chroma-core/chroma · error · Error

Cannot disable all indexes. Must specify either config or…

Error message

Cannot disable all indexes. Must specify either config or key.

What it means

deleteIndex mirrors createIndex's argument contract: it needs an IndexConfig, a key, or both, because deleting every index in one call is not supported. Calling deleteIndex() with both arguments absent (undefined/null) throws immediately.

Solutions

1. Delete a specific index: deleteIndex(new FtsIndexConfig(), '#document') for full-text search.
2. For a full reset, recreate the collection with a fresh Schema instead of deleting every index.
3. Guard optional deletes: if (cfg) schema.deleteIndex(cfg, key).

Example fix

// before
schema.deleteIndex();

// after
schema.deleteIndex(new FtsIndexConfig(), '#document'); // delete FTS specifically

function deleteIndexSafe(schema: Schema, config?: IndexConfig | null, key?: string | null): void {
  const hasConfig = config !== undefined && config !== null;
  const hasKey = key !== undefined && key !== null;
  if (!hasConfig && !hasKey) {
    throw new Error('deleteIndex requires a config and/or a key — full teardown is not supported');
  }
  schema.deleteIndex(config ?? undefined, key ?? undefined);
}

const hasDeleteTarget = (config?: IndexConfig | null, key?: string | null): boolean =>
  (config !== undefined && config !== null) ||
  (key !== undefined && key !== null);

try {
  schema.deleteIndex(config, key);
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof Error && e.message === 'Cannot disable all indexes. Must specify either config or key.') {
    // delete indexes individually instead of all at once
  } else {
    throw e;
  }
}

When it happens

Trigger: schema.deleteIndex(); schema.deleteIndex(undefined, undefined); teardown/reset code that calls deleteIndex unconditionally with optional variables.

Common situations: Collection reset or teardown scripts; TypeScript allowing the call because both parameters are optional; copy-pasting a createIndex call and deleting an argument.

Related errors

• Cannot create index on special key
• Cannot create index on special key
• Cannot delete index on special key
• Cannot enable all index types for key
• Cannot enable all index types globally. Must specify either…

AI-assisted analysis of chroma-core/chroma@aecdd12c8a (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b66ac86c8f207120. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at clients/new-js/packages/chromadb/src/schema.ts:589

        `Cannot enable all index types for key '${key}'. Please specify a specific index configuration.`,
      );
    }

    if (configProvided && !keyProvided) {
      this.setIndexInDefaults(config as IndexConfig, true);
    } else if (configProvided && keyProvided && key) {
      this.setIndexForKey(key, config as IndexConfig, true);
    }

    return this;
  }

  deleteIndex(config?: IndexConfig, key?: string): this {
    const configProvided = config !== undefined && config !== null;
    const keyProvided = key !== undefined && key !== null;

    if (!configProvided && !keyProvided) {
      throw new Error(
        "Cannot disable all indexes. Must specify either config or key.",
      );
    }

    // Disallow using special internal key #embedding
    if (keyProvided && key && key === EMBEDDING_KEY) {
      throw new Error("Cannot modify #embedding. Currently not supported");
    }

    // Only allow #document with FtsIndexConfig (to disable FTS)
    if (
      keyProvided &&
      key === DOCUMENT_KEY &&
      !(config instanceof FtsIndexConfig)
    ) {
      throw new Error(
        `Cannot delete index on special key '${key}' with this config. Only FtsIndexConfig is allowed for #document.`,
      );

View on GitHub (pinned to aecdd12c8a)