chroma-core/chroma · error · ChromaNotFoundError

The requested resource could not be found

Error message

The requested resource could not be found

What it means

Thrown by chromaFetch (chroma-fetch.ts:82) as a ChromaNotFoundError when the server returns HTTP 404: the addressed resource (collection, tenant, database, or route) does not exist. Note the library's own getCollection()/deleteCollection() surface this when the named collection is absent, and raw 404s from wrong URLs also map here.

Source

Thrown at clients/new-js/packages/chromadb/src/chroma-fetch.ts:82

    case 400:
      let status = "Bad Request";
      try {
        const responseBody = await response.json();
        status = responseBody.message || status;
      } catch {}
      throw new ChromaClientError(
        `Bad request to ${
          (input as Request).url || "Chroma"
        } with status: ${status}`,
      );
    case 401:
      throw new ChromaUnauthorizedError(`Unauthorized`);
    case 403:
      throw new ChromaForbiddenError(
        `You do not have permission to access the requested resource.`,
      );
    case 404:
      throw new ChromaNotFoundError(
        `The requested resource could not be found`,
      );
    case 409:
      const conflictBody = await getErrorBody(response);
      if (
        conflictBody.error === "ConditionalWriteConflictError" ||
        conflictBody.message === "conditional write conflict"
      ) {
        throw new ChromaConditionalWriteConflictError(
          conflictBody.message || "conditional write conflict",
        );
      }
      throw new ChromaUniqueError(
        conflictBody.message || "The resource already exists",
      );
    case 412:
      const preconditionBody = await getErrorBody(response);
      if (preconditionBody.error === "StaleReadError") {

View on GitHub (pinned to aecdd12c8a)

Solutions

1. List existing collections (await client.listCollections()) and compare names/IDs before operating.
2. If the collection should exist, create it (getOrCreateCollection) or fix the name/ID typo.
3. Verify the tenant/database in the client config actually exist for your key.
4. Align client and server versions if the 404 comes from a missing API route.

Example fix

// before
const col = await client.getCollection({ name: "prod-data" }); // 404 if never created

// after
const col = await client.getOrCreateCollection({ name: "prod-data", embeddingFunction });

const names = new Set((await client.listCollections()).map(c => c.name));
if (!names.has("docs")) {
  await client.createCollection({ name: "docs", embeddingFunction });
}

try {
  return await client.getCollection({ name });
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof ChromaNotFoundError) {
    return await client.createCollection({ name, embeddingFunction }); // or return null
  }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling collection operations on a deleted or never-created collection name/ID; targeting a non-existent tenant or database in the path; hitting an API route that does not exist because the server is older than the client expects.

Common situations: Collections deleted by another process or teammate between list and use; fresh environments where seed collections were never created; typos in collection names; version skew exposing missing routes.

Related errors

• Could not connect to tenant ${tenant}. Are you sure it exist
• Could not connect to database ${database} for tenant ${tenan
• The resource already exists
• Collection {name} does not exist.
• Component not running

AI-assisted analysis of chroma-core/chroma@aecdd12c8a (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/d7f07fd2925e46e0. Report an issue: GitHub.