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Universal Documentation MCP Server

by tcsenpai

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Universal Documentation MCP Server

MCP Badge

A high-performance MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that transforms any documentation website into an AI-accessible knowledge base. Originally built for GitBook but works with Vercel docs, Next.js sites, Docusaurus, and many other documentation platforms. Features instant startup, intelligent caching, and automatic domain detection.

✨ Key Features

  • ⚡ Instant Startup - SQLite storage with sub-second server initialization

  • 🔍 Advanced Search - FTS5 full-text search with fuzzy matching and ranking

  • 🧠 Smart Auto-Detection - Automatically detects domain, keywords, and branding

  • 📝 Markdown Perfect - Preserves formatting with syntax-highlighted code blocks

  • 🔄 Background Updates - Non-blocking change detection and cache refresh

  • 🌐 Universal Support - Works with GitBook, Vercel docs, Next.js sites, and many other documentation platforms

  • 📡 Dual Interface - Both MCP tools and REST API endpoints

  • 🚀 Production Ready - Rate limiting, error handling, and robust caching

🚀 Quick Start

💡 Recommended: Use the interactive creator for the best experience!

🎨 Web UI Management Dashboard

# Clone this repo (once) git clone https://github.com/tcsenpai/mcpbook/ cd mcpbook # Build the UI npm run ui:build # Start the web interface npm run ui

The Web UI provides:

  • 🚀 Visual Server Creation - Step-by-step wizard with live URL validation

  • 📊 Server Management - Start/stop/delete servers with real-time status

  • 📋 Claude Desktop Integration - One-click copy config or add via CLI

  • 🖥️ Live Terminal - Real-time feedback and command execution

  • ⚠️ Safety Features - Confirmation dialogs and cancel functionality

One-Command Setup

# Clone this repo (once) git clone https://github.com/tcsenpai/mcpbook/ cd mcpbook # Create MCP server for any documentation site instantly npm exec create-gitbook-mcp

That's it! 🎉 The interactive wizard will:

  • Guide you through setup with smart defaults

  • 🔍 Auto-detect domain/keywords from your documentation site

  • 📦 Install in organized directories (~/.config/mcpbooks/servers/[name])

  • 🌍 Optionally install globally (accessible as your-server-name command)

  • 🤖 Auto-configure Claude Desktop (optional)

  • 🚀 Pre-cache everything for instant server startup

🛠️ Manual Setup (Advanced Users)

  1. Install and Configure

    npm install echo "GITBOOK_URL=https://docs.yoursite.com" > .env
  2. Build with Auto-Detection

    npm run build # Automatically detects and configures your domain
  3. Start Server

    npm start # Instant startup with SQLite cache
  4. Test with MCP Inspector

    npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node dist/index.js

📦 Installation Options

Option 1: Local Development

git clone <repository> cd mcpbook npm install npm run build npm start

Option 2: Global Installation

npm install -g . # Then use the binary name from package.json your-mcp-server-name

Option 3: Claude Desktop Integration

{ "mcpServers": { "gitbook": { "command": "node", "args": ["/absolute/path/to/dist/index.js"], "env": { "GITBOOK_URL": "https://docs.yoursite.com" } } } }

Config file locations:

  • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

  • Windows: %APPDATA%\\Claude\\claude_desktop_config.json

Option 4: StreamableHTTP Transport

npm run start:http # StreamableHTTP on port 3001 node dist/index.js --streamable-http --port=3002 # Custom port

Option 5: REST API Server

npm run start:api # HTTP server on port 3000 PORT=8080 npm run start:api # Custom port

🌐 Platform Compatibility

While originally designed for GitBook, this MCP server has proven compatibility with many documentation platforms:

Guaranteed to Work

  • GitBook (original target platform)

  • Custom GitBook instances

🎯 Successfully Tested

  • Vercel-hosted docs (docs.vercel.com, aptos.dev)

  • Next.js documentation sites

  • Static site generators with consistent navigation

  • Most HTML-based documentation platforms

🔧 How It Works

The scraper intelligently:

  • Discovers navigation through link crawling

  • Extracts content from any HTML structure

  • Adapts to different layouts automatically

  • Handles various authentication and routing patterns

💡 Pro Tip: If a site has consistent navigation and accessible content, our scraper will likely work! The auto-detection feature adapts to different site structures automatically.

⚙️ Configuration

Auto-Detection (Recommended)

GITBOOK_URL=https://docs.yoursite.com AUTO_DETECT_DOMAIN=true AUTO_DETECT_KEYWORDS=true

The server will automatically:

  • Generate domain-specific tool names (stripe_docs_search, api_docs_get_page)

  • Extract relevant keywords from content

  • Create contextual descriptions for better AI integration

Manual Configuration

# Target GitBook (required) GITBOOK_URL=https://docs.yoursite.com # Custom branding (optional) SERVER_NAME=my-api-docs SERVER_DESCRIPTION=API documentation and guides DOMAIN_KEYWORDS=api,rest,graphql,endpoints TOOL_PREFIX=api_ # Performance tuning CACHE_TTL_HOURS=1 MAX_CONCURRENT_REQUESTS=5 SCRAPING_DELAY_MS=100

Configuration Examples

API Documentation:

GITBOOK_URL=https://api-docs.yourservice.com TOOL_PREFIX=api_ DOMAIN_KEYWORDS=api,rest,endpoints,authentication

→ Results in: api_search_content, api_get_page, etc.

