---
title: From Chroma
weight: 40
partition: ecosystem
---

# Migrate from Chroma to Qdrant

## What You Need from Chroma

- **Chroma URL** — the HTTP endpoint of your Chroma server
- **Collection name** — the collection to migrate
- **Authentication** — API token or basic auth credentials, if configured

## Concept Mapping

| Chroma | Qdrant | Notes |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Collection | Collection | One-to-one mapping |
| Document | Point | Each document becomes a point |
| Embeddings | Vector | Mapped automatically |
| Metadata | Payload | Direct mapping |
| Documents (text) | Payload field | Stored via `--qdrant.document-field` |

## Run the Migration

```bash
docker run --net=host --rm -it registry.cloud.qdrant.io/library/qdrant-migration chroma \
    --chroma.url 'http://localhost:8000' \
    --chroma.collection 'your-collection' \
    --qdrant.url 'https://your-instance.cloud.qdrant.io:6334' \
    --qdrant.api-key 'your-qdrant-api-key' \
    --qdrant.collection 'your-collection'
```

### With Authentication

```bash
docker run --net=host --rm -it registry.cloud.qdrant.io/library/qdrant-migration chroma \
    --chroma.url 'https://your-chroma-host:8000' \
    --chroma.collection 'your-collection' \
    --chroma.auth-type token \
    --chroma.token 'your-chroma-token' \
    --qdrant.url 'https://your-instance.cloud.qdrant.io:6334' \
    --qdrant.api-key 'your-qdrant-api-key' \
    --qdrant.collection 'your-collection'
```

### All Chroma-Specific Flags

| Flag | Required | Description |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| `--chroma.url` | No | Chroma HTTP endpoint (default: `http://localhost:8000`) |
| `--chroma.collection` | Yes | Collection name to migrate |
| `--chroma.tenant` | No | Chroma tenant |
| `--chroma.database` | No | Chroma database |
| `--chroma.auth-type` | No | `none`, `basic`, or `token` (default: `none`) |
| `--chroma.username` | No | Username (when auth-type is `basic`) |
| `--chroma.password` | No | Password (when auth-type is `basic`) |
| `--chroma.token` | No | Token (when auth-type is `token`) |
| `--chroma.token-header` | No | Custom header name for token auth |

### Qdrant-Side Options

| Flag | Default | Description |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| `--qdrant.document-field` | `document` | Payload field name to store Chroma document text |
| `--qdrant.id-field` | `__id__` | Payload field name for original Chroma IDs |
| `--qdrant.distance-metric` | `euclid` | `cosine`, `dot`, `manhattan`, or `euclid` |

## Gotchas

- **Document text:** Chroma stores raw document text alongside embeddings. Use `--qdrant.document-field` to preserve this text as a payload field in Qdrant.
- **ID mapping:** Chroma uses string IDs. The migration tool maps these to Qdrant point IDs and stores the original Chroma ID in a payload field (default: `__id__`).
- **Distance metric:** Chroma defaults to L2 distance. Verify which metric your collection uses and set `--qdrant.distance-metric` accordingly.

## Next Steps

After migration, verify your data arrived correctly with the [Migration Verification Guide](/documentation/migration-guidance/).