Nemo Retriever

NeMo Retriever

Use the retriever CLI. Prefer it over hand-built retrieval code.

Install only when missing

Create a project-local Python environment:

uv venv .venv --python 3.12export PATH="$PWD/.venv/bin:$PATH"

Install the package variant required by the workflow:

# Remote NIM or service clientuv pip install --python .venv/bin/python "nemo-retriever==26.8.1"
# Local GPU ingestionuv pip install --python .venv/bin/python "nemo-retriever[local]==26.8.1"
# Local service using Hugging Face modelsuv pip install --python .venv/bin/python \  "nemo-retriever[service,local]==26.8.1"
# Local audio or video ingestionuv pip install --python .venv/bin/python \  "nemo-retriever[local,multimedia]==26.8.1"

Do not clone NeMo Retriever or install from a Git URL. If retriever is already on PATH, use that installation.

Local workflow

Build a local index:

retriever ingest <file-or-directory> \  --lancedb-uri lancedb --table-name nemo-retriever

Query it:

retriever query "<question>" \  --lancedb-uri lancedb --table-name nemo-retriever \  --top-k 5 --format evidence

Use retriever ingest batch only for an explicitly requested Ray batch run.

Service workflow

Use these forms for an already deployed Retriever service:

retriever ingest service <file-or-directory> \  --service-url "$RETRIEVER_SERVICE_URL"
retriever query service "<question>" \  --service-url "$RETRIEVER_SERVICE_URL" \  --top-k 5 --format evidence

Set NEMO_RETRIEVER_API_TOKEN when the service requires Bearer authentication. Do not pass local LanceDB flags to the service commands.

Rules

• Use the existing index or service when one is provided; do not rebuild it.
• Use retriever ingest --help, retriever query --help, or the relevant batch / service help for options not shown here.
• Answer only from retrieved evidence; preserve source and page metadata when the task requests citations.