How to ask questions across a folder of contracts with an AI agent Leave feedback

Index the contracts folder once with the GroupDocs.Search MCP server, running locally in Docker, and your agent can answer which contracts say X with the clause quoted — PDF, Word and text contracts in the same index, nothing uploaded:

docker run --rm -i -v $(pwd)/documents:/data \
  ghcr.io/groupdocs-search/search-net-mcp:latest

Which of my contracts mention a termination penalty? Quote the clause for each one.

Note

The commands and config snippets on this page are for the .NET build of the server, which ships as a Docker image only. Installation and client setup: MCP server for .NET. Other platforms will expose the same tools with their own launch command; everything else on this page applies unchanged.

• The server registered in your AI client, the contracts folder inside the folder mounted at /data — quick start.

user              agent                         Search MCP server
 |  "Which contracts mention a termination penalty?"           |
 |---------------->|                                           |
 |                 |-- add_to_index ------------------------->|  reads the
 |                 |   {"documentsPath":"contracts",           |  files once,
 |                 |    "indexName":"contracts"}               |  stores text
 |                 |<- "5 document(s) added, 5 in the index" --|
 |                 |-- search ------------------------------->|
 |                 |   {"query":"termination AND penalty"}     |
 |                 |<- {"documentsFound":3, "documents":[ ... |  which files
 |                 |     "contracts/acme-...-agreement.pdf",   |
 |                 |     "contracts/globex-...-agreement.docx",|
 |                 |     "contracts/initech-nda.docx" ]}       |
 |                 |-- get_text_fragments ------------------->|
 |                 |   {"query":"\"termination penalty\""}     |
 |                 |<- === contracts/acme-...-agreement.pdf ===|  the passages
 |                 |   ...a termination penalty of three       |
 |                 |   monthly fees applies...                 |
 |<- "Two contracts carry one: Acme (3 monthly fees, 12.3),    |
 |    Globex (50% of the remaining fees). Initech excludes it."|

Captured from server 26.10.1 against five synthetic contracts — two with a penalty, one that mentions both words but excludes it:

-> search {"query":"termination penalty","indexName":"contracts"}
<- { "documentsFound": 0,
     "hint": "Unquoted words separated by spaces do not match. Search the
              phrase as \"termination penalty\", or combine the words with
              AND / OR, e.g. termination AND penalty." }

-> search {"query":"termination AND penalty","indexName":"contracts"}
<- documentsFound 3: acme-master-services-agreement.pdf,
   globex-consulting-agreement.docx, initech-nda.docx

-> get_text_fragments {"query":"\"termination penalty\"",
                       "indexName":"contracts"}
<- 2 document(s) match.
   === contracts/acme-master-services-agreement.pdf ===
     …a termination penalty of three monthly fees applies, payable
     within 30…
   === contracts/globex-consulting-agreement.docx ===
     …Early termination penalty: the Client pays 50 percent of the fees…

Three things to notice:

• The first query missed — unquoted words do not match — and the hint told the agent how to fix it. Agents usually correct themselves on the next call.
• AND found three files, the phrase found two. AND is evaluated per document: the Initech NDA contains both words in the sentence “There is no fee and no penalty associated with termination”. The fragments call is what tells a match from a mention.
• One index, three formats — PDF, DOCX and TXT answer the same query.

Which contracts have a force majeure clause?

"force majeure" → the Acme agreement only.

Which contracts can the client terminate for convenience, and with how much notice?

terminat? AND notice (the ? matches terminate), then fragments with termsAfter: 20 to read the notice period.

Which leases renew automatically?

renewal OR renews → the Umbrella lease; the passage says “renews automatically for 12 months unless notice is given”.

A list of contract files with the quoted clause under each — and, when you ask for it, the contracts that mention the words without the clause. Answers arrive in seconds after the first indexing.

Is this legal advice? No — it finds and quotes text. The agent’s summary is only as good as the passage it read; check the quote against the contract.

Does it handle 300 contracts? Licensed, yes: index once, and each question is two calls. Evaluation mode stops at 100 documents per index and 10 results per search.

Can I search contract metadata, such as the date signed? Dates written in the text: content: daterange(2026-01-01 ~~ 2026-06-30). File dates: modificationdate: daterange(…).

Agents follow project instructions about when to use a tool. Paste this into the instruction file your agent reads (CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, .github/copilot-instructions.md, .cursorrules):

For questions about contracts in ./documents/contracts, use the groupdocs-search
MCP server: search with quoted phrases, then get_text_fragments to quote the
clause. Report contracts that mention the words without the clause separately.

• Evaluation mode: an index holds at most 100 documents and a search returns at most 10 — the response says so in its evaluation field. Licensing.
• Full-text, not semantic: it matches words, not meaning. Ask the agent to try variants (OR, fuzzy: true).
• No OCR: scans without a text layer are indexed by their file properties only.
• Docker only: there is no dnx channel for this product (why).

• Search documents with AI agents
• Quote matching passages
• Keep an index up to date
• Search documents in a code repository
• Search email archives
• Find documents by date and amount
• On-premise deployment
• Tools reference · Licensing · Troubleshooting & FAQ
• Questions: Search forum

• Why an AI agent should not read 300 contracts to answer one question — the same scenario on the GroupDocs blog, with worked examples and the trade-offs.