DeepWiki MCP Server

Give Claude superpowers to understand any codebase instantly.

This MCP (Model Context Protocol) server connects Claude to DeepWiki, an AI-powered platform by Cognition Labs (creators of Devin AI) that provides "Deep Research for GitHub" - interactive, up-to-date documentation for any public repository. With this integration, Claude can explore, analyze, and answer questions about any GitHub codebase - without you having to manually copy-paste code or documentation.

⚠️ Disclaimer

This is a learning/experimental project created through AI-assisted "vibe coding".

• The author is not a professional developer

• This entire MCP server was built using Claude Opus 4.0 (vibe coding)

• Code quality improvements and auditing done with Claude Sonnet 4.5

• Provided as-is for educational and experimental purposes only

• Use at your own risk - see LICENSE for full disclaimer

Related MCP server: GitHub Context MCP Server

What is DeepWiki?

DeepWiki is an AI platform by Cognition Labs (the team behind Devin AI) that automatically transforms any public GitHub repository into interactive, conversational documentation.

How it works:

• Visit any repo: github.com/facebook/react

• Change URL to: deepwiki.org/facebook/react

• Get instant access to AI-generated architecture diagrams, documentation, and an interactive chatbot

DeepWiki analyzes the code structure, relationships, and patterns, then creates up-to-date documentation you can have conversations with - like having an expert who has deeply studied the codebase and can answer questions about it.

What Does This MCP Do?

This MCP server acts as a command-line tool that Claude can use automatically when you ask questions about code. When you chat with Claude Desktop and mention a GitHub repository, Claude can:

1. Read Documentation: Fetch and parse DeepWiki's generated documentation for any repo

2. Ask Questions: Query DeepWiki's AI to understand how code works, find implementations, or explore architecture

3. Get Code Snippets: Retrieve exact code references that answer your questions

4. Deep Research: Trigger comprehensive analysis for complex questions (3-15 minutes)

5. Cache Results: Store responses locally for instant retrieval in follow-up questions

You don't directly use this tool - instead, you talk to Claude naturally, and Claude decides when to use these tools to help answer your questions.

Key Benefits

✅ Understand unfamiliar codebases instantly - No need to clone repos or wade through docs ✅ Ask natural questions - "How does authentication work?" instead of reading thousands of lines ✅ Get exact code references - Automatically retrieves relevant snippets with file paths and line numbers ✅ Follow-up conversations - Ask deeper questions based on previous answers ✅ Save research - Export findings to markdown files for documentation ✅ Works with any public GitHub repo - React, Next.js, your company's repos, etc.

Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18 or higher

• Claude Desktop app

Setup Steps

1. Clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/ai-vivid/deepwiki-mcp.git
   cd deepwiki-mcp

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Install Playwright browsers (required for web automation):

   npx playwright install chromium

4. Build the project:

   npm run build

5. Add to Claude Desktop configuration:

   On macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json On Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "deepwiki": {
         "command": "node",
         "args": ["/absolute/path/to/deepwiki-mcp/dist/index.js"]
       }
     }
   }

   Replace /absolute/path/to/deepwiki-mcp with your actual installation path.

6. Restart Claude Desktop

How to Use

Just chat naturally with Claude! Here are example conversations:

Example 1: Understanding a new framework

You: "Can you explain how Next.js handles server-side rendering?"

Claude: *uses wiki_question tool to query DeepWiki about vercel/next.js*

Claude: "Next.js handles SSR through..."

Example 2: Finding implementations

You: "Show me how React implements hooks"

Claude: *retrieves code snippets from facebook/react*

Claude: "Here's the hooks implementation from ReactFiberHooks.js..."

Example 3: Deep research

You: "I need a comprehensive explanation of how Kubernetes manages container orchestration"

Claude: *triggers deep research mode for kubernetes/kubernetes*

Claude: "Starting deep research - this will take 5-10 minutes..."
*returns detailed architectural analysis*

Available Tools (For Claude's Use)

Claude automatically decides when to use these tools. This section explains what each tool does for your understanding, but you don't need to call them directly.

