Back up an index

This page describes how to make backup copies of your pod-based indexes using collections.

To learn how to create a pod-based index from a collection, see Create indexes.

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Create a backup using a collection

To create a backup of your pod-based index, use the create_collection operation. A collection is a static copy of your index that only consumes storage.

Example

The following example creates a collection named example-collection from an index named example-index.

from pinecone import Pinecone

pc = Pinecone(api_key='API_KEY')
pc.create_collection("example-collection", "example-index")

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Check the status of a collection

To retrieve the status of the process creating a collection and the size of the collection, use the describe_collection operation. Specify the name of the collection to check. You can only call describe_collection on a collection in the current project.

The describe_collection operation returns an object containing key-value pairs representing the name of the collection, the size in bytes, and the creation status of the collection.

Example

The following example gets the creation status and size of a collection named example-collection.

from pinecone import Pinecone

pc = Pinecone(api_key='API_KEY')
pc.describe_collection("example-collection")

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List your collections

To get a list of the collections in the current project, use the list_collections operation.

Example

The following example gets a list of all collections in the current project.

from pinecone import Pinecone

pc = Pinecone(api_key='API_KEY')
pc.list_collections()

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Delete a collection

You can delete a collection using the Pinecone console or API.

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Console

1. Open the Pinecone console.

2. Select your project.

3. Go to the Collections tab.

4. Click the trash can icon for the collection you want to delete.

   You’ll be prompted to enter the index name as a safeguard.

5. Enter the collection name.

6. Click Delete Collection.

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API

The following example deletes the collection example-collection.

Deleting the collection takes several minutes. During this time, the describe_collection operation returns the status “deleting”.

from pinecone import Pinecone

pc = Pinecone(api_key='API_KEY')
pc.delete_collection("example-collection")