\u00a75 said embedding_metadata.string_value holds "metadata fields only". False,
measured directly: chroma also stores a copy of the document text there, under
key chroma:document. Confirmed with a disposable sentinel drawer (pi@tor-ms22,
2026-08-30): one row in fts_content AND one row in embedding_metadata for the
same drawer.
This was a real mistake in shipped guidance, not a nitpick: this section's own
scanning advice was written to guard against explaining a zero with a
mechanism nobody verified from source, and the section itself did exactly
that -- I downgraded a census to "a floor" on the strength of a metadata-blind
claim I never checked against chroma's actual storage layout. The practical
scan order is unchanged (fts_content is still the direct target, raw bytes are
still the backstop); only the stated REASON for a metadata zero changes: it
needs a different explanation now (key filter, query shape, escaping), not
"structurally absent".
\u00a76's row-gone/bytes-gone claim is upgraded from asserted to measured, same
sentinel: delete_by_source took both fts_content and embedding_metadata 1->0,
raw bytes stayed 4->4 (freed pages persist until VACUUM). Also records the
method that unblocked the measurement: not a better instrument, a disposable
sentinel drawer instead of risking real fleet data.
No image behaviour changes.
joakimp
c4879a5ec2