# Show HN: Polyvia – Multimodal document retrieval over 100K+ files

> Source: <https://github.com/polyvia-ai/polyvia>
> Published: 2026-06-18 12:00:07+00:00

We build enterprise agents for large-scale retrieval, research and automation over multimodal docs.

[Docs](https://docs.polyvia.ai) · [Quickstart](https://docs.polyvia.ai/quickstart) · [Python SDK](https://docs.polyvia.ai/products/python-sdk) · [TypeScript SDK](https://docs.polyvia.ai/products/js-sdk) · [Polyvia Platform](https://app.polyvia.ai) · [Homepage](https://polyvia.ai)

We’re releasing Polyvia 1, as two products:

**Polyvia API: Multimodal Document Retrieval API**(for developers of AI agents) - available now.** Polyvia Platform: Research and Automation Agent over 100K+ multimodal docs**(for knowledge workers in enterprises) - coming soon.

We index your unstructured & visual & multimodal docs (PDFs, charts, slides, complex tables, infographics, scans, handwriting, invoices, and more) into multimodal knowledge ontology, with agents running on top for retrieval, research and automation — every answer grounded in a cited source page, in sub-200ms.

**1. Fast over 100K+ multimodal docs.** Agentic, file-by-file search (Claude Code,
Claude Cowork, Codex) works only up to ~100 multimodal files — past that it's too
slow, and at scale you still need **retrieval**. Polyvia does **sub-200ms** search
over 100K+ files, every answer grounded in a cited source page.

**2. End-to-end — no need for extractors or PDF parsers.** When you build
large-scale multimodal RAG over a company's files, the only infra available today
is visual extractors / PDF parsers (Reducto, LlamaIndex). There's no **end-to-end**
infra for large-scale multimodal document retrieval — until Polyvia: **VLM Visual
Extractor → Multimodal Knowledge Ontology (mapping all your company's data and
processes) → Self-Improving Retrieval Agent**.

**3. All unstructured, visual and multimodal data inputs in one API.** Available now: PDFs, charts, infographics, complex multi-page tables, slides, pictures, handwriting, scans, invoices, audio. Coming soon: video, healthcare scans / EHR, chemical & molecular data, CAD & technical drawings, heatmaps.

**Multimodal RAG inside your own agent**— retrieval-as-a-tool over large doc sets.** Data-room / due-diligence search**— query 100+ visual-heavy PDFs jointly (PE, IB, M&A).** Counterparty & credit monitoring**— EBITDA, opex, revenue across hundreds of borrower reports.** Image-based claim processing**— describe claim photos in the context of a policy.** Cross-engagement slide search**— find answers buried in thousands of slides.

```
pip install polyvia        # Python 3.9+
npm  install polyvia       # Node 18+
```

Grab a key in [Polyvia Platform](https://app.polyvia.ai) → **Settings → API**.
Ingest a batch into a **group**, then ask one question across the whole corpus —
answers cite the exact page in each document.

``` python
from polyvia import Polyvia

client = Polyvia(api_key="poly_<key>")  # or set POLYVIA_API_KEY

# Ingest a batch into a group, then ask one question across all of it.
items = client.ingest.batch(
    ["q1.pdf", "q2.pdf", "q3.pdf", "q4.pdf"],
    group="FY24 Earnings",
)
for item in items:
    client.ingest.wait(item.task_id)

print(client.query("How did revenue trend across the four quarters?",
                   group="FY24 Earnings").answer)
js
import { Polyvia } from "polyvia";

const client = new Polyvia({ apiKey: "poly_<key>" });

const items = await client.ingest.batch(
  ["q1.pdf", "q2.pdf", "q3.pdf", "q4.pdf"],
  { group: "FY24 Earnings" },
);
await Promise.all(items.map((i) => client.ingest.wait(i.task_id)));

const answer = await client.query(
  "How did revenue trend across the four quarters?",
  { group: "FY24 Earnings" },
);
console.log(answer.answer);
```

Scope a query three ways: a single `document_id`

(fastest), a `group`

/
`group_ids`

, or the whole workspace (no scope).

