For guidance and examples, see [Create an index](/guides/index-data-create-an-index).

:::code-group
```python Python
# pip install "pinecone[grpc]"
from pinecone.grpc import PineconeGRPC as Pinecone
from pinecone import ServerlessSpec

pc = Pinecone(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")

pc.create_index(
  name="docs-example1",
  dimension=1536,
  metric="cosine",
  spec=ServerlessSpec(
    cloud="aws",
    region="us-east-1",
  ),
  deletion_protection="disabled"
)
```

```javascript JavaScript
// npm install @pinecone-database/pinecone
import { Pinecone } from '@pinecone-database/pinecone'

const pc = new Pinecone({
  apiKey: 'YOUR_API_KEY'
});

await pc.createIndex({
  name: 'docs-example1',
  dimension: 1536,
  metric: 'cosine',
  spec: {
    serverless: {
      cloud: 'aws',
      region: 'us-east-1'
    }
  },
  deletionProtection: 'disabled',
});
```

```java Java
import io.pinecone.clients.Pinecone;

public class CreateServerlessIndexExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        Pinecone pc = new Pinecone.Builder("YOUR_API_KEY").build();
        pc.createServerlessIndex("docs-example1", "cosine", 1536, "aws", "us-east-1", DeletionProtection.disabled);
    }
}
```

```go Go
package main

import (
    "context"
    "fmt"
    "log"

    "github.com/pinecone-io/go-pinecone/v4/pinecone"
)

func main() {
    ctx := context.Background()

    pc, err := pinecone.NewClient(pinecone.NewClientParams{
        ApiKey: "YOUR_API_KEY",
    })
    if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("Failed to create Client: %v", err)
    }

    deletionProtection := pinecone.DeletionProtectionDisabled

    idx, err := pc.CreateServerlessIndex(ctx, &pinecone.CreateServerlessIndexRequest{
        Name:      "docs-example1",
        Dimension: 1536,
        Metric:    pinecone.Cosine,
        Cloud:     pinecone.Aws,
        Region:    "us-east-1",
        DeletionProtection: &deletionProtection,
    })
  	if err != nil {
        log.Fatalf("Failed to create serverless index: %v", err)
    } else {
        fmt.Printf("Successfully created serverless index: %v", idx.Name)
    }
}
```

```csharp C#
using Pinecone;

var pinecone = new PineconeClient("YOUR_API_KEY");

var createIndexRequest = await pinecone.CreateIndexAsync(new CreateIndexRequest
{
    Name = "docs-example1",
    Dimension = 1536,
    Metric = MetricType.Cosine,
    Spec = new ServerlessIndexSpec
    {
        Serverless = new ServerlessSpec
        {
            Cloud = ServerlessSpecCloud.Aws,
            Region = "us-east-1",
        }
    },
    DeletionProtection = DeletionProtection.Disabled
});
```

```shell curl
PINECONE_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"

# Serverless index
curl -X POST "https://api.pinecone.io/indexes" \
     -H "Accept: application/json" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -H "Api-Key: $PINECONE_API_KEY" \
     -H "X-Pinecone-Api-Version: 2025-04" \
     -d '{
           "name": "docs-example1",
           "vector_type": "dense",
           "dimension": 1536,
           "metric": "cosine",
           "spec": {
               "serverless": {
                   "cloud": "aws",
                   "region": "us-east-1"
               }
           },
           "tags": {
               "example": "tag"
           },
           "deletion_protection": "disabled"
         }'

# BYOC index
curl -X POST"https://api.pinecone.io/indexes" \
     -H "Accept: application/json" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -H "Api-Key: $PINECONE_API_KEY" \
     -H "X-Pinecone-Api-Version: 2025-04" \
     -d '{
           "name": "example-byoc-index",
           "vector_type": "dense",
           "dimension": 1536,
           "metric": "cosine",
           "spec": {
               "byoc": {
                   "environment": "aws-us-east-1-b921"
               }
           },
           "tags": {
               "example": "tag"
           },
           "deletion_protection": "disabled"
         }'
```

```bash CLI
# Target the project where you'd like to create the index.
pc target -o "example-org" -p "example-project"
# Create the index.
pc index create \
  --name "docs-example1" \
  --dimension 1536 \
  --metric "cosine" \
  --cloud "aws" \
  --region "us-east-1" \
  --deletion_protection "disabled" \
  --tags "example=tag,example2=tag2"
```
:::

