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devdocs-mcp

KnowledgeBase MCP server for Developer Documentation

Installation

Run directly from GitHub with ML dependencies (required for semantic search):

uvx --from "devdocs-mcp[ml] @ git+https://github.com/HellButcher/devdocs-mcp.git" devdocs-mcp

MCP Server Configuration

Add to your MCP client configuration (e.g., Claude Desktop, Cline):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "devdocs": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "--from",
        "devdocs-mcp[ml] @ git+https://github.com/HellButcher/devdocs-mcp.git",
        "devdocs-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Development Setup

Clone and install with ML dependencies:

git clone https://github.com/HellButcher/devdocs-mcp.git
cd devdocs-mcp
uv sync --extra ml
uv run devdocs-mcp

Install with locked dependency versions

uvx/uv tool install resolve dependencies fresh and don't use the repo's uv.lock. If you want the exact, tested dependency versions instead, clone the repo and use the provided install script, which exports uv.lock and installs the tool constrained to it:

git clone https://github.com/HellButcher/devdocs-mcp.git
cd devdocs-mcp
./install.sh            # with ML dependencies (semantic search)
./install.sh --no-ml    # without ML dependencies

# then just call devdocs-mcp to run it
devdocs-mcp

Related MCP server: DevDocs MCP Server

Features

  • Access to 819+ documentation sources from devdocs.io

  • Semantic search with vector embeddings (requires ML dependencies)

  • Custom local documentation sources

  • Efficient caching and incremental updates

  • 10 MCP tools for documentation queries

Configuration

Configuration is stored at XDG paths:

  • Config: ~/.config/devdocs-mcp/config.json

  • Cache: ~/.cache/devdocs-mcp/ (docs + embeddings)

Environment variables:

  • DEVD_EMBEDDING_MODEL - Override the default embedding model

Available Tools

9 tools
add_local_sourceA

Add a local directory as a documentation source.

The directory should contain HTML files that will be indexed for search.

Args: path: Absolute filesystem path to the docs directory slug: Unique identifier for this local source

Inputs: path (required), slug (required). Returns: result

add_web_sourceA

Fetch documentation from a web URL (or re-download existing source).

If url is not provided, re-downloads an existing web source by slug.

By default, only fetches URLs in the same directory or below the initial URL. For example, fetching https://example.com/docs/api/index.html will only fetch files under https://example.com/docs/api/ and not https://example.com/docs/other/.

Only HTML files (.html, .htm, or no extension) are fetched and followed. Non-HTML files (CSS, JS, images, fonts, etc.) are automatically skipped.

Args: slug: Unique identifier for this web source url: Base URL to fetch from (optional for re-download) name: Display name (defaults to slug) max_depth: Recursion depth for crawling (default: 2) pattern: Regex pattern for URLs to fetch (default: .*.html?$) url_prefix: Optional URL prefix to restrict crawling (default: directory of initial URL)

Inputs: slug (required), url, name, pattern, +2 more. Returns: result

doc_infoB

Get detailed information about a specific documentation.

Args: slug: Documentation slug (e.g. 'javascript', 'async')

Inputs: slug (required). Returns: result

download_docA

Download one or more documentation bundles from devdocs.io.

Args: slugs: Single slug string or list of documentation slugs (e.g. 'javascript' or ['javascript', 'python', 'react']) version: Optional version specifier for single slug (ignored for multiple slugs, uses latest)

Inputs: slugs (required), version. Returns: result

get_documentA

Get full document content by document ID from search results.

Use this to retrieve the complete content of a document after finding it via search_docs. The doc_id can be found in search results (typically shown in the path or title).

Args: doc_id: Document ID from search results (e.g. "python~3.13/library/functions#print")

Inputs: doc_id (required). Returns: result

list_docsA

List all available documentation sources with optional filtering.

Args: source_type: Filter by 'devdocs', 'local', or None for all include_large: Include docs larger than 50 MB (default: False = exclude large) downloaded_only: only include downloaded docs (default: True = only show downloaded docs) query: Optional fuzzy text filter on doc metadata (slug, name, type, release, alias) Case-insensitive substring match. Does NOT search document content.

Inputs: query, source_type, include_large, downloaded_only. Returns: result

rebuild_indexA

Rebuild the embedding index from downloaded documentation.

By default, only indexes newly downloaded documentation that hasn't been indexed yet. Use clean=True to rebuild everything from scratch.

Args: clean: If True, rebuild entire index from scratch. If False (default), only index missing documents. slugs: Optional list of specific doc slugs to re-index (e.g., ['vulkan', 'python']). If provided, only these docs will be processed. Ignores already-indexed status and re-indexes them.

Inputs: clean, slugs. Returns: result

remove_docA

Remove documentation by slug, regardless of source type.

Works for downloaded devdocs.io bundles, local sources, and web sources.

Args: slug: Documentation slug to remove (e.g. 'async')

Inputs: slug (required). Returns: result

search_docsA

Search documentation using semantic similarity.

Args: query: Natural language search query (e.g. "how to make HTTP requests") top_k: Number of results to return (default: 10) min_score: Minimum vector-similarity score 0.0-1.0 (default: 0.3). Applies to the semantic/vector search leg only — keyword/BM25 matches (e.g. exact title matches for bare-word queries) can still surface in results even with low semantic similarity. slugs: Optional list of doc slugs to filter by (e.g. ['javascript', 'python']) source_type: Optional source type filter ('devdocs' or 'local')

Inputs: query (required), slugs, top_k, min_score, +1 more. Returns: result

Tool Schema Changelog

Recent tool additions, removals, and schema changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

    TDQS

    A4.1/5.0

    Scored across 9 tools

    Disambiguation5/5

    Each tool targets a distinct operation: listing, metadata, semantic search, content retrieval, download, index rebuild, removal, and adding local/web sources. There is no ambiguity or overlap between any two tools.

    Naming Consistency4/5

    Most tools follow a verb_noun pattern (list_docs, search_docs, get_document, download_doc, remove_doc, rebuild_index), but 'doc_info' (noun_noun) and the add_local_source/add_web_source pair (verb_adj_noun) deviate slightly. Overall, the naming is still predictable and readable.

    Tool Count5/5

    Nine tools is well-scoped for a documentation management server. Each tool earns its place, covering source management, search, retrieval, and maintenance without redundancy.

    Completeness5/5

    The tool set covers the full lifecycle: adding local/web sources, downloading docs, listing/inspecting, searching, retrieving content, removing, and rebuilding the index. There are no obvious gaps or dead ends.

    Maintenance

    ActivityInactive
    ResponsivenessNo recent community issues

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