docsetmcp 0.3.1

Search local documentation from Dash through MCP

DocsetMCP

Access your local Dash documentation directly from AI assistants 🚀

DocsetMCP is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that seamlessly integrates your local Dash docsets with AI assistants like Claude, enabling instant access to offline documentation without leaving your conversation.

📋 Table of Contents

• Why DocsetMCP?
• Quick Start
• Features
• Prerequisites
• Installation
• Configuration
• Usage Examples
• Available Tools
• Troubleshooting
• Development
• Contributing
• License

Why DocsetMCP?

• 📚 Instant Documentation: No switching, no web searches. Get straight to the docs directly in your AI conversation
• 🔒 Local and Private: Work with docset files on your machine
• ⚡ Lightning Fast: Optimized caching and direct database queries
• 🎯 Precise Results: Get exactly what you need with smart filtering

Quick Start

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "docsetmcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["docsetmcp"]
    }
  }
}

Add to your MCP config and restart your MCP client. Then try asking something like "Find me the AppIntent documentation"

✨ Features

Documentation Search

• Multi-Docset Support: Search across 165+ supported docsets including Apple, NodeJS, Python, and more
• Language Filtering: Target specific programming languages within docsets
• Name-Based Search: Only returns entries where search terms match item names for precise results
• Smart Ranking: Results ranked by match type (exact > prefix > substring) and dynamic type ordering
• Container Guidance: Framework and class entries show drilldown notes for exploring members

Cheatsheet Access

• Quick Reference: Instant access to Git, Vim, Docker, and 40+ other cheatsheets
• Fuzzy Matching: Find cheatsheets even with partial names
• Category Browsing: Explore commands by category within each cheatsheet
• Search Within: Query specific commands inside any cheatsheet

Performance & Integration

• Efficient Caching: In-memory caching for repeated queries
• Direct Database Access: No intermediate servers or APIs
• Universal: Works with Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, and any MCP-compatible client
• Framework Discovery: List all available frameworks/types in any docset
• Container Guidance: Automatic drilldown notes for frameworks and classes with members

📦 Supported Docsets

DocsetMCP supports 165+ docsets including:

Popular Languages

• Python (2 & 3)
• JavaScript / TypeScript
• Java
• C / C++
• Go
• Rust
• Ruby
• Swift / Objective-C
• PHP
• Bash
• And many more...

Web Frameworks

• React / Angular / Vue
• Node.js / Express
• Django / Flask
• Ruby on Rails
• Bootstrap
• jQuery
• And many more...

Developer Tools

• Git (cheatsheet)
• Docker (cheatsheet)
• Vim (cheatsheet)
• MySQL / PostgreSQL
• MongoDB / Redis
• nginx / Apache
• And many more...

Use list_available_docsets to see all docsets installed on your system.

Prerequisites

• macOS (Dash is Mac-only)
• Dash with desired docsets downloaded
• Python 3.10 or higher
• UV package manager (How to Install)
• An AI assistant that supports MCP (Claude Desktop, Claude Code CLI, Cursor IDE, etc.)

Configuration

Choose your MCP client below for specific setup instructions:

🤖 Claude Desktop

Add to ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "docsetmcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["docsetmcp"]
    }
  }
}

⌨️ Claude Code CLI

# For current project
claude mcp add docsetmcp "uvx docsetmcp"

# For all projects
claude mcp add --scope user docsetmcp "uvx docsetmcp"

📝 Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf and other MCP-compatible clients

Add to your MCP configuration (Cursor: .mcp/mcp.json in your project root:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "docsetmcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["docsetmcp"]
    }
  }
}

Note: Restart your client and check your MCP settings for connection status.

Installation

No Installation Required (Recommended)

If your MCP client supports uvx, no installation is needed! The package will be automatically downloaded and run when needed. See the Quick Start or Configuration sections.

Manual Installation

If you prefer to install locally or your MCP client doesn't support uvx:

pip install docsetmcp

Then use docsetmcp instead of uvx docsetmcp in your configuration.

Development Installation

1. Clone and install:

   git clone https://github.com/codybrom/docsetmcp.git
   cd docsetmcp
   pip install -e .
   

