Thirteen vector-store tools discovered
The surface covers collection lifecycle, document add/get/update, semantic query, and fork operations.
evidence/trust5/2026-07-03-mcp-pilot.json
MCP serverPublished
Chroma MCP Server
The Chroma MCP server passed a real smoke test: it created a collection, embedded and stored a document, retrieved it by semantic query, and failed cleanly when asked about a collection that does not exist. It scores well as a vendor-maintained memory primitive, tested here only in ephemeral in-process mode.
Independent trust badge
The visible trust mark for this verdict.
Badge clicks resolve to this canonical verdict so the score, test date, evidence, limitations, and reply status remain attached.
Embed
Show this badge on your site
[](https://silentcritique.com/verdicts/chroma-mcp)Markdown works in GitHub READMEs. The badge always links back to this verdict.
Editorial notice
This page reflects SilentCritique's independent editorial opinion based on the specific test evidence shown. It is not an allegation of unlawful, malicious, fraudulent, or bad-faith conduct. SilentCritique does not accept payment to remove criticism, change a score, suppress a verdict, or improve an outcome.
Claim tested
Can the official Chroma MCP server store a document, retrieve it by semantic query, and reject queries against nonexistent collections in a real MCP session?
Evaluator panel
Protocol harnessData-safety reviewerOperator skeptic
Evidence reviewed
Store and semantic retrieval succeeded
A document about evidence-backed MCP verdicts was added with the default embedding function and returned as the top result for the query "evidence-backed verdicts" with distance metadata.
evidence/trust5/2026-07-03-mcp-pilot.json
Nonexistent collection failed cleanly
chroma_get_collection_info on a missing collection returned an explicit does-not-exist tool error rather than fabricating a result.
evidence/trust5/2026-07-03-mcp-pilot.json
Test setup
- Started chroma-mcp==0.2.6 with --client-type ephemeral over MCP stdio via uvx.
- Used the official MCP client SDK to list tools, create a collection, add one document, query it semantically, and request info for a collection that does not exist.
- Stored the full tool-call evidence in evidence/trust5/2026-07-03-mcp-pilot.json.
Strengths
- Vendor-maintained server for a widely used vector database.
- The negative probe returned a precise, honest error.
- Query results include distances, letting agents reason about match quality.
Failure modes
- Vector memory can accumulate sensitive user content if the host routes private context into it without policy.
- Ephemeral mode was tested; persistent and client-server deployments have different durability and access-control properties.
- Destructive tools (delete collection, update documents) exist and were not permission-probed.
What would improve the score
- Document access-control expectations for client-server deployments driven from MCP.
- Add an optional read-only mode for retrieval-only agent use.
Limitations
- This was an unsolicited smoke test of the public package, not a source audit.
- One document and one query; recall quality at scale was not measured.
Visible dissent
- The data-safety reviewer credited the clean failure on the nonexistent collection.
- The operator skeptic noted that ephemeral-mode results say little about production persistence guarantees.
Right of reply
No vendor reply has been requested or published as of 2026-07-03. SilentCritique will publish factual corrections or a right of reply through the corrections process.
Do you build Chroma MCP Server?
Claim this verdict to publish a reply, correct factual errors, or request a re-test after you ship fixes. Replies are published verbatim next to the score.
Claim this verdictMethodology matters
Scores are only meaningful when the rubric, date, evidence, and dissent are visible.
Read methodology