Emergency

How to import and use all your files with your AI agents and a RAG

Introduction

It is now possible to integrate almost any type of file—documents, presentations, spreadsheets, images, audio—directly into your AI agents .
By combining tools like Llama Parse and Docling , you can automatically extract data from over 95 different formats and transform it into a structured format usable by your agents.

Llama Parse: speed and simplicity

Llama Parse is a very easy-to-use cloud service with broad compatibility for most file formats.
OCR , native analysis, and AI techniques structured Markdown —ideal for direct integration into a vector database.

  • Quick online setup via llamaindex.ai
  • "Agentic" mode is recommended for complex PDFs
  • 10,000 free credits per month (approximately 1,000 pages)
  • Export to Markdown, JSON, or plain text

Once your files are processed, the content is automatically split into chunks and then converted into vectors.
These vectors can then be integrated into a vector store (such as Supabase, Pinecone, etc.) to allow your agent to understand and retrieve the information.

Docling: open source and hosted on your own

Docling is an open-source alternative developed by IBM.
Unlike Llama Parse, it doesn't rely on any external APIs: all processing takes place on your own server.
This makes it an ideal solution for projects requiring data confidentiality and security .

Advantages of Docling:

  • Compatible with many formats: PDF, DOCX, PPTX, XLSX, etc.
  • No API costs — only server costs
  • Simple web interface via /ui once deployed
  • Rapid deployment on Render, Docker, or a private server

In contrast, Docling requires more resources and is generally slower than Llama Parse.
You can secure your instance with a password and API key via an gateway for production use.

Mistral OCR: a specialized solution for PDFs

If speed is your priority and you only process PDF files , Mistral OCR remains an excellent choice.
Its OCR engine is fast, accurate, and economical.

  • $1 per 1,000 pages (OCR)
  • $3 per 1,000 pages with image annotations
  • Direct extraction in Markdown or JSON

Mistral OCR can also extract images in binary for reuse in a multimodal RAG stream .
Ideal for building agents capable of understanding both text and visuals.

Create a complete RAG pipeline

By combining these tools in a workflow (for example with n8n ), you can automate the ingestion and processing of your files:

  1. Monitor a Google Drive or Supabase folder.
  2. Send each new file to Llama Parse or Docling.
  3. Retrieve the structured Markdown.
  4. Create the embeddings and store them in your vector database.
  5. Query this data via your AI agent.

This allows your agents to analyze hundreds of documents, charts, and images — while remaining consistent and accurate in their responses.

Conclusion

The exploitation of unstructured data (documents, media, notes, etc.) represents immense potential.
Thanks to tools like Llama Parse , Docling , and Mistral OCR , it is now possible to make this information accessible, understandable, and usable by your AI agents.

In short, these technologies transform your scattered files into a living knowledge base —
the heart of the next generation of intelligent agents.

Categories
Recent articles