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ref-tools/ref-tools-mcp

An MCP server that gives AI coding agents token-efficient access to public and private library documentation.

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What is it?

Ref MCP is a Model Context Protocol server that lets AI coding tools and agents search and read documentation for APIs, services and libraries. It exposes a search tool that accepts a full-sentence query and returns relevant results from public web pages, GitHub, and private resources such as repositories and PDFs, plus a read tool that fetches a URL and converts it to markdown.

The project focuses on keeping the agent's context window small. Within an MCP session it tracks previous searches so repeated queries do not return the same results, and when reading a long page it drops less relevant sections based on the search history, returning roughly the most relevant 5k tokens instead of a full page.

The server can be connected through a hosted streamable-http endpoint, which the project recommends, or run locally over stdio via npx. It also provides tool names compatible with OpenAI deep research clients.

Key features

  • 01Searches public web, GitHub and private documentation sources with a single query tool.
  • 02Skips results already returned earlier in the same session to avoid repetition.
  • 03Converts a URL to markdown and trims it to the most relevant sections.
  • 04Offers both streamable-http and local stdio connection options.
  • 05Provides OpenAI deep research compatible tool names.

Use cases

  • Letting a coding agent look up current API endpoints while writing integration code.
  • Giving an agent access to private internal library docs or repositories.
  • Reducing token cost and noise when agents read long documentation pages.

Quick start

  1. 1

    Sign up at ref.tools to get an API key

  2. 2

    Add the stdio server to your MCP client config and run it with npx, setting REF_API_KEY

    npx ref-tools-mcp@latest

Things to know

  • Requires a Ref API key from a sign-up at ref.tools.
  • This repo contains the legacy stdio server; the README recommends the hosted streamable-http server instead.

In collections

AI coding assistants & agentsMCP serversStatic site generators & documentation tools

Topics

#mcp#coding-agent#documentation#llm#context-window#developer-tools#documentation-tool#mcp-server

FAQ

What is ref-tools-mcp?
An MCP server that gives AI coding agents token-efficient access to public and private library documentation. Ref MCP is a Model Context Protocol server that lets AI coding tools and agents search and read documentation for APIs, services and libraries. It exposes a search tool that accepts a full-sentence query and returns relevant results from public web pages, GitHub, and private resources such as repositories and PDFs, plus a read tool that fetches a URL and converts it to markdown.
Is ref-tools-mcp free to use? What license does it have?
ref-tools-mcp is open source under the MIT license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is ref-tools-mcp still maintained?
Actively maintained. The last commit to ref-tools-mcp was on Nov 6, 2026.
What can I use ref-tools-mcp for?
Letting a coding agent look up current API endpoints while writing integration code. Giving an agent access to private internal library docs or repositories. Reducing token cost and noise when agents read long documentation pages.
How do I install ref-tools-mcp?
Sign up at ref.tools to get an API key Add the stdio server to your MCP client config and run it with npx, setting REF_API_KEY: npx ref-tools-mcp@latest
Where can I get ref-tools-mcp?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/ref-tools/ref-tools-mcp

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