2. Run tests (optional):

   # Install test dependencies
   pip install pytest pytest-cov pytest-xdist
   
   # Run basic tests
   pytest tests/test_docsets.py::TestDocsets::test_yaml_structure -v
   
   # Run quick tests (structure + existence checks)
   pytest tests/ -k "yaml_structure or test_docset_exists" -v
   
   # Run full test suite (all docsets)
   pytest tests/ -v
   
   # Run with coverage
   pytest tests/ --cov=docsetmcp --cov-report=html -v
   
   # Validate all local cheatsheets work (integration test)
   python scripts/validate_cheatsheets.py
   

Usage Examples

Once configured, you can ask your AI assistant to search documentation naturally:

🍎 iOS/macOS Development

"Search for URLSession documentation"
"Show me how to use AppIntent in SwiftUI"
"Find CarPlay framework documentation"  # Returns framework + related entries with drilldown notes
"Search for CPListTemplate class"       # Returns specific CarPlay class
"Find NSPredicate examples"

🌐 Web Development

"Look up Express.js middleware documentation"
"Search React hooks in the React docset"
"Find CSS flexbox properties"

🛠️ DevOps & Terminal

"Search git rebase commands in the Git cheatsheet"
"Show Docker compose syntax from the cheatsheet"
"Find bash array manipulation commands"

📊 Data Science

"Search pandas DataFrame methods"
"Look up NumPy array broadcasting"
"Find matplotlib pyplot functions"

Advanced Usage

# Search specific docset with language filter
"Use search_docs for 'URLSession' in the apple_api_reference docset with Swift language"

# Explore framework members using drilldown guidance
"Search for 'SwiftData' then follow the drilldown note to see all members"

# List all available tools
"What frameworks are available in the nodejs docset?"

# Browse cheatsheet categories
"Show all categories in the vim cheatsheet"

Discovery Workflow

DocsetMCP is designed for name-based searches, not keyword searching. Follow this workflow:

1. Start with Discovery Tools

# Find what languages are available
"List all available programming languages"

# Find docsets for your language
"Show me all Python docsets"

# See what types are available in a docset
"List all types in the apple_api_reference docset for Swift"

# Browse entries by type with letter filters
"Show me all Classes starting with 'UI' in apple_api_reference for Swift"

2. Then Search by Exact Names

# Once you know exact names, search for them
"Search for UIViewController in apple_api_reference with Swift"
"Find readFile documentation in nodejs docset"
"Show me the CarPlay framework documentation"

3. Use Drilldown Notes

When you find container types (frameworks, classes), follow the drilldown guidance:

# Container entry will show: "contains 42 additional members - use search_docs('ContainerName', max_results=50)"
"Search for SwiftData in apple_api_reference with max_results=50"

How It Works

1. Multi-Format Support: Handles both Apple cache format and tarix compression
2. Direct Database Access: Queries Dash's SQLite databases for fast lookups
3. Name-Based Matching: Only returns entries where search terms match item names (no false positives)
4. Smart Ranking: Prioritizes exact matches, then prefix matches, then substring matches
5. Dynamic Type Ordering: Uses docset configuration files for intelligent result prioritization
6. Container Detection: Automatically detects frameworks/classes with members and provides exploration guidance
7. Smart Extraction: Decompresses Apple's DocC JSON or extracts HTML from tarix archives
8. Markdown Formatting: Converts documentation to readable Markdown

Available Tools

DocsetMCP provides eleven powerful tools for accessing your documentation:

🔍 search_docs

Search and extract documentation from any docset.

Parameter	Type	Description	Default
query	string	Exact name to search (not keywords)	required
docset	string	Target docset (e.g., 'nodejs', 'python_3')	required
language	string	Programming language filter	docset default
max_results	int	Number of results (1-10)	3

📋 search_cheatsheet

Search Dash cheatsheets for quick command reference.

Parameter	Type	Description	Default
cheatsheet	string	Cheatsheet name (e.g., 'git', 'vim')	required
query	string	Search within cheatsheet	-
category	string	Filter by category	-
max_results	int	Number of results (1-50)	10

📚 list_available_docsets

List all installed Dash docsets with their supported languages.

