context7

Context7 gives AI coding assistants access to library documentation while they work on a programming task. If you are using an older framework release or an API you rarely touch, you can ask the assistant to check the relevant docs before it suggests code. Context7 supplies documentation passages and examples for that question, with version-specific results where available.

Main features

• Look up docs for a task: Ask how to configure a library or call an API, and Context7 retrieves relevant examples and explanations from its index.
• Specify the version: Name a version in your request when its API matters, or use a Context7 library ID to target a particular documentation set.
• Connect through MCP: A compatible coding assistant can find a library and query its docs using Context7’s MCP tools.
• Use the terminal instead: The ctx7 CLI lets you search for libraries and read documentation directly. Its companion skill guides agents to use those commands without an MCP connection.

For Linux developers, the choice is mainly about where documentation should appear. MCP puts lookup tools inside assistants such as Codex, Claude Code, Cursor and OpenCode. The CLI also works on its own in a terminal and requires Node.js 18 or later. A Context7 account or API key gives documentation requests higher rate limits.

Context7 is useful when an assistant needs precise library syntax, especially across changing APIs and multiple versions. Its results still deserve a check before you rely on them for a security setting or a major migration. Context7 indexed projects are community-contributed so there is no guarantee that every documentation set is accurate or complete.

The MCP server code is MIT-licensed, while Context7’s API backend, parsing engine and crawler are private.

For another documentation MCP service, Ref offers a similar connection to coding clients. Developers who want a browsable reference with offline access may prefer DevDocs, which is designed for searching documentation directly rather than supplying it to an AI assistant.

Good to know

How do Context7’s MCP and CLI/skills workflows differ? With MCP, a compatible assistant calls Context7’s resolve-library-id and query-docs tools during a coding session. With CLI and skills, an installed skill guides the assistant to run ctx7 library and ctx7 docs commands. You can also run those commands yourself in a terminal.

How can I request docs for the version my project uses? Name the library and version in your prompt, for example: “Use Context7 to check Next.js 16 middleware documentation.” For more precise lookup, resolve the library first and choose a version-specific Context7 ID from the results. Pass that ID to ctx7 docs or ask your MCP assistant to query it.