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

Author: OmkarKirpan

mempalace/backends/chroma.py

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 from typing import Any, Optional
 
 import chromadb
+from chromadb.config import Settings
 
 from .base import (
     BaseBackend,
@@ -20,6 +21,10 @@
     _IncludeSpec,
 )
 
+#: 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__)
 
 
@@ -466,7 +471,7 @@ def _client(self, palace_path: str):
 
         if cached is None or inode_changed or mtime_changed or mtime_appeared:
             _fix_blob_seq_ids(palace_path)
-            cached = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path)
+            cached = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path, settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS)
             self._clients[palace_path] = cached
             # Re-stat after the client constructor runs: chromadb creates
             # chroma.sqlite3 lazily, so the stat captured before the call
@@ -487,7 +492,7 @@ def make_client(palace_path: str):
         :meth:`get_collection` which manages caching internally.
         """
         _fix_blob_seq_ids(palace_path)
-        return chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path)
+        return chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path, settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS)
 
     @staticmethod
     def backend_version() -> str:

mempalace/dedup.py

@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 
 from .backends.chroma import ChromaBackend
 
+from .backends.chroma import CHROMA_SETTINGS
 
 COLLECTION_NAME = "mempalace_drawers"
 # Cosine DISTANCE threshold (not similarity). Lower = stricter.

mempalace/repair.py

@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 
 from .backends.chroma import ChromaBackend
 
+from .backends.chroma import CHROMA_SETTINGS
 
 COLLECTION_NAME = "mempalace_drawers"
 

tests/conftest.py

@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 import chromadb  # noqa: E402
 import pytest  # noqa: E402
 
+from mempalace.backends.chroma import CHROMA_SETTINGS  # noqa: E402
 from mempalace.config import MempalaceConfig  # noqa: E402
 from mempalace.knowledge_graph import KnowledgeGraph  # noqa: E402
 
@@ -100,7 +101,7 @@ def config(tmp_dir, palace_path):
 @pytest.fixture
 def collection(palace_path):
     """A ChromaDB collection pre-seeded in the temp palace."""
-    client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path)
+    client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path, settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS)
     col = client.get_or_create_collection("mempalace_drawers", metadata={"hnsw:space": "cosine"})
     yield col
     client.delete_collection("mempalace_drawers")

tests/test_backends.py

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
     get_backend,
 )
 from mempalace.backends.chroma import (
+    CHROMA_SETTINGS,
     ChromaBackend,
     ChromaCollection,
     _fix_blob_seq_ids,
@@ -257,7 +258,9 @@ def test_chroma_cache_picks_up_db_created_after_first_open(tmp_path):
     # Use a real chromadb call so _fix_blob_seq_ids and PersistentClient succeed.
     import chromadb as _chromadb
 
-    _chromadb.PersistentClient(path=str(palace_path)).get_or_create_collection("seed")
+    _chromadb.PersistentClient(
+        path=str(palace_path), settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS
+    ).get_or_create_collection("seed")
     assert (palace_path / "chroma.sqlite3").is_file()
 
     # Next _client() call must detect the 0 → nonzero transition and rebuild.
@@ -316,7 +319,7 @@ 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")
 
 
@@ -329,7 +332,7 @@ def test_chroma_backend_creates_collection_with_cosine_distance(tmp_path):
         create=True,
     )
 
-    client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=str(palace_path))
+    client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=str(palace_path), settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS)
     col = client.get_collection("mempalace_drawers")
     assert col.metadata.get("hnsw:space") == "cosine"
 

tests/test_convo_miner.py

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 import chromadb
 
+from mempalace.backends.chroma import CHROMA_SETTINGS
 from mempalace.convo_miner import mine_convos
 from mempalace.palace import file_already_mined
 
@@ -19,7 +20,7 @@ def test_convo_mining():
     palace_path = os.path.join(tmpdir, "palace")
     mine_convos(tmpdir, palace_path, wing="test_convos")
 
