Context7
Overview
This skill enables retrieval of current documentation for software libraries and components by querying the Context7 API via curl. Use it instead of relying on potentially outdated training data.
Workflow
Step 1: Search for the Library
To find the Context7 library ID, query the search endpoint:
curl -s "https://context7.com/api/v2/libs/search?libraryName=LIBRARY_NAME&query=TOPIC" | jq '.results[0]'
Parameters:
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libraryName (required): The library name to search for (e.g., "react", "nextjs", "fastapi", "axios")
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query (required): A description of the topic for relevance ranking
Response fields:
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id : Library identifier for the context endpoint (e.g., /websites/react_dev_reference )
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title : Human-readable library name
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description : Brief description of the library
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totalSnippets : Number of documentation snippets available
Step 2: Fetch Documentation
To retrieve documentation, use the library ID from step 1:
curl -s "https://context7.com/api/v2/context?libraryId=LIBRARY_ID&query=TOPIC&type=txt"
Parameters:
-
libraryId (required): The library ID from search results
-
query (required): The specific topic to retrieve documentation for
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type (optional): Response format - json (default) or txt (plain text, more readable)
Examples
React hooks documentation
Find React library ID
curl -s "https://context7.com/api/v2/libs/search?libraryName=react&query=hooks" | jq '.results[0].id'
Returns: "/websites/react_dev_reference"
Fetch useState documentation
Next.js routing documentation
Find Next.js library ID
curl -s "https://context7.com/api/v2/libs/search?libraryName=nextjs&query=routing" | jq '.results[0].id'
Fetch app router documentation
curl -s "https://context7.com/api/v2/context?libraryId=/vercel/next.js&query=app+router&type=txt"
FastAPI dependency injection
Find FastAPI library ID
curl -s "https://context7.com/api/v2/libs/search?libraryName=fastapi&query=dependencies" | jq '.results[0].id'
Fetch dependency injection documentation
Tips
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Use type=txt for more readable output
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Use jq to filter and format JSON responses
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Be specific with the query parameter to improve relevance ranking
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If the first search result is not correct, check additional results in the array
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URL-encode query parameters containing spaces (use + or %20 )
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No API key is required for basic usage (rate-limited)