:::code-group
```shell Response
# Serverless index
{
    "name": "docs-example1",
    "vector_type": "dense",
    "metric": "cosine",
    "dimension": 1536,
    "status": {
        "ready": true,
        "state": "Ready"
    },
    "host": "example-serverless-index-govk0nt.svc.aped-4627-b74a.pinecone.io",
    "spec": {
        "serverless": {
            "region": "us-east-1",
            "cloud": "aws"
        }
    },
    "deletion_protection": "disabled",
    "tags": {
        "example": "tag"
    }
}

# BYOC index
{
    "name": "example-byoc-index",
    "vector_type": "dense",
    "metric": "cosine",
    "dimension": 1536,
    "status": {
        "ready": true,
        "state": "Ready"
    },
    "host": "example-byoc-index-govk0nt.svc.private.aped-4627-b74a.pinecone.io",
    "spec": {
        "byoc": {
            "environment": "aws-us-east-1-b921"
        }
    },
    "deletion_protection": "disabled",
    "tags": {
        "example": "tag"
    }
}
```
:::

`POST /indexes`

#### Authorizations

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `Api-Key` | `string` | - |  |

An API Key is required to call Pinecone APIs. Get yours from the [console](https://app.pinecone.io/).

#### Body

The desired configuration for the index.

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `name` | `string` | - | The name of the index. Resource name must be 1-45 characters long, start and end with an alphanumeric character, and consist only of lower case alphanumeric characters or '-'. Required string length: 1 - 45. Example: example-index |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `dimension?` | `integer` | - | The dimensions of the vectors to be inserted in the index. Required range: 1 <= x <= 20000. Example: 1536 |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `metric?` | `enum<string>` | - | The distance metric to be used for similarity search. You can use 'euclidean', 'cosine', or 'dotproduct'. If the 'vector_type' is 'sparse', the metric must be 'dotproduct'. If the vector_type is dense, the metric defaults to 'cosine'. Available options: cosine, euclidean, dotproduct |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `deletion_protection?` | `enum<string>` | `disabled` | Available options: disabled, enabled |

Whether [deletion protection](/guides/manage-data-manage-indexes#configure-deletion-protection) is enabled/disabled for the index.

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `tags?` | `object` | - | Custom user tags added to an index. Keys must be 80 characters or less. Values must be 120 characters or less. Keys must be alphanumeric, '', or '-'. Values must be alphanumeric, ';', '@', '', '-', '.', '+', or ' '. To unset a key, set the value to be an empty string. |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `spec` | `object` | - |  |

The spec object defines how the index should be deployed. For serverless indexes, you set only the [cloud and region](/guides/index-data-create-an-index#cloud-regions) where the index should be hosted. For pod-based indexes, you set the [environment](/guides/using-pods-understanding-pod-based-indexes#pod-environments) where the index should be hosted, the [pod type and size](/guides/using-pods-understanding-pod-based-indexes#pod-types) to use, and other index characteristics. For [BYOC indexes](/guides/move-to-production-bring-your-own-cloud), you set the environment name provided to you during onboarding.

