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Polyvia AI implements the Model Context Protocol (MCP), enabling seamless integration with AI assistants like Claude Desktop, IDEs, and other MCP-compatible tools.

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What is MCP?

Model Context Protocol is an open standard that allows AI applications to securely access external data sources and tools. Polyvia’s MCP server exposes your knowledge base as a set of tools and resources that AI assistants can use to answer questions with citations.

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Installation

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Prerequisites

  • Node.js 18+ or Python 3.10+
  • Polyvia AI account with API key
  • MCP-compatible client (Claude Desktop, Cline, etc.)

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Setup with Claude Desktop

1

Install the Polyvia MCP Server

Install the MCP server package globally:
npm install -g @polyvia/mcp-server
Or using Python:
pip install polyvia-mcp
2

Configure Claude Desktop

Add Polyvia to your Claude Desktop configuration file:
Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "polyvia": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@polyvia/mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "POLYVIA_API_KEY": "your_api_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}
Never commit your API key to version control. Store it securely in environment variables.
3

Restart Claude Desktop

Close and reopen Claude Desktop to load the MCP server.
You should see Polyvia tools available in Claude’s tool palette.

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Available Tools

The Polyvia MCP server provides the following tools:

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search_documents

Perform semantic search across your knowledge base. Parameters:
  • query (string, required): Search query
  • limit (integer, optional): Maximum results to return (default: 10)
  • filters (object, optional): Filter by document metadata
Example: 
{
  "query": "What are the security features?",
  "limit": 5
}

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get_document

Retrieve a specific document by ID with full content. Parameters:
  • document_id (string, required): Document identifier

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query_knowledge_graph

Query the knowledge graph for entities and relationships. Parameters:
  • query (string, required): Natural language query
  • entity_types (array, optional): Filter by entity types

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Available Resources

MCP resources provide read access to your knowledge base:

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document://[document_id]

Access individual documents as resources. Claude can read these directly without tool calls.

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graph://entities

Browse all entities in your knowledge graph.

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Configuration Options

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Environment Variables

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POLYVIA_API_KEY
string
required
Your Polyvia API key from the dashboard
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POLYVIA_BASE_URL
string
default:"https://api.polyvia.ai"
API base URL (for self-hosted instances)
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POLYVIA_TIMEOUT
integer
default:"30000"
Request timeout in milliseconds

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Usage Examples

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Asking Questions with Citations

Once configured, you can ask Claude questions that leverage your Polyvia knowledge base:
“Using the Polyvia knowledge base, what are our company’s data retention policies?”
Claude will automatically use the search_documents tool to find relevant information and provide cited answers.

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Exploring the Knowledge Graph

“Show me all entities related to ‘customer onboarding’ in our knowledge graph”
Claude will use the query_knowledge_graph tool to traverse relationships and present findings.

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Troubleshooting

  • Verify the configuration file path is correct
  • Check that the API key is valid
  • Restart Claude Desktop completely
  • Check Claude’s logs for error messages
  • Ensure your API key is correctly set in the environment variables
  • Verify the API key has not expired
  • Check that you have an active Polyvia subscription
  • Large knowledge bases may take longer to search
  • Consider using filters to narrow search scope
  • Increase the POLYVIA_TIMEOUT value if needed

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Next Steps

API Reference

Explore the full Polyvia API for custom integrations

Quickstart

Get started with uploading your first documents