# Zilliz L4 · Runs on its own Zilliz Cloud is a vector database for AI search. **Can an AI agent use Zilliz? Yes, in a browser.** Our agent got into Zilliz on its own in 6 minutes and did all 7 of its core tasks. Category: Vector databases · Connects by: MCP, API, CLI, SDK · Agent payments: None found · Driven: 28 Oct 2026 **How to connect** - Docs page: `https://docs.zilliz.com:443/docs/home` (tested in our drive). Source: https://docs.zilliz.com:443/docs/home **Level 4: Runs on its own.** An agent does the core work and can stop paying on its own. - Got in by: Email and password (6 minutes, in a browser) - Got as far as: Pay: reaches the checkout (Stopped at the $99 a month charge) - To reach L5: Pay without a person. 1 drive, awaiting confirmation [What the levels mean](https://agentdrives.com/method/levels?via=md) ## From finding it to leaving What an agent managed without a person, at each step. 1. **Find**: On its own. Docs it can act on: llms.txt and an MCP server. (357 doc pages read) 2. **Get in**: On its own. Sign-up in a browser. (6 minutes) 3. **Use**: On its own. Did: create and delete clusters; create collections and add or change data. (7 of 7 core tasks) 4. **Pay**: Reaches the checkout. Stopped at the $99 a month charge. 5. **Leave**: On its own. Nothing to cancel, deletes its account. ## Getting in 2 of 8 ways in worked without a person. The way that worked: **Email and password**, 6 minutes. Needs an inbox and a browser. No person needed. - Agent on a server (API, MCP, CLI): No. Stops at sign-up: it works only in a browser. - Assistant in its own browser (Like ChatGPT agent): Partly. Signs up, confirms its email and does all of the core work. Payment: reaches the checkout, stopped at the $99 a month charge. - Signed agent (Known to Cloudflare): Yes. The sign-up page opens. | Way in | What happened | |---|---| | Email and password | Worked | | CLI code login | Worked | | Runs locally, no account | Not tried: The same as another way | | Email and code | Not tried: The same as another way | | Continue with GitHub | Not tried: Not part of this drive | | Continue with Google | Not tried: Not part of this drive | | Added by an admin | Not tried: Not part of this drive | | A key from a person | Not tried: Needs a person's account | - Crawlers: **robots.txt asks crawlers to stay off sign-up and the API.** Nothing to fix. It keeps these pages out of search and doesn't stop agents signing up. - Bot check: **Google reCAPTCHA (invisible, 'This site is protected by reCAPTCHA') let our agent through at sign up.** Our agent signs every request (Web Bot Auth). ## What an agent can do with Zilliz All 7 core tasks done, and 16 of 18 others. - Reliability: core tasks that worked on all 3 runs: 96 of 100 - Handles mistakes: clear errors, retries without duplicates, honest limits: 54 of 100 - Surface tested: documented routes, tools and commands run and checked: 60 of 100 - Docs accuracy: documented operations that behaved as the docs say: 73 of 100 - Docs completeness: how fully the docs describe each operation: 93 of 100 Core tasks: | Task | Result | Done through | |---|---|---| | Create a database and collection with a schema | Done | API, MCP, CLI | | Insert or upsert vector entities into a collection | Done | API, MCP | | Run a vector similarity search | Done | API, MCP, CLI | | Run a full-text or keyword search over a collection | Done | API | | Run a hybrid (dense+sparse) search with reranking | Done | API, MCP | | Query records with scalar metadata filters | Done | API, MCP | | Create and manage a dedicated or serverless cluster | Done | API, MCP, CLI | 16 of 18 other tasks done: - Delete entities by ID or filter: Done - Manage partitions within a collection: Done - Manage collection aliases: Done - Build or configure an index on a field: Done - Import bulk data files into a collection: Done - Suspend or resume a cluster: Done - Query cluster performance metrics: Done - Create a database user and assign a cluster role: Done - Create a custom cluster role and grant privileges: Done - Group search results by a field: Done - Set a collection's consistency level: Done - Invite an organization or project member: Done - Create a personal or cluster API key: Done - Read the audit log: Done - Set up a private endpoint or VPC peering: Done - Estimate cost with the pricing calculator: Done - Schedule automatic recurring backups: Partly - Back up a cluster or selected collections: Paid plan - Restore a cluster or collections from backup: Paid plan. These need a payment method on the account. - Deploy via Bring Your Own Cloud (BYOC): Paid plan - Run on-demand search/index jobs over external data: Paid plan. These need a payment method on the account. - Provision users via SCIM group sync: Paid plan - Configure SAML SSO for the organization: Paid plan. Only the console offers it. - Run migration from another vector database into Zilliz Cloud: Blocked The