:::::accordion{title="Show child attributes"}
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `serverless?` | `object` | - | Configuration needed to deploy a serverless index. |

:::accordion{title="Show child attributes"}
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `cloud` | `enum<string>` | - | The public cloud where you would like your index hosted. Available options: gcp, aws, azure. Example: aws |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `region` | `string` | - | The region where you would like your index to be created. Example: us-east-1 |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `source_collection?` | `string` | - | The name of the collection to be used as the source for the index. |
:::

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `pod?` | `object` | - | Configuration needed to deploy a pod-based index. |

::::accordion{title="Show child attributes"}
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `environment` | `string` | - | The environment where the index is hosted. Example: us-east1-gcp |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `replicas?` | `integer` | `1` | The number of replicas. Replicas duplicate your index. They provide higher availability and throughput. Replicas can be scaled up or down as your needs change. Required range: 1 <= x |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `shards?` | `integer` | `1` | The number of shards. Shards split your data across multiple pods so you can fit more data into an index. Required range: 1 <= x |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `pod_type` | `string` | `p1.x1` | The type of pod to use. One of s1, p1, or p2 appended with . and one of x1, x2, x4, or x8. |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `pods?` | `integer` | `1` | The number of pods to be used in the index. This should be equal to shards x replicas.' Required range: 1 <= x. Example: 1 |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `metadata_config?` | `object` | - | Configuration for the behavior of Pinecone's internal metadata index. By default, all metadata is indexed; when metadata_config is present, only specified metadata fields are indexed. These configurations are only valid for use with pod-based indexes. |

:::accordion{title="Show child attributes"}
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `indexed?` | `string[]` | - | By default, all metadata is indexed; to change this behavior, use this property to specify an array of metadata fields that should be indexed. |
:::

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `source_collection?` | `string` | - | The name of the collection to be used as the source for the index. Example: movie-embeddings |
::::

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `byoc?` | `object` | - | Configuration needed to deploy an index in a BYOC environment. |

:::accordion{title="Show child attributes"}
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `environment` | `string` | - | The environment where the index is hosted. Example: aws-us-east-1-b921 |
:::
:::::

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `vector_type?` | `string` | `dense` | The index vector type. You can use 'dense' or 'sparse'. If 'dense', the vector dimension must be specified. If 'sparse', the vector dimension should not be specified. |

#### Response

`201` — The index has been successfully created.

The IndexModel describes the configuration and status of a Pinecone index.

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `name` | `string` | - | The name of the index. Resource name must be 1-45 characters long, start and end with an alphanumeric character, and consist only of lower case alphanumeric characters or '-'. Required string length: 1 - 45. Example: example-index |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `dimension?` | `integer` | - | The dimensions of the vectors to be inserted in the index. Required range: 1 <= x <= 20000. Example: 1536 |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `metric` | `enum<string>` | - | The distance metric to be used for similarity search. You can use 'euclidean', 'cosine', or 'dotproduct'. If the 'vector_type' is 'sparse', the metric must be 'dotproduct'. If the vector_type is dense, the metric defaults to 'cosine'. Available options: cosine, euclidean, dotproduct |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `host` | `string` | - | The URL address where the index is hosted. Example: semantic-search-c01b5b5.svc.us-west1-gcp.pinecone.io |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `private_host?` | `string` | - | The private endpoint URL of an index. Example: semantic-search-c01b5b5.svc.private.us-west1-gcp.pinecone.io |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `deletion_protection?` | `enum<string>` | `disabled` | Available options: disabled, enabled |

Whether [deletion protection](/guides/manage-data-manage-indexes#configure-deletion-protection) is enabled/disabled for the index.

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `tags?` | `object` | - | Custom user tags added to an index. Keys must be 80 characters or less. Values must be 120 characters or less. Keys must be alphanumeric, '', or '-'. Values must be alphanumeric, ';', '@', '', '-', '.', '+', or ' '. To unset a key, set the value to be an empty string. |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `embed?` | `object` | - | The embedding model and document fields mapped to embedding inputs. |