Tool 1: wiki_parser

Purpose: Reads DeepWiki's static documentation pages for a repository.

When Claude uses it:

• You ask for an overview of a project's structure

• You want to see the table of contents for documentation

• You request specific chapters from the documentation

Parameters Claude can set:

Example - What Claude does:

// When you ask: "Show me the React documentation structure"
wiki_parser({
  repo: "facebook/react",
  action: "structure",
  depth: 2
})

// Returns: A table of contents with 2 levels of headers
// Output looks like:
// 1: Getting Started
//   ## Installation
//   ## Quick Start
// 2: Main Concepts
//   ## Components
//   ## Props & State

Example - Extracting specific content:

// When you ask: "Get me the Getting Started guide from React docs"
wiki_parser({
  repo: "facebook/react",
  action: "extract",
  chapters: ["Getting Started"]
})

// Returns: Full markdown content of the "Getting Started" chapter

Tool 2: wiki_question

Purpose: Asks DeepWiki's AI questions about a repository and gets intelligent answers with code references.

When Claude uses it:

• You ask how something works in a codebase

• You want to find specific implementations

• You need architectural explanations

• You ask follow-up questions about previous answers

Parameters Claude can set:

Example 1 - Basic question:

// When you ask: "How does React handle component state?"
wiki_question({
  repo: "facebook/react",
  question: "How does React handle component state?"
})

// Returns:
// Query ID: query-abc123
//
// # Answer
// React handles component state through the useState hook...
// [1] [2]
//
// # References
// [1]: facebook/react: src/ReactHooks.js:45-67
// [2]: facebook/react: src/ReactFiberHooks.js:120-145

Example 2 - Getting specific code snippets:

// When you say: "Show me the code for reference 1 from that last answer"
wiki_question({
  repo: "facebook/react",
  queryId: "query-abc123",           // From previous response
  includeAnswer: false,              // Don't repeat the explanation
  includeReferencesList: false,      // Don't show the reference list again
  referencesNumbers: [1]             // Just show code for reference #1
})

// Returns:
// Query ID: query-abc123
//
// # Referenced Files
// ## facebook/react: src/ReactHooks.js
// **[45-67]:**
// ```
// function useState(initialState) {
//   const hook = mountState(initialState);
//   return [hook.state, hook.dispatch];
// }
// ...
// ```

Example 3 - Deep research mode:

// When you ask: "Give me a comprehensive analysis of Next.js routing architecture"
wiki_question({
  repo: "vercel/next.js",
  question: "Explain the complete routing architecture",
  useDeepResearch: true,
  saveToFile: "save-and-show"
})

// What happens:
// 1. DeepWiki spends 3-15 minutes doing deep analysis
// 2. Returns comprehensive architectural breakdown
// 3. Saves to: ~/.deepwiki-mcp/output/vercel-next.js/questions/2025-09-30_14-30-00_routing-architecture_query-xyz789.md
// 4. Shows you the full analysis

Example 4 - Follow-up questions:

// You: "What about error handling in that routing system?"
wiki_question({
  repo: "vercel/next.js",
  queryId: "query-xyz789",           // References previous deep research
  followUpQuestion: "How does error handling work in the routing system?",
  includeFullConversation: false     // Only show new answer, not previous one
})

// Returns: Answer about error handling, building on previous context

Example 5 - Getting full file contents:

// You: "Show me the full content of that routing file"
wiki_question({
  repo: "vercel/next.js",
  queryId: "query-xyz789",
  includeAnswer: false,
  contextFiles: ["packages/next/src/server/router.ts"]
})

// Returns: Complete contents of router.ts file

Understanding API Polling (Advanced)

When you ask DeepWiki a question, it doesn't respond instantly. Instead, your question is processed asynchronously by their AI, and this MCP periodically checks if the answer is ready.

