Read documentation effectively

This skill helps you efficiently consume documentation without overwhelming your context window or missing important information.

Quick reference: choose your approach

Situation	Approach
First visit to a doc site	Check for llms.txt, then MCP
Know exactly what you're looking for	MCP search or grep llms-full.txt
Need to read a specific page	Try .md URL variant first, then HTML
Exploring/browsing	View HTML page in browser
Need comprehensive understanding	Load llms-full.txt (check length first)
Multiple doc sites in one task	Set up MCPs for each

Step 1: Discover what's available

When you encounter a documentation site, check for AI-friendly resources.

Check for llms.txt

Every well-structured doc site should have an llms.txt file at the root. For example https://docs.example.com/llms.txt or https://example.com/docs/llms.txt.

This file contains:

• A description of what the documentation covers
• Links to each page in the docs

Sites may also have llms-full.txt files at the root which contain all the content on the documentation site as a single .md file.

Try markdown URL variants

Many doc sites serve clean markdown versions of pages at .md URL variants. Prefer the .md URL extensions for easier-to-parse content.

For any specific page you need to read, try the .md variant first:

https://docs.example.com/page      →  try https://docs.example.com/page.md

If it returns valid markdown (not a 404 or HTML error page), use that instead of fetching the HTML.

Check for skill.md

Some documentation sites provide a skill.md file that teaches you how to work with the product that is documented. Check for it at the root like https://docs.example.com/skill.md or https://example.com/docs/skill.md.

Read the skill to understand the product and features. Add the skill if it will be helpful with your current task:

npx skills add docs.example.com/skill.md

Check for MCP server

Some documentation sites provide MCP servers for semantic search. The MCP endpoint often follows this pattern:

https://docs.example.com/mcp

Step 2: Set up MCP if available

MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers let you search documentation semantically rather than relying on keyword matching or loading entire files.

Connecting to the MCP

The setup process varies by platform. For Claude Code:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "example-docs": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://docs.example.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Once connected, you'll have access to the search tool for semantic search across the documentation. The tool follows the naming pattern Search{DocsTitle} (for example, SearchMintlify).

Managing multiple MCPs

When working with multiple documentation sources:

1. Give each MCP a descriptive name based on the product/library
2. Use the appropriate MCP for each query rather than searching all of them

Step 3: Choose your consumption strategy

Strategy A: MCP search (preferred for targeted questions)

Use when:

• You have a specific question or topic
• You're looking for a particular API, function, or concept
• You want semantically relevant results, not just keyword matches

Use the MCP search tool with a natural language query describing what you need.

Strategy B: Fetch markdown variant (for reading specific pages)

Use when:

• You need to read a specific documentation page
• MCP search returned a result but you need the full page content
• HTML rendering is adding noise or causing truncation

Try the .md variant of the page URL:

curl -s "https://docs.example.com/page.md"

If it returns valid markdown, use it. If it 404s, fall back to HTML (Strategy E).

Strategy C: Grep llms-full.txt (for keyword-specific searches)

Use when:

• You need to find exact matches (function names, error codes, specific terms)
• MCP isn't available
• You want to see all occurrences of a term

Grep for your terms:

curl -s "https://docs.example.com/llms-full.txt" | grep -C 3 "your-search-term"

Strategy D: Load full content (for comprehensive understanding)

Use when:

• You need complete context about a library/API
• The llms-full.txt is small enough (< 15k tokens recommended)
• You're doing extensive work that will reference many parts of the docs

Always check length first. Before loading a full file:

curl -sI "https://docs.example.com/llms-full.txt" | grep -i content-length

If the file is too large, consider:

• Loading specific files identified from llms.txt instead
• Using MCP search for specific topics
• Loading in chunks as needed

Strategy E: View HTML page (for exploration and navigation)

Use when:

• You need to understand the documentation structure
• The user needs to navigate or click through the docs
• You want to see diagrams, interactive examples, or formatted content
• You're helping the user find something and they need to continue browsing

Fetch and render the HTML page, or direct the user to open it in their browser. HTML pages provide:

• Navigation menus showing doc structure
• Interactive code examples
• Visual diagrams and illustrations
• Links to related topics

Watch for truncation. Pages over ~150,000 characters may get cut off, which means you may miss critical information without knowing it. If a page seems incomplete, try the .md URL variant (Strategy B) or look for section-specific files in llms.txt.

Common patterns

Pattern: Research before implementation

1. Fetch llms.txt to understand documentation scope
2. Set up MCP if available
3. Use MCP search for your specific implementation questions
4. Load relevant sections as needed
5. Keep MCP connected for follow-up questions during implementation

Pattern: Debugging with docs

1. Search for the exact error message or code using grep
2. If no results, use MCP search with a description of the problem
3. Load the relevant section for full context on the solution

Pattern: Learning a new library

1. View the HTML landing page to understand structure
2. Load llms-full.txt if small enough, or use section-specific files
3. Set up MCP for ongoing reference during development

Pattern: Quick reference lookup

1. MCP search with the function/method name
2. Or grep llms-full.txt for exact matches

Tips for efficiency

1. Prefer MCP for Mintlify sites: Semantic search is more efficient than loading and parsing raw text.

2. Cache strategically: If you'll reference the same docs repeatedly, loading llms-full.txt once may be more efficient than multiple MCP searches.

3. Use section files: If llms.txt links to section-specific files (like api/llms.txt), load only what you need.

4. Parallel MCP searches: When working with multiple doc sources, search them in parallel rather than sequentially.

Handling edge cases

No llms.txt available

Fall back to:

1. Check if there's an MCP endpoint anyway
2. Try .md URL variants of specific pages you need to read
3. Use WebFetch to read specific documentation pages
4. Search the web for the documentation

Very large documentation sets

For docs over 15k tokens:

1. Use MCP search instead of loading the full file
2. Load section-specific files as needed
3. Ask the user which areas are most relevant

Page not found (404)

If a page 404s:

1. Check the 404 page for links to relevant content
2. Check llms.txt for the current URL — it reflects the live site structure
3. Search the MCP with the page topic to find where the content moved
4. Note to the user that the content may have moved and provide the updated URL

Outdated or conflicting information

If you find documentation that seems outdated:

1. Check for version indicators in the docs
2. Note the discrepancy to the user
3. Suggest checking the changelog or release notes