📝 list_available_cheatsheets

List all available Dash cheatsheets that can be searched.

🏗️ list_frameworks

List frameworks/types within a specific docset.

Parameter	Type	Description	Default
docset	string	Target docset	required
filter	string	Filter framework names	-

🌍 list_languages

Discover all programming languages with available documentation.

📖 list_docsets_by_language

Find all docsets that support a specific programming language.

Parameter	Type	Description	Default
language	string	Programming language	required

🏷️ list_types

List all available types (Class, Protocol, Function, etc.) in a docset/language.

Parameter	Type	Description	Default
docset	string	Target docset	required
language	string	Programming language filter	-

📋 list_entries

List entries filtered by type and optional name prefix.

Parameter	Type	Description	Default
docset	string	Target docset	required
type_name	string	Type to filter by (e.g., 'Class', 'Protocol')	required
language	string	Programming language filter	-
name_filter	string	Filter entries by name prefix	-
max_results	int	Number of results (1-100)	20

📂 list_cheatsheet_categories

List all categories within a specific cheatsheet.

Parameter	Type	Description	Default
cheatsheet	string	Cheatsheet name	required

📄 fetch_cheatsheet

Fetch entire cheatsheet content (recommended for comprehensive access).

Parameter	Type	Description	Default
cheatsheet	string	Cheatsheet name	required

Troubleshooting

❌ "Docset not found" error

This means the docset isn't installed in Dash. To fix:

1. Open Dash.app
2. Go to Preferences → Downloads
3. Download the required docset
4. Restart your MCP client

🔌 MCP connection failed

1. Check installation: Run pip show docsetmcp to verify installation
2. Test manually: Run uvx docsetmcp in terminal - you should see MCP output
3. Check logs:
   • Claude Desktop: Check Console.app for Claude logs
   • Cursor: Check Output → MCP panel
4. Verify config path: Ensure config file is in the correct location

📭 No results found

• The content might not be in your local Dash cache
• Try searching with different terms or partial matches
• Use list_available_docsets to verify the docset is loaded
• Some docsets may use different naming conventions (e.g., 'fs' vs 'filesystem')

🐛 Other issues

1. Python version: Ensure you have Python 3.10 or higher
2. UV not found: Install UV package manager from https://docs.astral.sh/uv/
3. Permission denied: Check file permissions on Dash docsets directory
4. Report bugs: Open an issue at https://github.com/codybrom/docsetmcp/issues

Development

Building from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/codybrom/docsetmcp.git
cd docsetmcp

# Install in development mode
pip install -e .

# Run tests
pytest tests/ -v

Running Tests

# Quick tests (structure validation)
pytest tests/test_docsets.py::TestDocsets::test_yaml_structure -v

# Full test suite
pytest tests/ -v

# With coverage
pytest tests/ --cov=docsetmcp --cov-report=html -v

# Validate cheatsheets
python scripts/validate_cheatsheets.py

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Here's how you can help:

Adding New Docset Support

1. Create a YAML configuration in docsetmcp/docsets/:

   # docsetmcp/docsets/my_docset.yaml
   name: My Docset
   description: Brief description of the docset
   docset_path: My_Docset/My_Docset.docset
   languages:
     - python
     - javascript
   

2. Test your configuration:

   pytest tests/test_docsets.py -k "my_docset" -v
   

3. Submit a pull request

Reporting Issues

• 🐛 Bug Reports
• 💡 Feature Requests
• 📚 Documentation Issues

Development Guidelines

• Follow PEP 8 style guidelines
• Add tests for new features
• Update documentation as needed
• Keep commits focused and descriptive

Technical Architecture

DocsetMCP leverages Dash's internal structure for efficient documentation access:

• Format Support: Handles both Apple's modern cache format (SHA-1 UUID-based with brotli compression) and traditional tarix archives
• Caching Strategy: In-memory caching for repeated queries
• Database Access: Direct SQLite queries to Dash's optimized indexes
• Content Extraction: Smart extraction with fallback strategies
• Type System: Full type hints for better IDE support

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Thanks to Kapeli for creating Dash
• Built on the Model Context Protocol standard
• Inspired by the MCP community and ecosystem