How do I install the Check The Docs skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add buildmoonshot/check-the-docs in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Check The Docs safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Check The Docs?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Check The Docs free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Check The Docs?

buildmoonshot (@buildmoonshot) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Check The Docs by buildmoonshot — Agent Skill

Name: Check The Docs
Author: buildmoonshot

Check The Docs

Use when writing or modifying code that calls an external library, framework, SDK, or API — especially one that is niche, recently updated, or whose exact method names and parameters you are not certain of. Makes the agent confirm real, current API signatures before using them, instead of inventing plausible-but-wrong calls from memory.

buildmoonshot c49461c 2 files · 3.5 KB Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

Check the Docs

Before calling into an external library or API, confirm the API is real and current — do not code it from memory and hope.

When to stop and check

You're reaching for a method, option, or parameter and you're not certain it exists with that exact name/shape.
The library has had major version changes (the API you remember may be gone).
It's niche or fast-moving — small libraries and recent releases are where memory is least reliable.
The user reported an error that looks like a wrong signature (X is not a function, unexpected argument).

What to do

Verify the signature against current documentation, the installed version's types/source, or an official reference — not your recollection.
Check the installed version. Read package.json / lockfile / requirements.txt. Match the docs to that version, not the latest.
Prefer the project's existing usage. If the codebase already calls this library, copy that real, working pattern over anything you'd reconstruct from memory.

When you can't verify

Say so, and mark the call as unverified: "I used client.search(...) from memory — confirm this matches your installed version, as I couldn't check the docs." An honest flag beats a confident hallucination.

Why this matters

Hallucinated API calls are the classic agent failure: confident, plausible, and completely wrong — array.removeWhere(), a timeout option that doesn't exist, a renamed method from three versions ago. They cost a debugging session to track down. Thirty seconds of checking prevents them.

---name: check-the-docsdescription: Use when writing or modifying code that calls an external library, framework, SDK, or API — especially one that is niche, recently updated, or whose exact method names and parameters you are not certain of. Makes the agent confirm real, current API signatures before using them, instead of inventing plausible-but-wrong calls from memory.---# Check the DocsBefore calling into an external library or API, **confirm the API is real and current** — do not code it from memory and hope.## When to stop and check- You're reaching for a method, option, or parameter and you're **not certain** it exists with that exact name/shape.- The library has had **major version changes** (the API you remember may be gone).- It's **niche or fast-moving** — small libraries and recent releases are where memory is least reliable.- The user reported an error that looks like a **wrong signature** (`X is not a function`, unexpected argument).## What to do1. **Verify the signature** against current documentation, the installed version's types/source, or an official reference — not your recollection.2. **Check the installed version.** Read `package.json` / lockfile / `requirements.txt`. Match the docs to *that* version, not the latest.3. **Prefer the project's existing usage.** If the codebase already calls this library, copy that real, working pattern over anything you'd reconstruct from memory.## When you can't verifySay so, and mark the call as unverified: *"I used `client.search(...)` from memory — confirm this matches your installed version, as I couldn't check the docs."* An honest flag beats a confident hallucination.## Why this mattersHallucinated API calls are the classic agent failure: confident, plausible, and completely wrong — `array.removeWhere()`, a `timeout` option that doesn't exist, a renamed method from three versions ago. They cost a debugging session to track down. Thirty seconds of checking prevents them.

Frequently asked questions