Chroma is running in http-only client mode, and can only be run with 'chromadb.api.fastapi.FastAPI' as the chroma_api_impl.
see https://docs.trychroma.com/usage-guide?lang=py#using-the-python-http-only-client for more information.

Error is thrown here: [main.py, lines 259 - 264]:

# The thin client is a system with only the API component
if settings["chroma_api_impl"] != "chromadb.api.fastapi.FastAPI":
raise RuntimeError(
"Chroma is running in http-only client mode, and can only be run with 'chromadb.api.fastapi.FastAPI' as the chroma_api_impl. \
see https://docs.trychroma.com/usage-guide?lang=py#using-the-python-http-only-client for more information."
)

Update this [main.py line 89]
chroma_api_impl: str = "chromadb.api.segment.SegmentAPI"
to
chroma_api_impl: str = "chromadb.api.fastapi.FastAPI"

[Byusa]

You don't have both installed chromadb and chromadb-client. If so uninstall one and keep the other one.

[dbardi]

I fixed.. I removed chroma, chroma-hnswlib and chroma-client.
I reinstalled just chroma and chroma-hnswlib (no need for chroma-client) and problem solved.

The code change I recommended above is incorrect; you can pass the chroma_api_impl value in the settings.

from chromadb import HttpClient
from chromadb.config import Settings
settings = Settings(chroma_api_impl="chromadb.api.fastapi.FastAPI")
client = HttpClient(host=host, port=port, settings=settings)

[raghuveerawankar]

I faced the same error.
Let me explain my scenario.
I am using Jupyter Notebook using Anaconda Navigator.
I used
chroma_client = chromadb.HttpClient(host='localhost', port=8000)

and then I run command
chroma run --path /mydata

and it wasn't accepting any other clients as the http-only mode got on.

Then I run following commands in terminal of Jupyter

1. python -m pip uninstall chromadb
2. python -m pip uninstall chromadb-client

Then I restart my PC and environment
Then I verified whether all chromadb files are removed or not by importing them in my code

Then I reinstalled chromadb and then the error got fixed

Steps: -

1. Uninstall chromadb and chromadb-client
2. Restart device
3. Reinstall chromadb

Special thanks to Mr.taz from Chromadb Discord Community for suggestion.
Join Chromadb Discord Community : - https://discord.com/invite/MMeYNTmh3x

[felix-dksh]

+1. Solved for the codes executed in notebook.

[Himanshu507]

+2 It really works man, Thank you.

[michaeleng7]

It's working, I can't believe it, thank you very much!

[RAW-si18]

Thank you bro... Yup this is working... I wasted my 3-4 hours

[Kamal02D]

in my case the issue was that i'm using a proxy , the issue was resolved after i disabled it

[raghuveerawankar]

That's great
Good to know your problem is solved.

[manjory]

I faced the same error.. the issue with mine was I was doing it as pip install whereas it needed pip3... and then it kept saying:
RuntimeError: Chroma is running in http-only client mode, and can only be run with 'chromadb.api.fastapi.FastAPI' as the chroma_api_impl. See https://docs.trychroma.com/usage-guide?lang=py#using-the-python-http-only-client for more information.
chroma_api_impl bugged me for a day, finally realized the correct command in the current version only supports --path so the final command that worked was:

chroma run --host localhost --port 8000 --path chromadb.api.fastapi.FastAPI --path .../db_path

compared to the suggestion I found at many places which was
chroma run --host localhost --port 8000 --chroma_api_impl chromadb.api.fastapi.FastAPI --path .../db_path (this was wrong)

[raghuveerawankar]

Thank you for finding out new way
please post it on DIscord community and share the same there as well
ChromaDB Discord : https://discord.com/invite/MMeYNTmh3x

[yahyaghani]

it seems to be a conflict between chromadb, chroma-client and chroma-hnswlib; uninstall all and install either the client or chromadb depending on your usecase. Can confirm This fixes the issue.

[davidtbo]

This is not the fix for me. I only have chromadb and chroma-hnswlib installed. The latter was installed by the former. My requirements only lists chromadb. Still searching...