Context7 CLI

Context7 CLI

Overview

Use the local agent-skills CLI (subcommand c7) to query Context7 for library discovery and context snippets. Prefer this tool when a task needs authoritative library context and you want a deterministic CLI output that can be piped into downstream steps.

Quick Start

1. Ensure CONTEXT7_API_KEY is set or pass --api-key.
2. If agent-skills is already installed, use it directly:

command -v agent-skills
agent-skills c7 search --library-name react --query "useEffect cleanup"

3. Otherwise, run the CLI from the repo:

go run ./cmd/agent-skills c7 search --library-name react --query "useEffect cleanup"

For repeated calls, build once:

go build -o bin/agent-skills ./cmd/agent-skills
./bin/agent-skills c7 context --library-id /facebook/react --query "useEffect cleanup"

Or install remotely (requires Go) only if the binary is missing:

if ! command -v agent-skills >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  go install github.com/strantalis/agent-skills/cmd/agent-skills@latest
fi
agent-skills c7 search --library-name react --query "useEffect cleanup"

Tasks

Search for libraries

Use this to discover candidate library IDs.

go run ./cmd/agent-skills c7 search --library-name react --query "useEffect cleanup"

• Default output is JSON. Use --format jsonl for JSON lines or --format text for tab-separated lines.
• Use --limit to reduce results when you only need the top few.

Fetch context

Prefer explicit --library-id for determinism.

go run ./cmd/agent-skills c7 context --library-id /facebook/react --query "useEffect cleanup"

If you only have a name, you may use --library-name. If multiple libraries match, use --select=interactive or --select=first, or provide --library-id for determinism.

go run ./cmd/agent-skills c7 context --library-name react --query "useEffect cleanup"

Output formats

• Use --format json when another tool or step needs structured output.
• Use --format jsonl for streaming or piping one JSON object per line.
• Use --format text for direct reading or quick copy/paste.

Flags (global to c7)

• --api-key (or CONTEXT7_API_KEY): Context7 API key.
• --base-url: Override the Context7 base URL.
• --timeout: HTTP timeout (default 30s).
• --retries: Retry count for 202/429/5xx responses.
• --cache-dir: Enable disk cache when set.
• --cache-ttl: Cache TTL (default 24h, only used when cache-dir is set).

Troubleshooting

• 401/403: Missing or invalid API key. Set CONTEXT7_API_KEY or pass --api-key.
• 429: Rate limited. The client retries automatically; reduce request rate if persistent.
• 202: Context is still processing; retries will handle this automatically.

Reference

See references/api_reference.md for the full command reference and examples.