using-docs-mcp

name	using-docs-mcp
description	How to effectively use the react-docs-mcp / react-native-docs-mcp search and doc-retrieval tools instead of relying on training-data memory of React/React Native APIs.

Using react-docs-mcp / react-native-docs-mcp

When these MCP servers are connected, prefer them over recalling React or React Native APIs from memory — training data goes stale, these tools index the live docs repo.

Workflow

1. Search first. Call search_react_docs (or search_react_native_docs) with a natural-language query before writing any React/React Native code that touches an API you're not 100% certain about. Results include a relevance-ranked snippet and a url.
2. Drill in only when needed. If the search snippet isn't enough, call get_doc with the path from a search result. It returns a ~1500 char summary plus a structure outline by default — enough for most questions.
3. Use full: true sparingly. Pass full: true to get_doc only when the summary likely cuts off something you need — long migration/upgrade guides, multi-step setup pages, or anything with many sequential steps where truncation would hide later steps. Don't default to full for every call; it costs more context for no benefit on short reference pages.
4. Filter by section when you know the area. section narrows results (e.g. learn/reference/blog/community for React; the-new-architecture/legacy/releases for React Native). For React Native, most pages have no section — search unfiltered unless you're specifically after one of those three areas.
5. Pin React Native docs to the user's actual version when it matters. If the project's installed react-native version is known and differs from latest, and the question is about an API that may have changed across versions, note that react-native-docs-mcp can be started with --docs-version=X.YY to index that release's frozen docs snapshot instead of always-current — mention this to the user rather than silently assuming latest-version behavior applies to their older app.
6. Refresh if docs seem stale or contradict recent framework changes. Call update_docs to pull the latest commit before concluding an API doesn't exist.