Bring the agent you already use.
Agentic PDF will connect to the AI agent installed on your computer and let it read your document with you. It finds, summarizes and cites pages, and it asks before it changes anything. No API keys, no new subscription, no upload to us.
The conversationThe reader talks to your agent over the open Agent Client Protocol, and shows its plan, steps and answer in a panel beside the page.
The documentThe agent reaches your PDF only through tools the reader provides over MCP, in small and bounded pieces.
Your computerThe tools connect back to the open tab over a local socket. Nothing passes through a server of ours.
From question to cited answer, step by step.
This is the design in issue #18. Details may change as it is built and tested against real agents.
The reader starts your agent
It finds agents installed on your computer and starts the one you pick as a child process, speaking ACP over standard input and output. Claude Code and Codex connect through ACP adapters, and Gemini CLI supports ACP directly.
It hands over the PDF tools
When the session opens, session/new gives the agent the reader's own MCP server. The agent starts it, and it attaches to the exact tab you are reading.
You ask, it reads
Your question goes out with a link to the open file. The agent calls the tools it needs, such as the outline, a search, or the text of a few pages, and each call appears in the panel as it happens.
The answer arrives with pages
The reply streams into the panel. Every page reference is a link that jumps to the page and outlines the passage it came from.
Changes wait for you
Before the agent highlights text or adds a note, the reader asks you: allow once, always allow, or reject. Reading never changes your file.
Precise tools, not a pasted file.
The agent never receives your whole PDF in one go. It asks for exactly what it needs, and long documents are read in bounded pieces so the reader stays fast and its memory stays flat.
document_infoPage count, title, and which pages have no text layer, so nothing is skipped silently.
Readget_outlineThe table of contents, so the agent can plan what to read.
Readget_textText for a range of pages, capped by max_chars with a next_page cursor to continue.
searchEvery match with its page and position on the page.
Readget_selectionWhatever you have selected, so you can ask about exactly that.
Readgoto_pageTakes you to the page being discussed.
NavigatehighlightMarks passages on the page, after you approve.
Asks firstadd_noteAdds a note to a page, after you approve.
Asks firstTool names are proposed and may change. The same tools will also be available to agents you run outside the reader.
Summarize a document in one click.
The first thing the agent panel will do. One button sends a fixed request: summarize, cite pages for every point, and say which pages could not be read.
- Outline firstThe agent reads the page count, the sections, and which pages have text.
- Then the text, in rangesIt reads a few pages at a time with a cursor, whatever the length of the document.
- A summary with pagesKey points, each linked to the page it came from.
- Gaps namedScanned pages without a text layer are listed as not covered, never silently skipped.
Office Lease Agreement
12.1 Either party may terminate this Lease on the third anniversary by giving not less than six months' written notice.
Page 8: scanned, no text layer13. The Rent is reviewed each year in line with the consumer price index, capped at four per cent.
Summary
- Break clauseYear three, six months' notice p. 4
- Rent reviewYearly, capped at 4% p. 4
Pages 8 and 9 are scanned and were not covered.
Illustration, in developmentYour document, your agent, your call.
Stays on your computer
The reader never uploads your PDF. Text leaves your machine only if the agent you chose sends it to its own service, under that agent's terms.
No keys, no lock-in
You use the agent and subscription you already have, and can switch agents whenever you like.
Reading is automatic, writing is not
Highlights and notes always wait for your approval: allow once, always allow, or reject.
Answers you can check
Every point links to its page, so you can verify it in a click instead of trusting it.
What we have not solved yet.
Honest limits, tracked in issue #18.
Scanned pages
Pages without a text layer cannot be read yet. On-device text recognition, Vision on macOS and the built-in recognizer on Windows, is being considered. Until then those pages are reported as not covered.
Very long documents
The tools keep every read small, but how well an agent summarizes hundreds of pages depends on that agent. We will measure it with real agents before making claims.
Which agents, exactly
Claude Code, Codex and Gemini CLI are the first targets. Setup steps differ by agent, and the reader will say clearly when none is installed.