| name | deepwiki-usage |
| description | Use when researching external open-source projects, understanding unfamiliar libraries, or getting high-level architecture overviews of public repos. Examples: 'How does Next.js routing work?', 'Explain the architecture of langchain', 'What does this repo do?' |
DeepWiki — External Repo Research
When to Use
- "How does [external library] work?"
- "Explain the architecture of [public repo]"
- "What are the main components of [framework]?"
- Researching a new dependency before adopting it
- Getting oriented in an unfamiliar open-source project
When NOT to Use
- Questions about the local Lab repository (use OpenViking + GitNexus)
- Symbol-level analysis (use GitNexus after cloning)
- Code quality metrics (use CGC)
MCP Tools
read_wiki_structure — get the documentation topic tree:
mcp__deepwiki__read_wiki_structure({repo: "owner/repo"})
→ Returns structured topic tree with sections and pages
read_wiki_contents — get documentation content:
mcp__deepwiki__read_wiki_contents({repo: "owner/repo"})
→ Returns markdown documentation with Mermaid diagrams
ask_question — conversational Q&A:
mcp__deepwiki__ask_question({
repo: "owner/repo",
question: "How does the middleware system work?"
})
→ Returns answer grounded in the repo's actual code
Workflow: Researching a New Library
1. read_wiki_structure → Understand what topics are documented
2. ask_question → Ask specific questions about architecture/design
3. read_wiki_contents → Read detailed documentation on specific topics
4. If deeper analysis needed:
- Clone the repo locally
- Index with GitNexus: `npx gitnexus analyze`
- Use gitnexus_query/context for symbol-level analysis
Checklist
- [ ] Confirm the target is a public repository (DeepWiki only works with public repos)
- [ ] Use read_wiki_structure first to understand available documentation
- [ ] Ask focused questions — one concept at a time
- [ ] Cross-reference with actual source code for implementation details
- [ ] If you need precise call graphs or impact analysis, clone and use GitNexus
Supported Platforms
- GitHub:
owner/repo (e.g., vercel/next.js)
- GitLab:
gitlab:owner/repo
- Bitbucket:
bitbucket:owner/repo