:::accordion{title="Show child attributes"}
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `model` | `string` | - | The name of the embedding model used to create the index. Example: multilingual-e5-large |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `metric?` | `enum<string>` | - | The distance metric to be used for similarity search. You can use 'euclidean', 'cosine', or 'dotproduct'. If not specified, the metric will be defaulted according to the model. Cannot be updated once set. Available options: cosine, euclidean, dotproduct |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `dimension?` | `integer` | - | The dimensions of the vectors to be inserted in the index. Required range: 1 <= x <= 20000. Example: 1536 |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `vector_type?` | `string` | `dense` | The index vector type. You can use 'dense' or 'sparse'. If 'dense', the vector dimension must be specified. If 'sparse', the vector dimension should not be specified. |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `field_map?` | `object` | - | Identifies the name of the text field from your document model that is embedded. |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `read_parameters?` | `object` | - | The read parameters for the embedding model. |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `write_parameters?` | `object` | - | The write parameters for the embedding model. |
:::

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `spec` | `object` | - |  |

:::::accordion{title="Show child attributes"}
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `byoc?` | `object` | - | Configuration needed to deploy an index in a BYOC environment. |

:::accordion{title="Show child attributes"}
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `environment` | `string` | - | The environment where the index is hosted. Example: aws-us-east-1-b921 |
:::

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `pod?` | `object` | - | Configuration needed to deploy a pod-based index. |

::::accordion{title="Show child attributes"}
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `environment` | `string` | - | The environment where the index is hosted. Example: us-east1-gcp |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `replicas?` | `integer` | `1` | The number of replicas. Replicas duplicate your index. They provide higher availability and throughput. Replicas can be scaled up or down as your needs change. Required range: 1 <= x |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `shards?` | `integer` | `1` | The number of shards. Shards split your data across multiple pods so you can fit more data into an index. Required range: 1 <= x |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `pod_type` | `string` | `p1.x1` | The type of pod to use. One of s1, p1, or p2 appended with . and one of x1, x2, x4, or x8. |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `pods?` | `integer` | `1` | The number of pods to be used in the index. This should be equal to shards x replicas.' Required range: 1 <= x. Example: 1 |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `metadata_config?` | `object` | - | Configuration for the behavior of Pinecone's internal metadata index. By default, all metadata is indexed; when metadata_config is present, only specified metadata fields are indexed. These configurations are only valid for use with pod-based indexes. |

:::accordion{title="Show child attributes"}
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `indexed?` | `string[]` | - | By default, all metadata is indexed; to change this behavior, use this property to specify an array of metadata fields that should be indexed. |
:::

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `source_collection?` | `string` | - | The name of the collection to be used as the source for the index. Example: movie-embeddings |
::::

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `serverless?` | `object` | - | Configuration needed to deploy a serverless index. |

:::accordion{title="Show child attributes"}
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `cloud` | `enum<string>` | - | The public cloud where you would like your index hosted. Available options: gcp, aws, azure. Example: aws |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `region` | `string` | - | The region where you would like your index to be created. Example: us-east-1 |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `source_collection?` | `string` | - | The name of the collection to be used as the source for the index. |
:::
:::::

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `status` | `object` | - |  |

:::accordion{title="Show child attributes"}
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `ready` | `boolean` | - |  |

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `state` | `enum<string>` | - | Available options: Initializing, InitializationFailed, ScalingUp, ScalingDown, ScalingUpPodSize, ScalingDownPodSize, Terminating, Ready, Disabled |
:::

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `vector_type` | `string` | `dense` | The index vector type. You can use 'dense' or 'sparse'. If 'dense', the vector dimension must be specified. If 'sparse', the vector dimension should not be specified. |

## Related pages

- [Account management](./account-management-index.md)
- [Admin](./admin-2-index.md)
- [Admin](./admin-index.md)
- [APIs](./apis-index.md)
- [Architecture](./architecture-index.md)
- [Bring Your Own Cloud](./bring-your-own-cloud-index.md)
- [Build an assistant](./build-an-assistant-index.md)
- [Build an integration](./build-an-integration-index.md)
- [Changelog](./changelog-index.md)
- [Changelog](../changelog.md)

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