Context7 Usage Guide

This skill provides guidance for using the Context7 MCP server effectively.

Overview

Context7 provides documentation lookup for popular libraries and frameworks. It has two main tools:

• resolveLibraryId - Find the library ID for a given library name
• getLibraryDocs - Get documentation for a specific topic

Resolving Library IDs

The resolveLibraryId tool returns results that are automatically parsed into structured objects. The response includes:

{
  libraries: Array<{
    id: string;           // Context7-compatible library ID
    name: string;         // Library title
    description: string;  // Short description
    codeSnippets: number; // Number of code examples
    sourceReputation: string; // "High", "Medium", "Low", or "Unknown"
    benchmarkScore?: number;  // Quality score (optional)
  }>;
  raw: string;  // Original text response
}

Here's how to pick the right library:

Library ID Naming Patterns

Pattern	Description	Example
/websites/<name>	Official documentation (usually best)	/websites/laravel
/websites/<name>-<version>	Version-specific docs	/websites/laravel-11.x
/websites/<name>_<version>	Version-specific (alt format)	/websites/laravel_12_x
/<org>/<repo>	GitHub repository content	/laravel/laravel

Recommended Library IDs by Framework

Framework	Recommended ID	Notes
Laravel 12	/websites/laravel_12_x	Latest version
Laravel 11	/websites/laravel-11.x	Previous LTS
Laravel (latest)	/websites/laravel	General docs
React	/websites/react	Official React docs
Vue 3	/websites/vue	Vue.js documentation
Next.js	/websites/nextjs	Next.js framework
TypeScript	/websites/typescript	TS documentation
Node.js	/websites/nodejs	Node.js docs

Selection Tips

1. Look for "High" reputation - Libraries with high reputation have better quality content
2. Check snippet count - More snippets = more comprehensive content
3. Use version-specific IDs - When you need docs for a specific version
4. Prefer /websites/ prefix - These are usually official documentation

Using getLibraryDocs

Parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
context7CompatibleLibraryID	Yes	The library ID from resolveLibraryId
topic	Yes	What you want to learn about
mode	No	"code" for examples, "docs" for explanations

Example Usage

import { resolveLibraryId, getLibraryDocs } from '../servers/context7/index.js';

// Step 1: Find the library - result is automatically parsed
const result = await resolveLibraryId.call({ libraryName: "Laravel" });

// Step 2: Access the parsed libraries array
console.log(`Found ${result.libraries.length} libraries`);

// Step 3: Find best match programmatically
const best = result.libraries
  .filter(lib => lib.sourceReputation === 'High')
  .sort((a, b) => b.codeSnippets - a.codeSnippets)[0];

// Step 4: Get documentation using the library ID
const docs = await getLibraryDocs.call({
  context7CompatibleLibraryID: best?.id || "/websites/laravel_12_x",
  topic: "middleware",
  mode: "code"  // Get code examples
});
console.log(docs);

Using Known Library IDs (Faster)

Skip the resolve step when you know the library ID:

// Direct usage with known IDs
const docs = await getLibraryDocs.call({
  context7CompatibleLibraryID: "/websites/laravel_12_x",
  topic: "middleware"
});

Mode Options

• "code" - Returns code examples and snippets (best for implementation)
• "docs" - Returns explanatory documentation (best for understanding concepts)

Common Issues

Too Many Results from resolveLibraryId

Problem: You get 30+ results and don't know which to pick.

Solution: Use the parsed libraries array to filter programmatically:

const result = await resolveLibraryId.call({ libraryName: "React" });

// Filter to high-reputation libraries with many snippets
const best = result.libraries
  .filter(lib => lib.sourceReputation === 'High' && lib.codeSnippets > 100)
  .sort((a, b) => b.codeSnippets - a.codeSnippets);

console.log('Best matches:', best.map(l => `${l.name} (${l.id})`));

Or use the recommended IDs table above for common frameworks.

Library ID Not Found

Problem: getLibraryDocs fails with "library not found".

Solution:

1. Run resolveLibraryId first to get valid IDs
2. Copy the exact ID from the results (case-sensitive)
3. Check for typos in the library ID

Quick Reference

// Common library IDs (no need to resolve)
const LIBRARY_IDS = {
  laravel12: "/websites/laravel_12_x",
  laravel11: "/websites/laravel-11.x",
  react: "/websites/react",
  vue: "/websites/vue",
  nextjs: "/websites/nextjs",
  typescript: "/websites/typescript",
  nodejs: "/websites/nodejs",
};