version: "1.0.0" name: context7 description: "Live library documentation retrieval via Context7 API. Trigger when looking up current docs for npm packages, libraries, or frameworks instead of relying on potentially outdated training data. Use when agent needs current API docs." globs: ["**"]

Context7

Overview

This skill enables retrieval of current documentation for software libraries and components by querying the Context7 API via curl. Use it instead of relying on potentially outdated training data.

Workflow

Step 1: Search for the Library

To find the Context7 library ID, query the search endpoint:

curl -s "https://context7.com/api/v2/libs/search?libraryName=LIBRARY_NAME&query=TOPIC" | jq '.results[0]'

Parameters:

• libraryName (required): The library name to search for (e.g., "react", "nextjs", "fastapi", "axios")
• query (required): A description of the topic for relevance ranking

Response fields:

• id: Library identifier for the context endpoint (e.g., /websites/react_dev_reference)
• title: Human-readable library name
• description: Brief description of the library
• totalSnippets: Number of documentation snippets available

Step 2: Fetch Documentation

To retrieve documentation, use the library ID from step 1:

curl -s "https://context7.com/api/v2/context?libraryId=LIBRARY_ID&query=TOPIC&type=txt"

Parameters:

• libraryId (required): The library ID from search results
• query (required): The specific topic to retrieve documentation for
• type (optional): Response format - json (default) or txt (plain text, more readable)

Examples

React hooks documentation

# Find React library ID
curl -s "https://context7.com/api/v2/libs/search?libraryName=react&query=hooks" | jq '.results[0].id'
# Returns: "/websites/react_dev_reference"
 
# Fetch useState documentation
curl -s "https://context7.com/api/v2/context?libraryId=/websites/react_dev_reference&query=useState&type=txt"

Next.js routing documentation

# Find Next.js library ID
curl -s "https://context7.com/api/v2/libs/search?libraryName=nextjs&query=routing" | jq '.results[0].id'
 
# Fetch app router documentation
curl -s "https://context7.com/api/v2/context?libraryId=/vercel/next.js&query=app+router&type=txt"

Tips

• Use type=txt for more readable output
• Use jq to filter and format JSON responses
• Be specific with the query parameter to improve relevance ranking
• If the first search result is not correct, check additional results in the array
• URL-encode query parameters containing spaces (use + or %20)
• No API key is required for basic usage (rate-limited)

Cross-Reference

• `global-mcp-lookup` skill — Unified MCP phonebook (all servers, runtimes, tools)
• `mcp-docker` skill — Context7 is also available via MCP_DOCKER_resolve-library-id and MCP_DOCKER_get-library-docs when registered in the Docker MCP catalog
• `mcp-registry.yaml` — Machine-readable server index at .claude/skills/global-mcp-lookup/references/mcp-registry.yaml

Architecture note: Context7 has no Docker MCP server image. It is an API skill using direct HTTP calls. The MCP_DOCKER_resolve-library-id and MCP_DOCKER_get-library-docs tools provide an alternative MCP-gateway path when available.