chroma-core/chroma · error · Error

Deleting sparse vector index is not currently supported.

Error message

Deleting sparse vector index is not currently supported.

What it means

The sparse-vector twin of the vector-delete restriction: deleting a sparse vector index is not currently supported in any form (globally or per-key). Any deleteIndex call whose config is a SparseVectorIndexConfig throws immediately; the only deletable index in this version is FTS on '#document'.

Source

Thrown at clients/new-js/packages/chromadb/src/schema.ts:625

      );
    }

    // Disallow any key starting with # (except #document which allows FTS deletion)
    if (keyProvided && key && key.startsWith("#") && key !== DOCUMENT_KEY) {
      throw new Error(
        "key cannot begin with '#'. Keys starting with '#' are reserved for system use.",
      );
    }

    // TODO: Consider removing these checks in the future to allow disabling vector and sparse vector indexes
    // Temporarily disallow deleting vector index (both globally and per-key)
    if (config instanceof VectorIndexConfig) {
      throw new Error("Deleting vector index is not currently supported.");
    }

    // Temporarily disallow deleting sparse vector index (both globally and per-key)
    if (config instanceof SparseVectorIndexConfig) {
      throw new Error(
        "Deleting sparse vector index is not currently supported.",
      );
    }

    // FTS deletion is only allowed on #document key
    if (
      config instanceof FtsIndexConfig &&
      (!keyProvided || key !== DOCUMENT_KEY)
    ) {
      throw new Error("Deleting FTS index is only supported on #document key.");
    }

    // TODO: Consider removing this check in the future to allow disabling all indexes for a key
    // Disallow disabling all index types for a key (config=undefined, key="some_key")
    if (keyProvided && !configProvided && key) {
      throw new Error(
        `Cannot disable all index types for key '${key}'. Please specify a specific index configuration.`,
      );

View on GitHub (pinned to aecdd12c8a)

Solutions

Recreate the collection with a schema that omits the sparse index, then re-ingest.
If you only need different parameters, apply a new SparseVectorIndexConfig via createIndex on the same key instead of deleting.
Version-gate teardown logic until the restriction (marked TODO in schema.ts) is lifted.

Example fix

// before
schema.deleteIndex(new SparseVectorIndexConfig(), 'sparse_embedding'); // throws

// after
// no delete API for sparse indexes yet — recreate the collection instead
const freshSchema = new Schema();
await client.createCollection({ name: name + '_v2', schema: freshSchema });

Defensive patterns

Strategy: fallback

Validate before calling

function assertDeletableIndex(config: IndexConfig): void {
  if (config instanceof SparseVectorIndexConfig) {
    throw new Error('Sparse index deletion is unsupported — recreate the collection instead');
  }
}

Type guard

const isDeletableIndex = (config: IndexConfig): boolean =>
  !(config instanceof SparseVectorIndexConfig);

Try / catch

try {
  schema.deleteIndex(config, key);
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof Error && e.message === 'Deleting sparse vector index is not currently supported.') {
    // fall back: create a new collection without the sparse index and re-ingest
  } else {
    throw e;
  }
}

Prevention

Reconfigure sparse indexes via createIndex with a new SparseVectorIndexConfig rather than delete-then-recreate.
Version-gate teardown logic; the TODO in schema.ts indicates deletion support may be added later.

When it happens

Trigger: schema.deleteIndex(new SparseVectorIndexConfig(), 'sparse_embedding'); reconfiguration workflows for hybrid search that delete-then-recreate sparse indexes.

Common situations: Hybrid (dense+sparse) search reconfiguration; teardown scripts written before checking which delete paths are actually supported.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of chroma-core/chroma@aecdd12c8a (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/93fdd88caa6fa05f. Report an issue: GitHub.