# Migrate to dedicated read nodes

## From a pod-based index

You can't migrate a pod-based index directly to dedicated read nodes. First complete [Migrate a pod-based index to serverless](/guides/using-pods-migrate-a-pod-based-index-to-serverless), which creates a new on-demand index with your data.

If that index has multiple namespaces, consolidate to one namespace, or plan a different architecture. Dedicated read nodes support only a [single namespace](/guides/index-data-dedicated-read-nodes-overview#namespace-limits).

## From an on-demand (serverless) index

To migrate an existing on-demand index to dedicated read nodes (including one you created by [migrating from pods](#from-a-pod-based-index)), follow these steps:

:::::steps
:::step{title="Create a backup of your index"}
Before migrating, [back up your index](/guides/manage-data-back-up-an-index) so you can return to on-demand later, either by [converting back](/guides/index-data-dedicated-read-nodes-manage#convert-to-on-demand) or by restoring the backup to a new on-demand index.
:::

::::step{title="Delete extra namespaces"}
If your index has multiple namespaces, [delete](/guides/database-2026-07-data-plane-deletenamespace) all of them except the one you want to keep. Dedicated read nodes support only a [single namespace](/guides/index-data-dedicated-read-nodes-overview#namespace-limits).

:::callout{intent="warning"}
If this is a production index, be sure to make a [backup](/guides/manage-data-back-up-an-index) before deleting namespaces. Or, if you need multiple namespaces, [contact support](https://app.pinecone.io/organizations/-/settings/support/ticket) to discuss early access to multi-namespace support for dedicated read nodes.
:::
::::

:::step{title="Calculate your index size"}
Determine how many [shards](/guides/index-data-dedicated-read-nodes-size-and-test#number-of-shards) you need by [sizing your index](/guides/index-data-dedicated-read-nodes-size-and-test#index-size).
:::

::::step{title="Migrate the index"}
Call [Configure an index](/guides/database-2025-10-control-plane-configure-index). In the request body, in the `spec.serverless.read_capacity` object, set the following fields:

| Field                       | Value                                                                                                 | Notes                                                                                              |
| :-------------------------- | :---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `mode`                      | `Dedicated`                                                                                           |                                                                                                    |
| `dedicated.node_type`       | `b1` or `t1`                                                                                          | See [node types](/guides/index-data-dedicated-read-nodes-concepts#node-types)                      |
| `dedicated.scaling`         | `Manual`                                                                                              | The only supported value                                                                           |
| `dedicated.manual.shards`   | Number of [shards](/guides/index-data-dedicated-read-nodes-size-and-test#number-of-shards) needed     | Minimum 1 shard; each shard provides 250 GB of storage                                             |
| `dedicated.manual.replicas` | Number of [replicas](/guides/index-data-dedicated-read-nodes-size-and-test#number-of-replicas) needed | Minimum 0 (this [pauses](/guides/index-data-dedicated-read-nodes-manage#pause-an-index) the index) |

This example migrates an index to dedicated read nodes using `b1` nodes, one shard, and one replica:

:::code-group
```bash Request expandable theme={null}
PINECONE_API_KEY="YOUR_API_KEY"
INDEX_NAME="YOUR_INDEX_NAME"

curl -X PATCH "https://api.pinecone.io/indexes/$INDEX_NAME" \
     -H "Accept: application/json" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -H "Api-Key: $PINECONE_API_KEY" \
     -H "X-Pinecone-Api-Version: 2025-10" \
     -d '{
           "spec": {
             "serverless": {
               "read_capacity": {
                 "mode": "Dedicated",
                 "dedicated": {
                   "node_type": "b1",
                   "scaling": "Manual",
                   "manual": {
                     "shards": 1,
                     "replicas": 1
                   }
                 }
               }
             }
           }
         }'
```
:::

:::code-group
```jsonc Response expandable theme={null}
{
  "name": "example-index-to-migrate",
  "vector_type": "dense",
  "metric": "cosine",
  "dimension": 1024,
  "status": {
    "ready": true,
    "state": "Ready"
  },
  "host": "example-index-to-migrate-1c6ab6aa.svc.aped-4627-b74a.pinecone.io",
  "spec": {
    "serverless": {
      "region": "us-east-1",
      "cloud": "aws",
      "read_capacity": {
        "mode": "Dedicated",
        "dedicated": {
          "node_type": "b1",
          "scaling": "Manual",
          "manual": {
            "shards": 1, // <---- desired state
            "replicas": 1
          }
        },
        "status": {
          "state": "Migrating",
          "current_shards": null, //<---- current state
          "current_replicas": null
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "deletion_protection": "disabled",
  "tags": null,
  "embed": {
    "model": "llama-text-embed-v2",
    "field_map": {
      "text": "text"
    },
    "dimension": 1024,
    "metric": "cosine",
    "write_parameters": {
      "dimension": 1024,
      "input_type": "passage",
      "truncate": "END"
    },
    "read_parameters": {
      "dimension": 1024,
      "input_type": "query",
      "truncate": "END"
    },
    "vector_type": "dense"
  }
}
```
:::

The response includes two status fields:

| Field                                            | Description                                                                |
| :----------------------------------------------- | :------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **`status.state`**                               | Overall index status (for example, `Initializing`, `Ready`, `Terminating`) |
| **`spec.serverless.read_capacity.status.state`** | Read capacity status (`Migrating`, `Scaling`, `Ready`, `Error`)            |

:::callout{intent="warning"}
If `status.state` is set to `Error`, the allocated number of shards was insufficient for the size of the index. Try again, adding more shards as needed.
:::
::::

:::step{title="Monitor the migration"}
[Check the status](/guides/index-data-dedicated-read-nodes-manage#check-the-status-of-a-configuration-change) until `spec.serverless.read_capacity.status.state` is `Ready`.
:::

:::step{title="Verify performance"}
Confirm the index meets your latency and throughput targets.
:::
:::::

## Related pages

- [Dedicated read nodes overview](./index-data-dedicated-read-nodes-overview.md)
- [Dedicated read nodes concepts](./index-data-dedicated-read-nodes-concepts.md)
- [Create a dedicated read nodes index](./index-data-dedicated-read-nodes-create.md)
- [Size and test a dedicated read nodes index](./index-data-dedicated-read-nodes-size-and-test.md)
- [Tune queries on dedicated read nodes](./index-data-dedicated-read-nodes-tune-queries.md)
- [Scale a dedicated read nodes index](./index-data-dedicated-read-nodes-scale.md)
- [Manage a dedicated read nodes index](./index-data-dedicated-read-nodes-manage.md)

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