fix: disable ChromaDB telemetry to suppress posthog spam (#458)

ChromaDB 0.6.3 with recent posthog versions floods stderr with
"Failed to send telemetry event" on every operation. This adds
Settings(anonymized_telemetry=False) via a shared CHROMA_SETTINGS
constant in backends/chroma.py, used by all PersistentClient
construction sites across the codebase.

Closes #458

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: OmkarKirpan

mempalace/backends/chroma.py

@@ -5,9 +5,14 @@
 import sqlite3
 
 import chromadb
+from chromadb.config import Settings
 
 from .base import BaseCollection
 
+#: Shared ChromaDB settings that silence the posthog telemetry spam
+#: (see https://github.com/MemPalace/mempalace/issues/458).
+CHROMA_SETTINGS = Settings(anonymized_telemetry=False)
+
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
@@ -83,7 +88,7 @@ def get_collection(self, palace_path: str, collection_name: str, create: bool =
                 pass
 
         _fix_blob_seq_ids(palace_path)
-        client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path)
+        client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path, settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS)
         if create:
             collection = client.get_or_create_collection(collection_name)
         else:

mempalace/cli.py

@@ -170,6 +170,7 @@ def cmd_repair(args):
     """Rebuild palace vector index from SQLite metadata."""
     import chromadb
     import shutil
+    from .backends.chroma import CHROMA_SETTINGS
     from .migrate import confirm_destructive_action, contains_palace_database
 
     palace_path = os.path.abspath(
@@ -191,7 +192,7 @@ def cmd_repair(args):
 
     # Try to read existing drawers
     try:
-        client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path)
+        client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path, settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS)
         col = client.get_collection("mempalace_drawers")
         total = col.count()
         print(f"  Drawers found: {total}")
@@ -294,6 +295,7 @@ def cmd_mcp(args):
 def cmd_compress(args):
     """Compress drawers in a wing using AAAK Dialect."""
     import chromadb
+    from .backends.chroma import CHROMA_SETTINGS
     from .dialect import Dialect
 
     palace_path = os.path.expanduser(args.palace) if args.palace else MempalaceConfig().palace_path
@@ -314,7 +316,7 @@ def cmd_compress(args):
 
     # Connect to palace
     try:
-        client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path)
+        client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path, settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS)
         col = client.get_collection("mempalace_drawers")
     except Exception:
         print(f"\n  No palace found at {palace_path}")

mempalace/dedup.py

@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 
 import chromadb
 
+from .backends.chroma import CHROMA_SETTINGS
 
 COLLECTION_NAME = "mempalace_drawers"
 # Cosine DISTANCE threshold (not similarity). Lower = stricter.
@@ -130,7 +131,7 @@ def dedup_source_group(col, drawer_ids, threshold=DEFAULT_THRESHOLD, dry_run=Tru
 def show_stats(palace_path=None):
     """Show duplication statistics without making changes."""
     palace_path = palace_path or _get_palace_path()
-    client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path)
+    client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path, settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS)
     col = client.get_collection(COLLECTION_NAME)
 
     groups = get_source_groups(col)
@@ -163,7 +164,7 @@ def dedup_palace(
     print("  MemPalace Deduplicator")
     print(f"{'=' * 55}")
 
-    client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path)
+    client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path, settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS)
     col = client.get_collection(COLLECTION_NAME)
 
     print(f"  Palace: {palace_path}")

mempalace/mcp_server.py

@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 from .config import MempalaceConfig, sanitize_name, sanitize_content
 from .version import __version__
 import chromadb
+from .backends.chroma import CHROMA_SETTINGS
 from .query_sanitizer import sanitize_query
 from .searcher import search_memories
 from .palace_graph import traverse, find_tunnels, graph_stats
@@ -169,7 +170,10 @@ def _get_client():
     mtime_changed = current_mtime != 0.0 and abs(current_mtime - _palace_db_mtime) > 0.01
 
     if _client_cache is None or inode_changed or mtime_changed:
-        _client_cache = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=_config.palace_path)
+        _client_cache = chromadb.PersistentClient(
+            path=_config.palace_path,
+            settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS,
+        )
         _collection_cache = None
         _metadata_cache = None
         _metadata_cache_time = 0

mempalace/migrate.py

@@ -133,6 +133,7 @@ def confirm_destructive_action(
 def migrate(palace_path: str, dry_run: bool = False, confirm: bool = False):
     """Migrate a palace to the currently installed ChromaDB version."""
     import chromadb
+    from .backends.chroma import CHROMA_SETTINGS
 
     palace_path = os.path.abspath(os.path.expanduser(palace_path))
     db_path = os.path.join(palace_path, "chroma.sqlite3")
@@ -155,7 +156,7 @@ def migrate(palace_path: str, dry_run: bool = False, confirm: bool = False):
 
     # Try reading with current chromadb first
     try:
-        client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path)
+        client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path, settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS)
         col = client.get_collection("mempalace_drawers")
         count = col.count()
         print(f"\n  Palace is already readable by chromadb {chromadb.__version__}.")
@@ -206,7 +207,7 @@ def migrate(palace_path: str, dry_run: bool = False, confirm: bool = False):
 
     temp_palace = tempfile.mkdtemp(prefix="mempalace_migrate_")
     print(f"  Creating fresh palace in {temp_palace}...")
-    client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=temp_palace)
+    client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=temp_palace, settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS)
     col = client.get_or_create_collection("mempalace_drawers")
 
     # Re-import in batches

mempalace/repair.py

@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 
 import chromadb
 
+from .backends.chroma import CHROMA_SETTINGS
 
 COLLECTION_NAME = "mempalace_drawers"
 
@@ -90,7 +91,7 @@ def scan_palace(palace_path=None, only_wing=None):
     print(f"\n  Palace: {palace_path}")
     print("  Loading...")
 
-    client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path)
+    client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path, settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS)
     col = client.get_collection(COLLECTION_NAME)
 
     where = {"wing": only_wing} if only_wing else None
@@ -174,7 +175,7 @@ def prune_corrupt(palace_path=None, confirm=False):
         print("  Re-run with --confirm to actually delete.")
         return
 
-    client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path)
+    client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path, settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS)
     col = client.get_collection(COLLECTION_NAME)
     before = col.count()
     print(f"  Collection size before: {before:,}")
@@ -222,7 +223,7 @@ def rebuild_index(palace_path=None):
     print(f"{'=' * 55}\n")
     print(f"  Palace: {palace_path}")
 
-    client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path)
+    client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path, settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS)
     try:
         col = client.get_collection(COLLECTION_NAME)
         total = col.count()

tests/test_backends.py

@@ -3,7 +3,12 @@
 import chromadb
 import pytest
 
-from mempalace.backends.chroma import ChromaBackend, ChromaCollection, _fix_blob_seq_ids
+from mempalace.backends.chroma import (
+    CHROMA_SETTINGS,
+    ChromaBackend,
+    ChromaCollection,
+    _fix_blob_seq_ids,
+)
 
 
 class _FakeCollection:
@@ -78,7 +83,7 @@ def test_chroma_backend_create_true_creates_directory_and_collection(tmp_path):
     assert palace_path.is_dir()
     assert isinstance(collection, ChromaCollection)
 
-    client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=str(palace_path))
+    client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=str(palace_path), settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS)
     client.get_collection("mempalace_drawers")
 
 

tests/test_mcp_server.py

@@ -27,8 +27,9 @@ def _get_collection(palace_path, create=False):
     when they are done.
     """
     import chromadb
+    from mempalace.backends.chroma import CHROMA_SETTINGS
 
-    client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path)
+    client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path, settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS)
     if create:
         return client, client.get_or_create_collection("mempalace_drawers")
     return client, client.get_collection("mempalace_drawers")
@@ -421,9 +422,9 @@ def test_add_drawer_shared_header_no_collision(self, monkeypatch, config, palace
 
         assert result1["success"] is True
         assert result2["success"] is True
-        assert (
-            result1["drawer_id"] != result2["drawer_id"]
-        ), "Documents with shared header but different content must have distinct drawer IDs"
+        assert result1["drawer_id"] != result2["drawer_id"], (
+            "Documents with shared header but different content must have distinct drawer IDs"
+        )
 
     def test_delete_drawer(self, monkeypatch, config, palace_path, seeded_collection, kg):
         _patch_mcp_server(monkeypatch, config, kg)