-    client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path)
+    client = chromadb.PersistentClient(settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS, path=palace_path)
     col = client.get_collection("mempalace_drawers")
     assert col.count() >= 2
 
@@ -46,7 +47,7 @@ def test_mine_convos_does_not_reprocess_short_files(capsys):
 
         # Verify sentinel was written (resolve path -- macOS /var -> /private/var)
         resolved_file = str(Path(tmpdir).resolve() / "tiny.txt")
-        client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path)
+        client = chromadb.PersistentClient(settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS, path=palace_path)
         col = client.get_collection("mempalace_drawers")
         assert file_already_mined(col, resolved_file)
 
@@ -100,7 +101,7 @@ def test_mine_convos_rebuilds_stale_drawers_after_schema_bump(capsys):
         mine_convos(tmpdir, palace_path, wing="test")
         capsys.readouterr()
 
-        client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path)
+        client = chromadb.PersistentClient(settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS, path=palace_path)
         col = client.get_collection("mempalace_drawers")
         resolved = str(Path(tmpdir).resolve() / "chat.txt")
         first_pass = col.get(where={"source_file": resolved})
@@ -144,7 +145,7 @@ def test_mine_convos_rebuilds_stale_drawers_after_schema_bump(capsys):
             "Files skipped (already filed): 0" in out
         ), "stale drawers should force a rebuild, not a skip"
 
-        client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path)
+        client = chromadb.PersistentClient(settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS, path=palace_path)
         col = client.get_collection("mempalace_drawers")
         rebuilt = col.get(where={"source_file": resolved})
         # Orphan is gone

tests/test_mcp_server.py

@@ -28,8 +28,9 @@ 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,
@@ -220,10 +221,11 @@ def test_status_cold_start_no_collection(self, monkeypatch, config, palace_path,
         should return total_drawers: 0, not 'No palace found'.
         """
         import chromadb
+        from mempalace.backends.chroma import CHROMA_SETTINGS
 
         _patch_mcp_server(monkeypatch, config, kg)
         # Create the DB file (init does this) but NOT the collection
-        client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path)
+        client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path, settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS)
         del client
         from mempalace.mcp_server import tool_status
 
@@ -476,9 +478,9 @@ 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)

tests/test_miner.py

@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 import chromadb
 import yaml
 
+from mempalace.backends.chroma import CHROMA_SETTINGS
+
 from mempalace.miner import load_config, mine, scan_project, status
 from mempalace.palace import NORMALIZE_VERSION, file_already_mined
 
@@ -45,7 +47,7 @@ def test_project_mining():
         palace_path = project_root / "palace"
         mine(str(project_root), str(palace_path))
 
-        client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=str(palace_path))
+        client = chromadb.PersistentClient(settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS, path=str(palace_path))
         col = client.get_collection("mempalace_drawers")
         assert col.count() > 0
     finally:
@@ -246,7 +248,7 @@ def test_file_already_mined_check_mtime():
     try:
         palace_path = os.path.join(tmpdir, "palace")
         os.makedirs(palace_path)
-        client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path)
+        client = chromadb.PersistentClient(settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS, path=palace_path)
         col = client.get_or_create_collection(
             "mempalace_drawers", metadata={"hnsw:space": "cosine"}
         )
@@ -386,7 +388,7 @@ def test_file_already_mined_returns_false_for_stale_normalize_version():
     try:
         palace_path = os.path.join(tmpdir, "palace")
         os.makedirs(palace_path)
-        client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=palace_path)
+        client = chromadb.PersistentClient(settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS, path=palace_path)
         col = client.get_or_create_collection("mempalace_drawers")
 
         # Pre-v2 drawer: no normalize_version field at all
@@ -428,7 +430,7 @@ def test_add_drawer_stamps_normalize_version(tmp_path):
 
     palace_path = tmp_path / "palace"
     palace_path.mkdir()
-    client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=str(palace_path))
+    client = chromadb.PersistentClient(settings=CHROMA_SETTINGS, path=str(palace_path))
     col = client.get_or_create_collection("mempalace_drawers")
     try:
         added = add_drawer(