Ref Tools Mcp

ref-tools/ref-tools-mcp

Gives Claude direct access to technical documentation through two core operations: search and read. The search tool takes natural language queries and returns relevant docs from public sources or private repos, while the read tool fetches and converts URLs to markdown. The implementation is designed around token efficiency, it filters out already-seen results in repeated searches and intelligently truncates long documentation pages to return only the most relevant 5k tokens based on your search history. Works over streamable HTTP or stdio. Useful when you need your agent to pull context from API docs, libraries, or internal wikis without burning through tokens on irrelevant content or dealing with context rot from oversized documentation dumps.

GitHub stars: 1.1K
tools: 2
auth: Required
transport: HTTP
last updated: Oct 28, 2025

View on GitHub

Tools

2 tools

Public tool metadata for what this MCP can expose to an agent.

ref_search_documentationSearch for documentation on the web or github as well from private resources like repos and pdfs. Use Ref 'ref_read_url' to read the content of a url.1 params

Search for documentation on the web or github as well from private resources like repos and pdfs. Use Ref 'ref_read_url' to read the content of a url.

Parameters* required

querystring

Query for documentation. Should include programming language and framework or library names. Searches public only docs by default, include ref_src=private to search a user's private docs.

ref_read_urlRead the content of a url as markdown. The EXACT url from a 'ref_search_documentation' result should be passed to this tool.1 params

Read the content of a url as markdown. The EXACT url from a 'ref_search_documentation' result should be passed to this tool.

Parameters* required

urlstring

The URL of the webpage to read.

Readme

Documentation for your agent

Ref MCP

A ModelContextProtocol server that gives your AI coding tool or agent access to documentation for APIs, services, libraries etc. It's your one-stop-shop to keep your agent up-to-date on documentation in a fast and token-efficient way.

For more see info ref.tools

Agentic search for exactly the right context

Ref's tools are designed to match how models search while using as little context as possible to reduce context rot. The goal is to find exactly the context your coding agent needs to be successful while using minimum tokens.

View the full README on GitHub

Details

Repository: github.com/ref-tools/ref-tools-mcp
Category: Search & Web Crawling
Transport: HTTP
Auth: Required
Registry: MCP registry, active

Related Search & Web Crawling MCP servers

View all

Gmailgongrzhe/gmail-mcp-serverProvides Gmail integration with auto authentication, enabling email send, read, search, label management, and batch operations via MCP.1.1Kstars

Fetcherjae-jae/fetcher-mcpFetch web page content using a Playwright headless browser with intelligent content extraction and Markdown/HTML output.1Kstars

Reddit Mcp Buddykaranb192/reddit-mcp-buddySearch, browse, and analyze Reddit; optional posting. Needs existing approved Reddit API access.893stars

Zoterocookjohn/zotero-mcpProvides local AI access to search, retrieve, and cite items from your Zotero library via Streamable HTTP.784stars

PDF Readersylphlab/pdf-reader-mcpProvides a production-ready MCP server to extract text, images, and metadata from PDFs via parallel processing across multiple sources.711stars

Obsidian Mcp Servercyanheads/obsidian-mcp-serverRead, write, search, and surgically edit Obsidian notes, tags, and frontmatter via MCP.705stars