Microsoft Docs

Microsoft docs research

Find authoritative Microsoft ecosystem documentation by choosing Microsoft Learn first, then using the documented exception source for Aspire, VS Code, GitHub, and repository-level Agent Framework details.

When to invoke

• "Find the Microsoft docs for this Azure feature."
• "Show a .NET code sample from Learn."
• "Which docs explain Agent Framework DevUI tracing?"
• "Search Aspire docs for this integration."
• "Find GitHub CLI docs for this gh flag."

Documentation source routing

Microsoft Learn access

Use Learn for the vast majority of Microsoft documentation queries.

Pass --json to search or code-search when raw JSON output is useful.

Exception sources

.NET Aspire

Aspire docs live on aspire.dev. Aspire CLI 13.2+ includes built-in docs search tools: list_docs, search_docs, and get_doc. Update with aspire update --self --channel daily when the CLI is too old. Aspire CLI 13.1 has list_integrations and get_integration_docs but not docs search, so fall back to Context7.

VS Code, GitHub, and Agent Framework

For Agent Framework DevUI, query Learn website source for how-to guides, then repository source for endpoint schemas, proxy config, auth tokens, and API-level details.

Query construction

Be specific and include version, intent, and language.

Include .NET 8, Aspire 13, VS Code 1.96, quickstart, tutorial, overview, limits, API reference, Python, TypeScript, or C# when relevant.

Procedure

1. Classify the technology and documentation host.
2. Search the primary source for the host.
3. Fetch full pages when excerpts are truncated or complete config options are needed.
4. Cross-check repository source only for areas known to be ahead of docs, such as Agent Framework DevUI API details.
5. Return concise guidance with source titles and URLs or command/tool evidence.

For Context7, perform one-time setup by resolving the library ID with mcp_context7_resolve-library-id, then query it with mcp_context7_query-docs. Use PowerShell, Bash, or cmd for CLI fallbacks depending on the user's shell.

Gotchas

• Do not route Aspire, VS Code, or GitHub docs to Learn by default: their canonical docs live outside learn.microsoft.com.
• Resolve Context7 library IDs first: call the resolver once per session before querying docs.
• Do not rely on broad queries: include version, intent, and language to avoid stale or generic excerpts.

Open Horizons integration

• Scope documentation research to the Open Horizons stack and current Horizon stage.
• Preserve first-party Microsoft source authority, retrieval dates, and repository evidence boundaries.
• Route cross-domain sequencing through open-horizons-orchestration (skill).

Output template

## Microsoft docs result — <topic>

**Source used:** Microsoft Learn | Aspire MCP | Context7 | mslearn CLI | repository source
**Query:** `<exact query>`

| Need | Source | Finding | URL or command evidence |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| <concept/tutorial/API/sample> | <source title> | <concise answer> | <URL, tool result, or command> |

### Recommended next step
<what to implement, read, or verify next>

Quality gate

• The documentation host was selected using the routing table.
• Microsoft Learn was used for learn.microsoft.com content.
• Aspire, VS Code, GitHub, and Agent Framework repository exceptions used the specified alternate source.
• Queries included version, intent, and language when relevant.
• Full pages were fetched when snippets were insufficient.
• The answer cites source titles and URLs or exact command/tool evidence.

References

• Aspire docs MCP tools announcement
• Aspire PR #14028