plans they need: - Restore from backup: payment method on file - BYOC: sales - On-demand search over external data: payment method on file - SCIM group sync: Enterprise + an identity provider - SAML SSO: Enterprise Paid-plan tasks don't count toward the level. The drive used the no-card trial (30 days, $100 credits, plus the free cluster). What it can't do, and why: - Create an API key without a browser: The documented key endpoints answer 404; keys come from the console or a browser-confirmed login. - Back up, restore or use on-demand compute: These need a payment method on the account. - Pay without a card: No agent payment option; only a card form in the console. - Delete the organization by API: Only the console offers it. **Surface audit:** 390 documented operations, 293 run, 227 passed, 79 not as documented, 84 blocked (sandbox or plan limits), 13 left out to stay safe. ## How an agent connects MCP, API, CLI, SDK and llms.txt found. Agent surfaces: API tested · MCP tested · CLI tested · SDK tested · Docs tested · Agent payments none found. Issues found: 84. - **MCP server**: All tested. Official server. 16 tools, self-run only. (16 tools across its docs) - **API**: 167 tested. REST, 229 reference pages (V2 plus deprecated V1); errors come back as HTTP 200 with a code in the body. (227 operations across its docs) - **OpenAPI**: None found. no OpenAPI file published; each reference page embeds a per-operation spec. - **CLI**: 97 tested. zilliz 1.5.1, device-code login, --output json. (133 commands across its docs) - **SDK**: All tested. pymilvus 3.0.2 (also Go, Java, Node.js, C++) (9 methods across its docs) - **llms.txt**: Yes. https://zilliz.com/llms.txt - **Agent payments**: None found. The checkout: Reached the card form and stopped: Standard / Enterprise pay-as-you-go (Dedicated from $99/mont, $99 a call; Checkout: a Stripe card form; An invisible bot check loaded at checkout. - **Docs**: Some gaps. Covers getting started, auth and code examples. Errors only mentioned in passing. 14 of 14 documented ways to do the core work worked when tried. https://docs.zilliz.com:443/docs/home (357 of 31,632 pages read) [The standards](https://agentdrives.com/standard) ## Tips for agent builders - Read the personal API key once in Console > API Keys (or run 'zilliz login --no-browser' and confirm the device code); everything after that works over REST with 'Authorization: Bearer '. - Check the JSON 'code' field: the API answers HTTP 200 with a non-zero code on most errors. - Free clusters only exist in regions that list 'free' in GET /v2/regions (gcp-us-west1); add that region to the project with POST /v2/projects/{id}/regions first. - Collection DDL on the free cluster can take 30 s or more and return 408/503 while it succeeds: read back with collections/has before retrying. - Insert does not dedupe primary keys; use upsert for safe retries. - For the official MCP server, install zilliz-mcp-server with 'mcp<2' pinned. - Use 'zilliz volume upload --policy overwrite' to stage files for import into a managed volume. ## How Zilliz compares In Vector databases: 1st of 3 Vector databases products our agent got into on its own. - [LanceDB](https://agentdrives.com/tools/lancedb.md?via=md): L4, Gets in on its own - **Zilliz** (this page): L4, Gets in on its own - [Weaviate](https://agentdrives.com/tools/weaviate.md?via=md): L4, Gets in on its own - [Chroma](https://agentdrives.com/tools/trychroma.md?via=md): L1, Can't sign up on its own - [Pinecone](https://agentdrives.com/tools/pinecone.md?via=md): L1, Can't sign up on its own - [turbopuffer](https://agentdrives.com/tools/turbopuffer.md?via=md): L1, Can't get an API key on its own [All 6 in Vector databases](https://agentdrives.com/categories/vector-databases?via=md) Sorted by level, then work done, then time to the first call. [How we rank](https://agentdrives.com/method?via=md#order) On our standard (22 criteria: against other vector databases products where we measured 5 or more, otherwise against every product we measured): - [Export before leaving](https://agentdrives.com/standard#leave-03): **The best result** All 5 others (vector databases products) lower. - [Every way in works for an agent](https://agentdrives.com/standard#in-11): **Ahead of most** 4 of 5 others (vector databases products) lower, 1 the same. - [Errors a program can read](https://agentdrives.com/standard#err-02): **Ahead of most** 3 of 5 others (vector databases products) lower, 2 the same. - [Sign-in for agents acting for a person](https://agentdrives.com/standard#in-08): **Level with most** 64 of 119 others (every product) the same, 55 lower. - [Fast to the first call](https://agentdrives.com/standard#in-03): **Level with most** 3 of 5 others (vector databases products) the same, 2 lower. - [A request id on every answer](https://agentdrives.com/standard#err-07): **Level with most** 3 of 5 others (vector databases products) the same, 2 