Common error messages

For the HTTP status codes the API returns, see Errors.

Index creation errors

Missing spec argument

TypeError: Pinecone.create_index() missing 1 required positional argument: 'spec'

Python SDK versions 3.0.0 to 9.x require a spec argument in create_index(). Pass one to set the index’s cloud and region:

Python

from pinecone import Pinecone, ServerlessSpec

pc = Pinecone(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")

pc.create_index(
    name="docs-example",
    dimension=1536,
    metric="cosine",
    spec=ServerlessSpec(cloud="aws", region="us-east-1"),
)

In Python SDK 10, spec is optional and new indexes default to AWS us-east-1. For current syntax, see Create an index.

Serverless index limit reached

Request failed. You've reached the max serverless indexes allowed in project PROJECT_NAME (LIMIT). Use namespaces to partition your data into logical groups, or upgrade your plan to add more serverless indexes.

The API returns this with status 403 when the project already has as many serverless indexes as your plan allows. For the limit on each plan, see Object limits. To fix it, do one of the following:

Delete indexes you no longer need.
Store data in namespaces within one index instead of creating separate indexes.
Upgrade your plan.

Outdated Python SDK errors

These errors come from code written for Python SDK versions earlier than 3.0.0, or from having the deprecated pinecone-client package installed.

Pinecone has no attribute init

AttributeError: module 'pinecone' has no attribute 'init'

In Python SDK 5.0.0 and later, the message reads:

AttributeError: init is no longer a top-level attribute of the pinecone package.

Please create an instance of the Pinecone class instead.

The code calls pinecone.init(), which was removed in version 3.0.0. Create a client instance instead. It doesn’t take an environment, only an API key:

Python

from pinecone import Pinecone

pc = Pinecone(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")

The same applies to other former top-level functions, such as pinecone.create_index() and pinecone.list_indexes(). Call them on the client instance instead.

Cannot import name Pinecone

ImportError: cannot import name 'Pinecone' from 'pinecone'

The installed SDK is earlier than 3.0.0, or the deprecated pinecone-client package is installed alongside pinecone. The Python SDK package was renamed from pinecone-client to pinecone, and having both installed causes conflicts. Remove the old package and upgrade:

Shell

pip uninstall pinecone-client
pip install --upgrade pinecone

Controller hostname not found

Failed to resolve 'controller.us-west-2.pinecone.io'
controller.us-west-2-aws.pinecone.io not found
Request failed to reach Pinecone while calling https://controller.us-west-2.pinecone.io/actions/whoami

SDK versions earlier than 3.0.0 send requests to environment-specific controller hostnames. Current SDKs use https://api.pinecone.io. Upgrade the SDK, then update your code as described in Pinecone has no attribute init:

Shell

pip install --upgrade pinecone

APIs

Database

Inference

Admin

SDKs

CLI

Tools

Index creation errors

Missing spec argument

Serverless index limit reached

Outdated Python SDK errors

Pinecone has no attribute init

Cannot import name Pinecone

Controller hostname not found

​Index creation errors

​Missing spec argument

​Serverless index limit reached

​Outdated Python SDK errors

​Pinecone has no attribute init

​Cannot import name Pinecone

​Controller hostname not found

Index creation errors

Missing spec argument

Serverless index limit reached

Outdated Python SDK errors

Pinecone has no attribute init

Cannot import name Pinecone

Controller hostname not found