chroma-core/chroma · error · ChromaValueError

Number of requested results has to positive

Error message

Number of requested results has to positive

What it means

After the type check, validateNResults requires nResults > 0 (utils.ts:759-761); zero and negative values throw 'Number of requested results has to positive' (the typo is verbatim in the source). The check runs only when nResults is provided to query().

Source

Thrown at clients/new-js/packages/chromadb/src/utils.ts:760

      throw new ChromaValueError(`${item} is not allowed for this operation`);
    }
  });
};

/**
 * Validates the number of results parameter for queries.
 * @param nResults - Number of results to validate
 * @throws ChromaValueError if nResults is not a positive number
 */
export const validateNResults = (nResults: number) => {
  if (typeof (nResults as any) !== "number") {
    throw new ChromaValueError(
      `Expected 'nResults' to be a number, but got ${typeof nResults}`,
    );
  }

  if (nResults <= 0) {
    throw new ChromaValueError("Number of requested results has to positive");
  }
};

export const parseConnectionPath = (path: string) => {
  try {
    const url = new URL(path);

    const ssl = url.protocol === "https:";
    const host = url.hostname;
    const port = url.port;

    return {
      ssl,
      host,
      port: Number(port),
    };
  } catch {
    throw new ChromaValueError(`Invalid URL: ${path}`);

View on GitHub (pinned to aecdd12c8a)

Solutions

1. Clamp the value: nResults: Math.max(1, n)
2. Skip issuing the query when the computed count is 0
3. Validate user-supplied limit >= 1 before calling query()

Example fix

// before
await col.query({ queryTexts, nResults: ids.length }); // 0 when empty

// after
await col.query({ queryTexts, nResults: Math.max(1, ids.length) });

const nResults = Math.max(1, Number(rawTopK) || 0);
if (Number.isNaN(nResults) || nResults < 1) {
  throw new RangeError('nResults must be >= 1');
}

const isPositiveNResults = (v: unknown): v is number =>
  typeof v === 'number' && v > 0;

When it happens

Trigger: nResults: 0 — commonly computed as someArray.length when the array is empty; negative values parsed from user input such as ?limit=-5.

Common situations: Deriving topK from a variable-length list (e.g. number of query texts) that can be empty; clamping logic that floors to zero.

Related errors

• Expected 'include' to be a non-empty array
• Expected 'nResults' to be a number, but got ${typeof nResult
• Expected metadata to be non-empty
• Expected metadata list value for key '${key}' to be non-empt
• Expected metadata list value for key '${key}' to contain onl

AI-assisted analysis of chroma-core/chroma@aecdd12c8a (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9cc707bf4af80dcd. Report an issue: GitHub.