CLI-Anything >-

install
source · Clone the upstream repo
git clone https://github.com/HKUDS/CLI-Anything
Claude Code · Install into ~/.claude/skills/
T=$(mktemp -d) && git clone --depth=1 https://github.com/HKUDS/CLI-Anything "$T" && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r "$T/chromadb/agent-harness/cli_anything/chromadb/skills" ~/.claude/skills/hkuds-cli-anything-90148e && rm -rf "$T"
manifest: chromadb/agent-harness/cli_anything/chromadb/skills/SKILL.md
source content

cli-anything-chromadb

A stateless command-line interface for ChromaDB vector database, built on the HTTP API v2. Designed for AI agents and power users who need to manage collections, documents, and run semantic queries without a browser UI.

Installation

This CLI is installed as part of the cli-anything-chromadb package:

pip install cli-anything-chromadb

Prerequisites:

  • Python 3.10+
  • ChromaDB server running at localhost:8000 (or specify via --host)

Usage

Basic Commands

# Show help
cli-anything-chromadb --help

# Start interactive REPL mode
cli-anything-chromadb

# Check server health
cli-anything-chromadb --json server heartbeat

# List all collections
cli-anything-chromadb --json collection list

# Semantic search
cli-anything-chromadb --json query search --collection hub_knowledge --text "How to deploy"

REPL Mode

When invoked without a subcommand, the CLI enters an interactive REPL session:

cli-anything-chromadb
# Enter commands interactively with tab-completion and history

Command Groups

server

Server health and version commands.

CommandDescription
heartbeat
Check ChromaDB server health
version
Get ChromaDB server version

collection

Manage ChromaDB collections.

CommandDescription
list
List all collections
create --name NAME
Create a new collection
delete --name NAME
Delete a collection
info NAME
Get collection info

document

Manage documents in collections.

CommandDescription
add --collection C --id ID --document TEXT
Add document(s)
get --collection C
Get documents
delete --collection C --id ID
Delete document(s)
count --collection C
Count documents

query

Semantic search against collections.

CommandDescription
search --collection C --text T
Semantic search

Output Formats

All commands support dual output modes:

  • Human-readable (default): Tables, colors, formatted text
  • Machine-readable (
    --json
    flag): Structured JSON for agent consumption
# Human output
cli-anything-chromadb server heartbeat

# JSON output for agents
cli-anything-chromadb --json server heartbeat

For AI Agents

When using this CLI programmatically:

  1. Always use
    --json
    flag
    for parseable output
  2. Check return codes - 0 for success, non-zero for errors
  3. Parse stderr for error messages on failure
  4. Use
    --host
    to connect to non-default ChromaDB instances

Version

1.0.0