ssl_verify parameter for IndexAsyncio does not work against Pinecone Local

TL;DR

Pass the host explicitly with an http:// scheme: pc.IndexAsyncio(host="YOUR_HOST", name="test-index"). Pinecone Local does not support TLS/SSL at all, and describe_index returns a scheme-less host that the client assumes is https.

The error

SSL verification failure when connecting to Pinecone Local with pc.IndexAsyncio, even with the ssl_verify parameter set. Passing the host from pc.describe_index(index_name).host breaks.

Fix it

1. Stop using the scheme-less host from describe_index. Success check: you have identified the host string without http://.

2. Pass the host explicitly with the http scheme:

   async with pc.IndexAsyncio(host="YOUR_HOST", name="test-index") as idx:
       ...

   Success check: the connection succeeds with no SSL error (reporter confirmed).

3. Do not try to make TLS work: Pinecone Local cannot serve https. Success check: not applicable; skip TLS entirely for local.

When this applies

• Pinecone Local (YOUR_HOST:5081) with pc.IndexAsyncio.
• SSL verification fails despite ssl_verify being set.

When it does not apply

• Pinecone cloud indexes (serverless/pod); those require https and work normally.
• Certificate errors against non-local hosts; that is a real TLS problem.

Compatibility

• pinecone Python client (any recent version).
• Pinecone Local (Docker) on YOUR_HOST:5081.

Variant phrasings

• Pinecone Local ssl_verify does not work
• IndexAsyncio SSL verification failed YOUR_HOST
• pinecone describe_index host no scheme https assumed

Why it happens

describe_index returns a bare hostname with no URL scheme. The client treats scheme-less hosts as https, but Pinecone Local serves plain http only, so the TLS handshake fails. Passing http:// explicitly bypasses the assumption. A community PR proposed fixing the scheme handling in the client.

Edge cases

• If you front Pinecone Local with your own TLS-terminating proxy, keep https and point at the proxy instead.