lower. - [Answers sized for an agent](https://agentdrives.com/standard#api-04): **Level with most** 3 of 4 others (vector databases products) the same, 1 lower. - [Prices an agent can read](https://agentdrives.com/standard#find-06): **Level with most** 4 of 5 others (vector databases products) the same, 1 lower. - [The best way in is built for agents](https://agentdrives.com/standard#in-12): **Ahead of most** 3 of 5 others (vector databases products) lower, 2 higher. - [Errors say what to do next](https://agentdrives.com/standard#err-03): **Level with most** 4 of 5 others (vector databases products) the same, 1 lower. - [A path written for agents](https://agentdrives.com/standard#docs-10): **Level with most** 3 of 5 others (vector databases products) the same, 1 lower, 1 higher. - [Tool names that sort themselves](https://agentdrives.com/standard#mcp-03): **The same as all** 4 others (vector databases products). - [A tool list that fits](https://agentdrives.com/standard#mcp-11): **The same as all** 4 others (vector databases products). - [Real status codes](https://agentdrives.com/standard#err-01): **The same as all** 5 others (vector databases products). - [Spend an agent can see and cap](https://agentdrives.com/standard#pay-05): **The same as all** 5 others (vector databases products). - [WebMCP tools on the web app](https://agentdrives.com/standard#proto-02): **The same as all** 5 others (vector databases products). - [Pages fit one fetch](https://agentdrives.com/standard#docs-08): **Level with most** 4 of 5 others (vector databases products) the same, 1 higher. - [Descriptions that say when to use the tool](https://agentdrives.com/standard#mcp-04): **Behind most** 3 of 4 others (vector databases products) higher, 1 the same. - [Agents pick the right tool](https://agentdrives.com/standard#mcp-05): **Behind most** 3 of 4 others (vector databases products) higher, 1 the same. - [Typed, tight input schemas](https://agentdrives.com/standard#mcp-06): **Behind most** 3 of 4 others (vector databases products) higher, 1 the same. - [Truthful annotations](https://agentdrives.com/standard#mcp-07): **Behind most** 3 of 4 others (vector databases products) higher, 1 the same. - [Docs an agent can navigate](https://agentdrives.com/standard#docs-11): **Behind most** 4 of 5 others (vector databases products) higher, 1 the same. [How each criterion is graded](https://agentdrives.com/standard) ## For the team behind Zilliz **9 things to fix for agents.** Agent blockers: 2 found · Agent surfaces: 82 issues found. Safety review: 2 issues found. Our agent got through Pay only in part. Prove Zilliz is yours, then see where each issue is, read your safety findings and ask for a free drive after a fix. How to fix each one comes with the Audit. - Find: Clear - Get in: Clear - Use: Clear - Pay: Partly - Leave: Clear [Claim Zilliz, free](https://agentdrives.com/app/products?add=zilliz.com&ref=listing) · [What a drive covers](https://agentdrives.com/method?via=md) ## Where Zilliz fits - Category: [Data and storage](https://agentdrives.com/categories/data?via=md), [Vector databases](https://agentdrives.com/categories/vector-databases?via=md) - Tasks: [Invite a member](https://agentdrives.com/tasks/invite-a-member), [Create an API key](https://agentdrives.com/tasks/create-an-api-key), [Set a member's role or permissions](https://agentdrives.com/tasks/set-a-member-s-role-or-permissions), [Create or update a record](https://agentdrives.com/tasks/create-or-update-a-record), [Import data from a file or another tool](https://agentdrives.com/tasks/import-data-from-a-file-or-another-tool), [Create a database](https://agentdrives.com/tasks/create-a-database) - Vendors: [Google reCAPTCHA](https://agentdrives.com/vendors/recaptcha) (let our agent through) - Standards: [MCP](https://agentdrives.com/standards/mcp) (tools an agent can call), [llms.txt](https://agentdrives.com/standards/llms-txt) (its docs, listed for agents) - Steps: [Find](https://agentdrives.com/access/find), [Get in](https://agentdrives.com/access/get-in), [Use](https://agentdrives.com/access/use), [Pay](https://agentdrives.com/access/pay), [Leave](https://agentdrives.com/access/leave) - Rivals: [LanceDB](https://agentdrives.com/tools/lancedb?via=md) (L4), [Weaviate](https://agentdrives.com/tools/weaviate?via=md) (L4), [Chroma](https://agentdrives.com/tools/trychroma?via=md) (L1) Data: [JSON](https://agentdrives.com/api/tools/zilliz.json?via=md) · [Markdown](https://agentdrives.com/tools/zilliz.md?via=md) · [History](https://agentdrives.com/tools/zilliz/history?via=md) · [Atom](https://agentdrives.com/feeds/tools/zilliz.atom) · [JSON Feed](https://agentdrives.com/feeds/tools/zilliz.json) · licence [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) **Found an error?** [Tell us on this page](https://agentdrives.com/tools/zilliz?via=md#correct) or read [how corrections work](https://agentdrives.com/corrections?via=md).