Product Documentation:

GITBOOK_URL=https://help.yourproduct.com TOOL_PREFIX=help_ DOMAIN_KEYWORDS=tutorial,guide,troubleshooting

→ Results in: help_search_content, help_get_page, etc.

🛠️ Available Tools

The server exposes 7 MCP tools with automatic prefixing:

Core Tools

Tool

Description

Parameters

{prefix}_search_content

Advanced search with ranking

query

: Search terms

{prefix}_get_page

Get specific page content

path

: Page path (e.g., "/api/auth")

{prefix}_list_sections

Get table of contents

None

{prefix}_get_section_pages

Get all pages in section

section

: Section name

{prefix}_refresh_content

Force cache refresh

None

{prefix}_get_code_blocks

Extract code with syntax highlighting

path

: Page path

{prefix}_get_markdown

Get formatted markdown

path

: Page path

MCP Prompts

  • explain_section - Generate comprehensive tutorials

  • summarize_page - Create concise summaries

  • compare_sections - Compare documentation sections

  • api_reference - Format as API documentation

  • quick_start_guide - Generate quick start guides

🌐 HTTP Interfaces

The server supports both MCP StreamableHTTP and traditional REST API:

StreamableHTTP MCP Protocol:

# Health check curl http://localhost:3001/health # MCP requests (requires MCP client) curl -X POST http://localhost:3001/mcp \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 1, "method": "tools/list"}'

REST API (separate server):

# Search content curl "http://localhost:3000/api/search?q=authentication" # Get specific page curl "http://localhost:3000/api/page/api/authentication" # Get page as markdown curl "http://localhost:3000/api/page/api/authentication/markdown" # Get code blocks curl "http://localhost:3000/api/page/api/authentication/code" # List sections curl "http://localhost:3000/api/sections" # Get section pages curl "http://localhost:3000/api/sections/API/pages" # Server status curl "http://localhost:3000/api/status" # Refresh cache curl -X POST "http://localhost:3000/api/refresh"

🎯 Usage Examples

Auto-Detection Results

  • docs.stripe.comstripe_search_content, stripe_get_page

  • docs.react.devreact_search_content, react_get_page

  • api.yourcompany.comapi_search_content, api_get_page

  • Generic sites → docs_search_content, docs_get_page

MCP Tool Usage

# Search for authentication docs {"tool": "api_search_content", "arguments": {"query": "oauth authentication"}} # Get specific page {"tool": "api_get_page", "arguments": {"path": "/auth/oauth"}} # Get code examples {"tool": "api_get_code_blocks", "arguments": {"path": "/sdk/quickstart"}} # Refresh content {"tool": "api_refresh_content", "arguments": {}}

🏗️ Architecture

  • SQLite Storage - Fast startup with FTS5 full-text search

  • Background Updates - Non-blocking change detection

  • Auto-Detection - Domain and keyword extraction

  • Parallel Scraping - Configurable concurrency

  • Smart Caching - Only updates changed content

Key Components

  • GitBookScraper - Web scraping and content extraction

  • SQLiteStore - High-performance storage with FTS5 search

  • DomainDetector - Automatic domain and keyword detection

  • GitBookMCPServer - MCP server with tool handlers

  • GitBookRestAPI - HTTP endpoints for web integration

🔧 Development

# Development mode with auto-reload npm run dev # Build with auto-detection npm run build # Run manual auto-detection npm run auto-detect # Clean build (no auto-detection) npm run build:clean # Test with MCP Inspector npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node dist/index.js

🌍 Universal GitBook Support

Works with any public GitBook, including:

  • API Documentation - Stripe, Twilio, etc.

  • Framework Docs - React, Vue, Angular

  • Product Guides - Help centers and tutorials

  • Developer Resources - SDKs and references

  • Company Wikis - Internal documentation

⚡ Performance

  • Instant Startup: Sub-second initialization with SQLite cache

  • Background Updates: Non-blocking change detection

  • Smart Indexing: FTS5 full-text search with ranking

  • Efficient Storage: SQLite replaces slow JSON parsing

  • Memory Optimized: On-demand loading instead of full memory cache

🚧 Limitations

  • Public GitBooks Only - Requires publicly accessible sites

  • Static Content - Scrapes published HTML, not API-based

  • Manual Refresh - No real-time updates (use refresh tool)

  • Text-Focused - Extracts text content, not interactive elements

📄 License

MIT


Need help? Check the MCP documentation or open an issue.

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