# Server Mode

The server provides automatic file monitoring, MCP functionality, and A2A agent support.

## Starting the Server

### MCP Server (Default)

```bash
haiku-rag serve
```

Transport options:
- Default - Streamable HTTP transport
- `--stdio` - Standard input/output transport

### A2A Server

```bash
haiku-rag serve --a2a
```

Options:
- `--a2a-host` - Host to bind to (default: 127.0.0.1)
- `--a2a-port` - Port to bind to (default: 8000)

See [A2A documentation](a2a.md) for details on the conversational agent.

## File Monitoring

Set `MONITOR_DIRECTORIES` environment variable to enable automatic file monitoring:

```bash
export MONITOR_DIRECTORIES="/path/to/documents"
haiku-rag serve
```

### Monitoring Features

- **Startup**: Scans all monitored directories and adds new files
- **File Added/Modified**: Automatically parses and updates documents
- **File Deleted**: Removes corresponding documents from database

### Supported Formats

The server can parse 40+ file formats including:
- PDF documents
- Microsoft Office (DOCX, XLSX, PPTX)
- HTML and Markdown
- Plain text files
- Code files (Python, JavaScript, etc.)
- Images (processed via OCR)
- And more...

URLs are also supported for web content.