chroma-mcp
chroma-mcp is the official MCP server of Chroma, listed under memory & vectors. It reaches chroma. It needs CHROMA_API_KEY and CHROMA_CUSTOM_AUTH_CREDENTIALS to authenticate. Its repository has 601 GitHub stars and is licensed under Apache-2.0; we last read it on 2026-10-22.
This implementation serves as an MCP server providing database capabilities for Chroma.
Install
MCP servers are packaged differently from each other -- some run via npx, some as a Docker image, some as a plain script you clone and run. chroma-mcp’s own README did not state one plainly enough for this page to quote it rather than guess, so it will not guess. The repository below states it.
What it reaches, and what it needs
What it connects to
Unverified means a mention in the server’s own description, not a citation. A wrong claim here costs nothing to correct and nothing to trust yet.
Maintenance
A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server implementation that provides database capabilities for Chroma
What chroma-mcp can do
12 tools documented in its README. An AI client calls these by name.
chroma_list_collections- List all collections with pagination support
chroma_create_collection- Create a new collection with optional HNSW configuration
chroma_peek_collection- View a sample of documents in a collection
chroma_get_collection_info- Get detailed information about a collection
chroma_get_collection_count- Get the number of documents in a collection
chroma_modify_collection- Update a collection's name or metadata
chroma_delete_collection- Delete a collection
chroma_add_documents- Add documents with optional metadata and custom IDs
chroma_query_documents- Query documents using semantic search with advanced filtering
chroma_get_documents- Retrieve documents by IDs or filters with pagination
chroma_update_documents- Update existing documents' content, metadata, or embeddings
chroma_delete_documents- Delete specific documents from a collection
Read from the README; names are kept only if the README contains them.
chroma-mcp compared with similar servers
| Server | Reaches | Needs | Stars | Last update | Licence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| chroma-mcp (this page) | chroma | CHROMA_API_KEY, CHROMA_CUSTOM_AUTH_CREDENTIALS | 601 | 2025-09-17 | Apache-2.0 |
| mcp-server-qdrant | qdrant | QDRANT_API_KEY | 1,553 | 2026-09-04 | Apache-2.0 |
| mcp-knowledge-graph | — | None listed | 886 | 2026-05-29 | MIT |
| caura | — | None listed | 504 | 2026-10-25 | Apache-2.0 |
| MemoryMesh | — | None listed | 354 | 2026-03-01 | MIT |
| neural-memory | — | None listed | 242 | 2026-10-07 | MIT |
Ranked by services in common with chroma-mcp, then by stars. Figures are from each repository when we last read it.
Common questions about chroma-mcp
- What does chroma-mcp do?
- This implementation serves as an MCP server providing database capabilities for Chroma.
- How do I install chroma-mcp?
- Its README did not state an install command plainly enough for us to quote one, so we do not guess. The repository has the instructions: https://github.com/chroma-core/chroma-mcp
- What does chroma-mcp connect to, and what does it need?
- It reaches chroma. The credentials we found in its source are CHROMA_API_KEY and CHROMA_CUSTOM_AUTH_CREDENTIALS.
- Is chroma-mcp official and is it maintained?
- It is named as the official server of Chroma. Its repository has 601 GitHub stars and its state in our directory is stale. Its last commit we recorded was on 2025-09-17.
- What licence does chroma-mcp use?
- The repository declares the Apache-2.0 licence.
More MCP servers for memory & vectors
- mcp-server-qdrant1,553 stars
- mcp-knowledge-graph886 stars
- caura504 stars
- MemoryMesh354 stars
- neural-memory242 stars
- autodev-codebase121 stars