The Chroma Vector Database Workbench for VS Code

Inspect collections · Browse records · Query embeddings · Debug raw API calls — without leaving your editor.

Overview

Chroma DB is a focused GUI workbench for Chroma and Chroma-compatible APIs. Connect to a local Chroma server or Chroma Cloud, inspect collections, work with records, run vector queries, and debug raw API calls from a VS Code-native Activity Bar panel.

No separate desktop app. No browser tab juggling. Just your editor and your embeddings.

Features

	Capability	Description
🔌	Local & Cloud Connect	Switch between a local endpoint-only flow and Chroma Cloud credentials
🗂️	Collections Browser	List collections, inspect IDs, dimensions, versions, and metadata
🧾	Record Workbench	Get, add, upsert, update, delete, count, and check record status
🔍	Query Console	Run query payloads against selected collections and inspect structured results
🛡️	Admin Toggle	Keep mutating actions gated behind an explicit ON/OFF admin control
🧪	System Checks	Call health, heartbeat, version, and collection count endpoints quickly
🧰	Raw API Panel	Send custom GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE requests
🌉	Extension-Host Bridge	HTTP calls run through the extension host so local endpoints avoid webview CORS issues

Quick Start

Step 1 — Install

Search Chroma DB in the Extensions panel (Ctrl+Shift+X) or run:

ext install harishkaparwan.chroma-db

Step 2 — Start Chroma locally (skip if already running or using Cloud)

docker pull chromadb/chroma:latest
docker run --rm -p 6333:8000 chromadb/chroma:latest

Check the heartbeat:

curl http://localhost:6333/api/v2/heartbeat

Step 3 — Open the Workbench

Click the Chroma DB icon in the Activity Bar, or open the Command Palette and run:

Chroma DB: Open Workbench

Step 4 — Connect

Mode	What to enter
Local	Endpoint only, for example `http://localhost:6333`
Cloud	Cloud endpoint, tenant, database, token header, and API key

Connection Modes

Local

Local mode is intentionally simple: enter only the endpoint.

http://localhost:6333

The workbench uses Chroma's default local tenant/database scope internally, so you can connect quickly without extra fields.

Cloud

Cloud mode exposes the full connection scope:

Field	Purpose
Endpoint	Chroma Cloud API endpoint
Tenant	Cloud tenant ID
Database	Cloud database name
Token header	Header used for the API token
API key	Chroma Cloud API key

Credentials are entered in the workbench UI. Do not hardcode keys in source files.

Workbench Tabs

Tab	Use it for
Overview	Health, heartbeat, version, collection count, and active scope
Collections	View, create, edit, refresh, and delete collections
Records	Run get/add/upsert/update/delete/count/status record operations
Query	Execute vector query payloads against the selected collection
Raw	Send low-level API requests for debugging and exploration

Works With VS Code-Compatible Editors

Editor	Platform	Notes
VS Code	Desktop · Web	Primary supported editor
Cursor	Desktop	VS Code-compatible AI editor
Windsurf	Desktop	VS Code-compatible AI editor
VSCodium	Desktop	Open-source VS Code build
Gitpod	Cloud	Browser-based development environments
GitHub Codespaces	Cloud	GitHub cloud IDE
Eclipse Theia	Cloud · Desktop	Open-source VS Code API-compatible IDE