How it works:

1. Question submitted → DeepWiki starts processing

2. MCP checks for answer → Polls every few seconds/minutes

3. Answer ready → Returns results to Claude

Polling schedules:

• Regular mode: Checks at 10s, 15s, 20s, 30s, 45s, 75s, 2m, 3m, 5m

  • Total: up to 5 minutes for an answer

• Deep research mode: Checks at 3m, 4m, 5m, 7m, 9m, 12m, 15m

  • Total: up to 15 minutes for comprehensive analysis

Why this matters:

• Regular questions: Usually answered in 30-60 seconds

• Deep research: Takes 5-15 minutes but provides much more thorough analysis

• You can customize these intervals (see Configuration below)

Visual example:

You ask question → DeepWiki AI thinks → MCP checks → Gets answer → Claude shows you

Regular: [0s] ----10s----15s----20s---[Answer!]
Deep:    [0s] ----------------3m--------------5m---------7m----[Answer!]

Configuration

You can customize the MCP's behavior through environment variables in your Claude Desktop config.

File Storage

default_directory - Where to save exported files

• Default: ~/.deepwiki-mcp/output

• Example: "/Users/me/Documents/deepwiki-research"

allowed_directories - Security: which directories can be written to

• Default: ~/.deepwiki-mcp and default_directory

• Example: "/Users/me/Documents/deepwiki-research,/Users/me/projects"

API Polling

DEEPWIKI_POLL_INTERVALS_REGULAR - When to check for regular answers (in seconds)

• Default: "10,15,20,30,45,75,120,180,300" (checks at these intervals)

• Faster polling: "5,10,15,20,30,60" (checks more frequently)

DEEPWIKI_POLL_INTERVALS_DEEP - When to check for deep research answers (in seconds)

• Default: "180,240,300,420,540,720,900" (3min, 4min, 5min, 7min, 9min, 12min, 15min)

• Faster polling: "60,120,180,300,600" (checks more frequently)

Example Configuration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "deepwiki": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/deepwiki-mcp/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "default_directory": "/Users/me/Documents/deepwiki-research",
        "allowed_directories": "/Users/me/Documents/deepwiki-research,/Users/me/projects",
        "DEEPWIKI_POLL_INTERVALS_REGULAR": "5,10,15,30,60",
        "DEEPWIKI_POLL_INTERVALS_DEEP": "60,120,240,480"
      }
    }
  }
}

Caching & Storage

Cache location: ~/.deepwiki-mcp/cache/

• Stores previous responses for instant retrieval

• Organized by repository

• Automatically used for follow-up questions

Output location: ~/.deepwiki-mcp/output/ (or your default_directory)

• Saved files use this structure: {repo}/{type}/{date}_{time}_{description}_query-{id}.md

• Example: facebook-react/questions/2025-09-30_14-30-00_hooks-implementation_query-abc123.md

Tips & Best Practices

💡 Start with regular questions - Use deep research only for complex architectural questions 💡 Use follow-ups - Build on previous answers instead of asking everything at once 💡 Save important findings - Ask Claude to save responses for future reference 💡 Be specific - "How does React implement the useState hook?" vs "How does React work?" 💡 Request code when needed - "Show me the code for reference 2" to get actual implementation

Troubleshooting

"No cached response found" → The queryId you provided doesn't exist. Ask a new question first.

"Tool timeout" → DeepWiki is taking longer than expected. Try again or increase polling intervals.

"Repository not found" → Check the repo format is owner/repo and that it's a public GitHub repository.

Playwright errors → Run npx playwright install chromium to install browser dependencies.

Development

Project Structure

deepwiki-mcp/
├── src/
│   ├── index.ts              # MCP server entry point
│   ├── tools/                # Tool implementations
│   │   ├── wiki-parser.ts    # Documentation parser tool
│   │   └── wiki-question.ts  # Question/answer tool
│   ├── automation/           # Playwright browser automation
│   ├── parsers/              # Response parsers & transformers
│   ├── cache/                # Cache management
│   └── utils/                # Helper utilities
├── dist/                     # Compiled JavaScript (generated)
├── package.json
└── tsconfig.json

Building

npm run build

Development Mode

npm run dev

License

MIT - See LICENSE file for full details including disclaimer.

Acknowledgments

• Built with Model Context Protocol

• Powered by DeepWiki (by Cognition Labs)

• Created using Claude (Opus 4.0 & Sonnet 4.5)