Pinecone Assistant Plugin

3.0.3 · active · verified Mon Apr 06

The `pinecone-plugin-assistant` library provides an interface for interacting with Pinecone's Assistant APIs, enabling users to create, manage, and chat with AI assistants. As of Pinecone Python SDK v7.0.0, the functionalities provided by this plugin are bundled directly within the main `pinecone` package. It is currently at version 3.0.3 and is actively maintained as part of the broader Pinecone ecosystem, with its release cadence tied to the main Pinecone SDK releases.

Warnings

breaking As of Pinecone Python SDK v7.0.0, the functionality of `pinecone-plugin-assistant` is bundled directly into the main `pinecone` package. Installing `pinecone-plugin-assistant` separately is no longer required and may be redundant or cause conflicts if using `pinecone` v7.0.0 or newer.
Fix: Only install `pinecone` (`pip install pinecone`). Do not install `pinecone-plugin-assistant` separately unless explicitly targeting older SDK versions. If migrating from older versions, remove `pinecone-plugin-assistant` from your dependencies.
gotcha When using `pinecone-plugin-assistant` (especially when bundled with the main `pinecone` SDK), IDE autocomplete and intellisense tools may have difficulty recognizing the dynamically attached functionality, such as `pc.assistant.<method>`. This can lead to warnings about modules not existing or untyped elements in your IDE.
Fix: Refer to official documentation and examples for correct method signatures. While IDE warnings may appear, the code should execute correctly if the methods are used as documented.
breaking The main `pinecone` SDK (which now bundles assistant functionality) requires Python 3.10 or later. Python 3.9 is no longer supported as of the Pinecone SDK release on November 18, 2025.
Fix: Upgrade your Python environment to 3.10 or newer.
gotcha Version 0.1.2 of `pinecone-plugin-assistant` had a critical bug where the API key was not correctly set on requests, resulting in `UnauthorizedException` (HTTP 401) errors.
Fix: Upgrade to `pinecone-plugin-assistant` version 0.1.3 or higher. If using the bundled functionality, ensure your main `pinecone` SDK is up-to-date.
gotcha Version 2.0.0 of `pinecone-plugin-assistant` had a strict dependency pin on `packaging` (`>=24.2,<25.0`), which could cause dependency resolution conflicts with other libraries (e.g., `xai-sdk`) requiring `packaging >=25.0`.
Fix: If encountering conflicts, try upgrading `pinecone-plugin-assistant` to a newer version (if available) or adjust your project's `packaging` dependency to satisfy all requirements, possibly by using dependency overrides if your package manager supports them. The broader recommendation is to use the bundled functionality in `pinecone` SDK >= 7.0.0.

Install

pip install pinecone Recommended (functionality bundled since pinecone SDK v7.0.0)
pip install pinecone-plugin-assistant For older Pinecone SDK versions (prior to v7.0.0)

Imports

Pinecone
```
from pinecone import Pinecone
```
The Assistant functionalities are accessed via `pc.assistant` after initializing the main Pinecone client.
Message
```
from pinecone_plugins.assistant.models.chat import Message
```
Required for defining chat messages when interacting with the assistant.

Quickstart

This quickstart demonstrates how to initialize the Pinecone client, create a new AI assistant, send a chat message to it, and receive a response. It includes basic error handling and cleanup. Ensure your Pinecone API key is set as an environment variable (`PINECONE_API_KEY`).

import os
from pinecone import Pinecone
from pinecone_plugins.assistant.models.chat import Message

# Ensure PINECONE_API_KEY is set as an environment variable
api_key = os.environ.get('PINECONE_API_KEY', '')
if not api_key:
    raise ValueError("PINECONE_API_KEY environment variable not set.")

pc = Pinecone(api_key=api_key)

assistant_name = "my-test-assistant"

try:
    # Create an assistant
    assistant = pc.assistant.create_assistant(
        assistant_name=assistant_name,
        instructions="Answer questions concisely."
    )
    print(f"Assistant '{assistant.name}' created.")

    # Example chat interaction
    user_message = Message(content="What is the capital of France?")
    response = assistant.chat_completions(messages=[user_message])

    print("Assistant's response:")
    for choice in response.choices:
        print(choice.message.content)

except Exception as e:
    print(f"An error occurred: {e}")
finally:
    # Clean up (optional): delete the assistant
    try:
        pc.assistant.delete_assistant(assistant_name=assistant_name)
        print(f"Assistant '{assistant_name}' deleted.")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Failed to delete assistant: {e}")

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