# Docs MCP Server (Grounded Docs) - Local Documentation Index for AI Assistants > Docs MCP Server (branded as "Grounded Docs") is an open-source MCP server that solves AI hallucinations and outdated knowledge by providing a personal, always-current documentation index. It fetches... - Skill: `tools-only/docs-mcp-server-grounded-docs-local-documentation-index-for-` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds add tools-only/docs-mcp-server-grounded-docs-local-documentation-index-for-` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tools-only/docs-mcp-server-grounded-docs-local-documentation-index-for-/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: AI & ML - License: MIT - Author: tools-only (https://skillmd.com/u/tools-only) - Updated: 2026-09-09 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tools-only/docs-mcp-server-grounded-docs-local-documentation-index-for- --- ## Overview Docs MCP Server (branded as "Grounded Docs") is an open-source MCP server that solves AI hallucinations and outdated knowledge by providing a personal, always-current documentation index. It fetches official docs from websites, GitHub, npm, PyPI, and local files, allowing AI assistants to query the exact library versions being used in a project. **Core Value Proposition**: Open-source alternative to Context7, Nia, and Ref.Tools that runs entirely on your machine with full privacy. --- ## Problem Addressed | Problem | How Docs MCP Server Solves It | | --------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | | AI models have outdated training data | Fetches documentation directly from official sources on demand | | AI hallucinations about APIs and features | Grounds LLMs in real, current documentation | | Context window limitations for large docs | Semantic vector search retrieves only relevant chunks | | Version mismatches (AI knows v1, user has v3) | Version-specific queries target exact library versions in project | | Privacy concerns with cloud services | Runs entirely on local machine; code never leaves your network | | Single-format documentation sources | Processes HTML, Markdown, PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and source code | --- ## Key Statistics (as of January 26, 2026) | Metric | Value | | ---------------- | ------------------------ | | GitHub Stars | 954 | | Forks | 113 | | Contributors | 8 | | Open Issues | 33 | | Primary Language | TypeScript (99%) | | npm Package | @arabold/docs-mcp-server | | Latest Version | v1.36.0 (Jan 15, 2026) | | Created | March 17, 2025 | --- ## Key Features ### 1. Multi-Source Documentation Indexing - **Web Scraping**: Index any documentation website using Playwright - **GitHub Repositories**: Index README, docs folders, source code - **Package Registries**: Fetch from npm and PyPI - **Local Files**: Index local folders and zip archives - **llms.txt Support**: Automatic detection of LLM-ready documentation files ### 2. Rich File Format Support - HTML and Markdown - PDF documents - Microsoft Office (Word .docx, Excel, PowerPoint) - Source code files - Password-protected PDFs ### 3. Semantic Vector Search - **Multiple Embedding Providers**: OpenAI, Ollama, Google Gemini, Azure, AWS - **Hybrid Search**: Combines vector similarity and full-text search - **Reciprocal Rank Fusion (RRF)**: Configurable weights for optimal ranking - **Dual-Mode FTS**: Exact phrase and keyword matching for improved recall ### 4. Version-Specific Queries - Index multiple versions of the same library - Query targets exact version in use - Version tracking with re-indexing capability - Change detection for documentation updates ### 5. Privacy-First Architecture - Runs entirely on local machine - No code or queries sent to external servers - SQLite database with schema migrations - Optional telemetry (privacy-first design) ### 6. Multiple Access Interfaces - **Web UI**: Add/manage documentation at - **CLI**: Command-line management - **MCP Protocol**: Integration with Claude, Cline, Roo, etc. - **SSE Endpoint**: Server-Sent Events for real-time updates --- ## Technical Architecture Documentation Sources | v +---------------------------+ | Scraper Strategies | | - Web (Playwright) | | - Local filesystem | | - Package registries | +---------------------------+ | v +---------------------------+ | Content Fetchers | | - HTTP | | - Filesystem | | - Registry APIs | +---------------------------+ | v +---------------------------+ | Processing Pipelines | | - Middleware chains | | - Content-type handling | +---------------------------+ | v +---------------------------+ | Document Splitters | | - SemanticMarkdown | | - JsonDocument | | - TextDocument | | - GreedySplitter (size) | +---------------------------+ | v +---------------------------+ | Embedding Generation | | - OpenAI, Gemini | | - Ollama (local) | | - Azure, AWS | +---------------------------+ | v +---------------------------+ | SQLite Storage | | - libraries table | | - versions table | | - documents table | +---------------------------+ | v +---------------------------+ | Hybrid Search | | - Vector similarity | | - Full-text search | | - RRF ranking | +---------------------------+ ### Deployment Modes **Unified Mode (Default)**: - Single process with MCP server, web interface, embedded worker - Suitable for development and simple deployments - Direct method calls between components - Local event propagation via EventBus **Distributed Mode (Docker Compose)**: - Separate coordinator and worker processes - Hub (shared worker) + Spokes (Web, MCP, CLI) - tRPC for inter-process communication - WebSocket for real-time events - Scalable processing across containers ### Protocol Auto-Detection - No TTY: stdio transport for direct MCP communication - Has TTY: HTTP transport with Server-Sent Events - Manual override: `--protocol stdio|http` --- ## Installation and Usage ### Quick Start ```bash # Start server (requires Node.js 20+) npx @arabold/docs-mcp-server@latest # Open Web UI # http://localhost:6280 # Add to MCP client config { "mcpServers": { "docs-mcp-server": { "type": "sse", "url": "http://localhost:6280/sse" } } } ``` ### Docker Deployment ```bash docker run --rm \ -v docs-mcp-data:/data \ -v docs-mcp-config:/config \ -p 6280:6280 \ ghcr.io/arabold/docs-mcp-server:latest \ --protocol http --host 0.0.0.0 --port 6280 ``` ### Enable Embeddings (Recommended) ```bash # OpenAI OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-proj-..." npx @arabold/docs-mcp-server@latest # Or Ollama (local, free) OLLAMA_BASE_URL="http://localhost:11434" npx @arabold/docs-mcp-server@latest ``` --- ## MCP Tools Provided The server exposes tools via MCP protocol: | Tool | Description | | ---------------- | ------------------------------------------ | | `scrape_docs` | Index documentation from URL or local path | | `search_docs` | Semantic search across indexed content | | `list_libraries` | Show all indexed libraries | | `list_versions` | Show versions for a library | | `get_job_status` | Check indexing job progress | | `cancel_job` | Cancel running indexing job | | `fetch_url` | Fetch URL and convert to markdown | --- ## Configuration System Configuration resolves via Zod schema with four layers: Defaults < Config File < Environment Variables < CLI Arguments **Key Settings**: ```yaml # config.yaml embedding: provider: openai # or ollama, gemini, azure, aws model: text-embedding-3-small storage: path: ~/.local/share/docs-mcp-server server: port: 6280 protocol: auto # stdio, http, or auto ``` ### Supported Embedding Providers | Provider | Local/Cloud | Cost | | ------------- | ----------- | ---- | | OpenAI | Cloud | Paid | | Ollama | Local | Free | | Google Gemini | Cloud | Paid | | Azure OpenAI | Cloud | Paid | | AWS Bedrock | Cloud | Paid | --- ## Comparison with Alternatives | Feature | Docs MCP Server | Context7 | Nia | Ref.Tools | | ------------------------- | ----------------- | ------------ | ------------ | ------------ | | Open Source | Yes (MIT) | No | No | No | | Self-Hosted | Yes | No | No | No | | Privacy | Full (local) | Cloud | Cloud | Cloud | | Custom Sources | Yes | Limited | Limited | Limited | | Multi-Provider Embeddings | Yes | No | No | No | | Version-Specific | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Cost | Free + embeddings | Subscription | Subscription | Subscription | --- ## Relevance to Claude Code Development ### Direct Applications 1. **Documentation Grounding**: Eliminate hallucinations when coding with unfamiliar libraries 2. **Version-Specific Context**: Query docs for exact versions in project dependencies 3. **Local Privacy**: Keep proprietary documentation indexed locally 4. **Multi-Format Support**: Index internal docs in various formats (PDF, Word, etc.) ### Patterns Worth Adopting 1. **Semantic Chunking**: Two-phase splitting (semantic structure + size optimization) 2. **Hybrid Search**: Combining vector similarity with full-text for better recall 3. **Protocol Auto-Detection**: Automatic transport selection based on environment 4. **Write-Through Architecture**: Immediate persistence for recovery capability 5. **Distributed Mode Design**: Hub-spoke pattern for scalable processing ### Integration Opportunities 1. **Claude Code Plugin**: Create plugin that auto-indexes project dependencies 2. **Skill Enhancement**: Ground skills in current documentation automatically 3. **RAG Pattern**: Apply hybrid search approach to existing context systems 4. **Multi-Source Truth**: Pattern for combining documentation from multiple sources ### Complementary to Existing MCP Ecosystem This fills a gap in the research directory's MCP ecosystem coverage: - **Narsil MCP**: Code intelligence and security scanning - **OctoCode MCP**: Research Driven Development with GitHub search - **Docs MCP Server**: Documentation grounding and version-specific retrieval --- ## References 1. **GitHub Repository**: (accessed 2026-01-26) 2. **Official Website**: (accessed 2026-01-26) 3. **npm Package**: (accessed 2026-01-26) 4. **Architecture Documentation**: (accessed 2026-01-26) 5. **Installation Guide**: 6. **MCP Protocol Specification**: