Docs Search
Search the local Grounded Docs index for library documentation. These commands return structured data (JSON by default in non-interactive sessions) and never modify the index.
When to use
- You need to answer a question about a library's API or behaviour.
- You want to check which libraries and versions are already indexed.
- You need to resolve which documentation version best matches a constraint.
Always run list first if you are unsure whether a library has been indexed. If nothing is indexed yet, use the docs-manage skill to scrape documentation before searching.
Commands
list
List every indexed library and its available versions.
npx @arabold/docs-mcp-server@latest list [--output yaml]| Flag | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| `--output json\ | yaml\ | toon` | Structured output format (default: JSON in non-interactive) |
--server-url <url> | Connect to a remote pipeline worker instead of the local store | ||
--quiet | Suppress non-error diagnostics | ||
--verbose | Enable debug logging |
Example output (YAML):
- library: react
versions:
- "19.0.0"
- "18.3.1"
- library: typescript
versions:
- "5.7.0"search
Search documents in an indexed library by natural-language query.
npx @arabold/docs-mcp-server@latest search <library> "<query>" [options]| Flag | Alias | Default | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
--version <ver> | -v | latest | Version constraint (exact or range, e.g. 18.x, 5.2.x) | ||
--limit <n> | -l | 5 | Maximum number of results | ||
--exact-match | -e | false | Only match the exact version, no fallback | ||
--embedding-model <model> | Embedding model (e.g. openai:text-embedding-3-small) | ||||
--server-url <url> | Remote pipeline worker URL | ||||
| `--output json\ | yaml\ | toon` | JSON | Structured output format | |
--quiet | Suppress non-error diagnostics | ||||
--verbose | Enable debug logging |
Example:
npx @arabold/docs-mcp-server@latest search react "useEffect cleanup" --version 18.x --limit 3 --output yamlEach result contains a content snippet, source URL, and relevance score.
find-version
Resolve the best matching documentation version for a library.
npx @arabold/docs-mcp-server@latest find-version <library> [--version <pattern>]| Flag | Alias | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
--version <pattern> | -v | Version pattern to match (supports ranges) | ||
--server-url <url> | Remote pipeline worker URL | |||
| `--output json\ | yaml\ | toon` | Structured output format | |
--quiet | Suppress non-error diagnostics | |||
--verbose | Enable debug logging |
Example:
npx @arabold/docs-mcp-server@latest find-version react --version "18.x" --output yamlReturns the resolved version string and library metadata.
Interpreting output
All three commands emit structured data to stdout. Diagnostics and progress messages go to stderr and are suppressed by default in non-interactive sessions. Use --verbose (or set LOG_LEVEL=INFO) to re-enable them. Use --quiet to suppress all non-error diagnostics regardless of session type.
To capture results programmatically, parse stdout as JSON (the default) or request --output yaml for a more readable format.
Typical workflow
# 1. Check what is indexed
npx @arabold/docs-mcp-server@latest list --output yaml
# 2. Search for relevant docs
npx @arabold/docs-mcp-server@latest search react "server components" --version 19.x --output yaml
# 3. If no results, index the docs first (see docs-manage skill), then retry