skills for everythingcontext7
Retrieve up-to-date documentation for software libraries, frameworks, and components via the Context7 API. This skill should be used when looking up documentation for any programming library or framework, finding code examples for specific APIs or features, verifying correct usage of library functions, or obtaining current information about library APIs that may have changed since training.
SKILL.md
| Name | context7 |
| Description | Retrieve up-to-date documentation for software libraries, frameworks, and components via the Context7 API. This skill should be used when looking up documentation for any programming library or framework, finding code examples for specific APIs or features, verifying correct usage of library functions, or obtaining current information about library APIs that may have changed since training. |
name: context7 description: "Use this skill to fetch up-to-date documentation for any open-source library or framework. Trigger whenever the user asks to look up library docs, check an API, pull up documentation, find code examples, or verify how a library feature works — especially if they mention a specific library name, version migration, outdated docs, or say things like 'what's the current way to...' or 'the API might have changed'. Also trigger when installing or configuring a library. Do NOT use for general programming concepts, internal project code, or questions unrelated to a specific library."
Context7
Retrieve current documentation for software libraries by querying the Context7 API. This is especially useful when you're unsure about an API's current interface — library docs change frequently and your training data may be outdated.
Requires CONTEXT7_API_KEY environment variable.
When to Use
- Looking up how a library function works (e.g., "how does
useEffectcleanup work?") - Checking if an API has changed in a newer version
- Finding code examples for a specific library feature
- Verifying correct import paths or function signatures
- Installing or configuring a library and needing setup docs
When NOT to Use
- General programming questions (e.g., "how do closures work in JS?")
- Questions about your own project's internal code
- Topics unrelated to a specific open-source library or framework
Workflow
DO NOT read script source code. Run scripts directly and use --help for usage.
Step 1: Search for the Library
python3 scripts/context7.py search <library> <topic>
Returns TSV with top 5 matches: id, title, snippets. Use the id from the best-matching row for the fetch step.
Step 2: Fetch Documentation
python3 scripts/context7.py fetch <library_id> <topic> [--max-tokens N]
Fetches documentation snippets relevant to the topic, truncated to a token budget (default: 5000).
Choosing --max-tokens:
| Scenario | Tokens | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quick lookup (one function signature) | 2000 | Keeps output focused, faster response |
| Typical usage (API patterns, examples) | 5000 (default) | Good balance of depth and brevity |
| Broad exploration (migration guide, full API surface) | 8000–10000 | Needed when topic spans multiple sections |
Run python3 scripts/context7.py --help for full usage.
Examples
# Find React library ID, then fetch useState docs
python3 scripts/context7.py search react "useState hook"
python3 scripts/context7.py fetch /websites/react_dev "useState hook with objects"
# Smaller budget for a quick lookup
python3 scripts/context7.py fetch /vercel/next.js "middleware redirect" --max-tokens 2000
# Broader exploration
python3 scripts/context7.py fetch /langchain-ai/langchainjs "retrieval chain setup" --max-tokens 8000
Rules
- Write specific queries —
"useState hook with objects"retrieves much better results than"hooks", because the API ranks snippets by relevance to your query. - Always search before fetching — Library IDs aren't guessable (e.g.,
/websites/react_dev), so you need the search step to find the right one. - Match
--max-tokensto the task — Use the table above. Overshooting wastes context window; undershooting may miss the answer.