Runnable scripts live in [ examples/](/polyvia-ai/polyvia/blob/main/examples). A few highlights:

| Example | What it shows |
|---|---|
`query_scopes.py` |

`groups_and_documents.py`

`batch_group.py`

`async_client.py`

`AsyncPolyvia`

— the same surface, awaitable`agent_tool.py`

`curl.sh`

Querying across scopes, for example:

```
# whole workspace · a group (by name) · one document (fastest) · many groups (by id)
client.query("What risks recur across all reports?")
client.query("How did revenue trend?", group="FY24 Earnings")
client.query("Executive summary?", document_id="doc_<id>")
client.query("Compare the deals.", group_ids=["g_<id>", "g_<id>"])
```

**MCP** — connect Claude Code (or any MCP client) to the hosted Polyvia MCP server
in one line, so your agent can retrieve over your documents as a tool:

```
claude mcp add --transport http polyvia https://app.polyvia.ai/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer poly_<your-key>"
```

**Agent Skills** — install Polyvia skills into Claude Code, Cursor, and other agent
clients:

```
npx skills add polyvia-ai/skills
```

→ [MCP docs](https://docs.polyvia.ai/products/mcp) · [Agent Skills](https://docs.polyvia.ai/products/skills)

| Product | For | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|
Polyvia-1.1 |
Polyvia API — Multimodal Document Retrieval API |
Developers of AI agents | Available now |
Polyvia-1.2 |
Polyvia Platform — Research & Automation Agent over 100K+ multimodal docs |
Knowledge workers in enterprises | Coming soon |
Later |
Polyvia Agents — build your own agent for automating processes on large volumes of multimodal docs |
Builders & Teams | Planned |
Later |
More modalities — video, healthcare scans / EHR, chemical & molecular data, CAD & technical drawings, heatmaps |
Builders & teams | Planned |

We update this as we ship — latest first. Full notes at [docs.polyvia.ai/versions](https://docs.polyvia.ai/versions).

**REST API v1**—`ingest`

,`documents`

,`groups`

,`query`

,`usage`

,`rate-limits`

; async ingestion with task polling and grounded citations.**Python SDK**—`pip install polyvia`

; typed sync**and** async clients, batch ingestion, idempotent groups, structured errors.**TypeScript SDK**—`npm install polyvia`

; fully typed, ESM/CJS, Node 18+.**MCP server**—`claude mcp add --transport http polyvia https://app.polyvia.ai/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer poly_<your-key>"`

.**Agent Skills**—`npx skills add polyvia-ai/skills`

for Claude Code, Cursor, and other agent clients.**Visual Document Modalities**— Visual Document Intelligence + Audio: charts, graphs & plots, infographics, complex multi-page tables, slides & decks, reports & filings, scanned & photographed pages, invoices & forms, handwriting & annotations, diagrams & flowcharts, photos & images, and audio (calls, meetings, recordings).

**Polyvia-1.2 — Polyvia Platform**— Research & Automation Agent over 100K+ multimodal docs, for knowledge workers in enterprises.** More modalities (coming soon)**— healthcare scans / EHR, chemical & molecular data, CAD & technical drawings, video, heatmaps.** Polyvia Agents**— build your own agent for automating processes on large volumes of multimodal documents.

| Install | Source | |
|---|---|---|
| Python | `pip install polyvia` |
|

`npm install polyvia`

[docs.polyvia.ai/products/js-sdk](https://docs.polyvia.ai/products/js-sdk)[docs.polyvia.ai/api-reference](https://docs.polyvia.ai/api-reference/introduction)`app.polyvia.ai/mcp`

[docs.polyvia.ai/products/mcp](https://docs.polyvia.ai/products/mcp)`npx skills add polyvia-ai/skills`

[docs.polyvia.ai/products/skills](https://docs.polyvia.ai/products/skills)Supported inputs: PDFs · Word/PowerPoint/Excel (DOCX/PPTX/XLSX) · Markdown · text · images · audio. Charts, infographics, complex multi-page tables, slides, scans and handwriting are first-class.

Runnable snippets (Python, TypeScript, raw HTTP, MCP, agent-tool) live in
[ examples/](/polyvia-ai/polyvia/blob/main/examples) — see the

[examples guide](/polyvia-ai/polyvia/blob/main/examples/README.md). See also

[·](/polyvia-ai/polyvia/blob/main/CHANGELOG.md)

`CHANGELOG`

[·](/polyvia-ai/polyvia/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md)

`CONTRIBUTING`

[.](/polyvia-ai/polyvia/blob/main/SECURITY.md)

`SECURITY`

New to Polyvia? See what it does at ** polyvia.ai**, or start
free at

**.**

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