collection

name	collection
description	Use when the user wants to create, list, describe, drop, rename, load, release, or manage collections and collection aliases in Milvus.

Prerequisites

1. CLI installed, logged in, and cluster context set (see setup skill).

Commands Reference

All collection commands accept an optional --database <db-name> flag to target a non-default database. If omitted, the database from the current context is used.

Collection metrics

Query per-collection metrics against POST /v2/clusters/{clusterId}/metrics/query with collectionName set in the request body. Mirrors the web console's Collection Detail > Metrics page.

zilliz collection metrics --collection-name <collection-name> --metric <metric-name>
# Optional:
#   --cluster-id <cluster-id>         Override cluster context
#   --period <duration>               e.g. 1h, 24h, 7d (mutually exclusive with --start/--end)
#   --start <iso-8601> --end <iso-8601>
#   --granularity <duration> / -g     e.g. 30s, 5m, 1h (auto-selected if omitted)
#   -o table                          Render pivot table instead of the default inline chart

The default output is an inline text chart: one block per metric with a summary line (min / max / avg / last) and a Braille-rendered line chart. Pass an explicit -o table (or --output table) to render the pivot-table layout — useful for terminals without good Braille font support. -o json, -o yaml, -o csv, and --query always bypass both renderers and return the raw response.

Examples:

# Period shorthand: last hour of SEARCH_QPS for a collection
zilliz collection metrics -c my_coll -m SEARCH_QPS --period 1h

# Explicit range with 1h granularity
zilliz collection metrics -c my_coll -m ENTITIES_LOADED \
  --start 2026-04-13T00:00:00Z --end 2026-04-14T00:00:00Z -g 1h

# Multiple metrics in a single call
zilliz collection metrics -c my_coll -m SEARCH_QPS -m SEARCH_LATENCY_P99 --period 6h

Metric scope

Each metric is tagged with a scope. zilliz collection metrics only accepts metrics whose scope is Collection or Both. Using a Cluster-only metric emits:

Metric '<NAME>' is cluster-scope only and cannot be used with --collection-name.

Scope	Metrics
Cluster only (rejected here)	CU_COMPUTATION, CU_CAPACITY, CU_SIZE, REPLICA_COUNT, STORAGE, COLLECTIONS, SLOW_QUERIES, READ_VCU, WRITE_VCU
Collection / Both (allowed)	SEARCH_QPS, QUERY_QPS, INSERT_QPS, UPSERT_QPS, DELETE_QPS, BULK_INSERT_QPS, SEARCH_LATENCY_AVG/P99, QUERY_LATENCY_AVG/P99, INSERT_LATENCY_AVG/P99, UPSERT_LATENCY_AVG/P99, DELETE_LATENCY_AVG/P99, VPS counters, failure-rate counters, ENTITIES, ENTITIES_LOADED, ENTITIES_INDEXED, plus the hybrid-search aliases below

Hybrid-search aliases

CLI name	Backend name
HYBRID_SEARCH_QPS	REQ_HYBRID_SEARCH_COUNT
HYBRID_SEARCH_LATENCY_AVG	REQ_HYBRID_SEARCH_LATENCY_AVG
HYBRID_SEARCH_LATENCY_P99	REQ_HYBRID_SEARCH_LATENCY_P99
HYBRID_SEARCH_FAIL_RATE	REQ_FAIL_RATE_HYBRID_SEARCH

For cluster-wide metrics (CU sizing, storage, serverless VCU, slow queries) use zilliz cluster metrics instead -- see the monitoring skill.

Create a Collection

zilliz collection create --name <collection-name> --dimension <vector-dimension>
# Optional:
#   --metric-type <COSINE|L2|IP>
#   --id-type <Int64|VarChar>
#   --auto-id <true|false>
#   --primary-field <primary-key-field-name>
#   --vector-field <vector-field-name>
#   --database <database-name>
# Or use raw JSON: --body '{"schema": {"fields": [{"fieldName": "id", "dataType": "Int64", "isPrimary": true}, {"fieldName": "vector", "dataType": "FloatVector", "elementTypeParams": {"dim": "768"}}]}}'

List Collections

zilliz collection list
# Optional: --database <database-name>

Describe a Collection

zilliz collection describe --name <collection-name>
# Optional: --database <database-name>

Drop a Collection

zilliz collection drop --name <collection-name-to-drop>
# Optional: --database <database-name>

Rename a Collection

zilliz collection rename --name <current-collection-name> --new-name <new-collection-name>
# Optional: --database <current-database-name>, --new-database <target-database-name>

Load a Collection

zilliz collection load --name <collection-name>
# Optional: --database <database-name>

Release a Collection

zilliz collection release --name <collection-name>
# Optional: --database <database-name>

Get Load State

zilliz collection get-load-state --name <collection-name>
# Optional: --database <database-name>

Get Statistics

zilliz collection get-stats --name <collection-name>
# Optional: --database <database-name>

Check if a Collection Exists

zilliz collection has --name <collection-name>
# Optional: --database <database-name>

Flush a Collection

zilliz collection flush --name <collection-name>
# Optional: --database <database-name>

Compact a Collection

zilliz collection compact --name <collection-name>
# Optional: --database <database-name>

Collection Aliases

Create an Alias

zilliz alias create --collection <target-collection-name> --alias <alias-name>
# Optional: --database <database-name>

List Aliases

zilliz alias list --database <database-name>
# Optional: --collection <filter-by-collection-name>

Describe an Alias

zilliz alias describe --alias <alias-name>
# Optional: --database <database-name>

Alter an Alias

zilliz alias alter --collection <new-target-collection> --alias <alias-name-to-reassign>
# Optional: --database <database-name>

Drop an Alias

zilliz alias drop --alias <alias-name-to-drop>
# Optional: --database <database-name>

Guidance

• When the user wants to create a collection, ask about their use case to recommend appropriate dimension, metric type, and schema.
• Before dropping a collection, always confirm with the user -- this deletes all data.
• A collection must be loaded before it can be searched or queried.
• After creating a collection, suggest loading it if the user plans to query immediately.
• Use describe to inspect schema before performing vector operations.