chroma-core/chroma · error · ChromaValueError

Expected 'ids' to be a non-empty list

Error message

Expected 'ids' to be a non-empty list

What it means

ChromaValueError thrown by validateIDs (utils.ts:195) when ids is an array with zero elements. add/update require at least one id, and get/delete with an empty ids list is likewise rejected client-side rather than silently doing nothing.

Source

Thrown at clients/new-js/packages/chromadb/src/utils.ts:196

      );
    }
  });
};

/**
 * Validates an array of IDs for type correctness and uniqueness.
 * @param ids - Array of ID strings to validate
 * @throws ChromaValueError if IDs are not strings, empty, or contain duplicates
 */
export const validateIDs = (ids: string[]) => {
  if (!Array.isArray(ids)) {
    throw new ChromaValueError(
      `Expected 'ids' to be an array, but got ${typeof ids}`,
    );
  }

  if (ids.length === 0) {
    throw new ChromaValueError("Expected 'ids' to be a non-empty list");
  }

  const nonStrings = ids
    .map((id, i) => [id, i] as [any, number])
    .filter(([id, _]) => typeof id !== "string")
    .map(([_, i]) => i);

  if (nonStrings.length > 0) {
    throw new ChromaValueError(
      `Found non-string IDs at ${nonStrings.join(", ")}`,
    );
  }

  const seen = new Set();
  const duplicates = ids.filter((id) => {
    if (seen.has(id)) {
      return id;
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to aecdd12c8a)

Solutions

1. Skip the operation when ids is empty: if (!ids.length) return 0
2. For 'delete everything', call collection.delete({}) or use a where filter rather than an empty ids array
3. Guard chunked ingestion loops against zero-length chunks

Example fix

// before
await collection.delete({ ids: matchedIds }); // matchedIds === []
// after
if (matchedIds.length === 0) return { deleted: 0 };
await collection.delete({ ids: matchedIds });

if (Array.isArray(ids) && ids.length === 0) return { deleted: 0 };

const hasIds = (v) => Array.isArray(v) && v.length > 0;

try { await collection.delete({ ids }); } catch (e) { if (e instanceof ChromaValueError && /'ids' to be a non-empty list/.test(e.message)) return 0; else throw e; }

When it happens

Trigger: collection.add({ ids: [], documents: [] }); collection.delete({ ids: [] }); a deletion routine computing affected ids and finding none.

Common situations: Delete-by-filter flows that resolve zero matching ids; empty batches from upstream; using [] intending 'match all' (use no ids field or a where filter instead).

Related errors

• Non-empty lists are required for ${zeroLength.join(", ")}
• Expected embeddings to be an array with at least one item
• Expected each embedding to be a non-empty array of numbers,
• Expected '${fieldName}' to be a non-empty list
• Expected 'ids' to be an array, but got ${typeof ids}

AI-assisted analysis of chroma-core/chroma@aecdd12c8a (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4c317a91a90f9d96. Report an issue: GitHub.