xml-docs-read

name	xml-docs-read
description	Query and read XML documentation files shipped with .NET NuGet packages. Use when you want to look up API summaries, parameter descriptions, or remarks for third-party libraries without decompiling.
allowed-tools	Bash, Grep

.NET XML Documentation Files

NuGet packages commonly ship an .xml file alongside the .dll (same name, same folder). This is the standard .NET XML doc format — the same file IDEs use for IntelliSense tooltips.

Location

~/.nuget/packages/<package-name>/<version>/lib/<tfm>/<AssemblyName>.xml

Example:

~/.nuget/packages/nats.client.keyvaluestore/2.7.1/lib/net8.0/NATS.Client.KeyValueStore.xml

Schema

<doc>
  <assembly><name>NATS.Client.KeyValueStore</name></assembly>
  <members>
    <member name="T:Namespace.ClassName">         <!-- type      -->
    <member name="M:Namespace.ClassName.Method">  <!-- method    -->
    <member name="P:Namespace.ClassName.Prop">    <!-- property  -->
    <member name="F:Namespace.ClassName.Field">   <!-- field     -->
    <member name="E:Namespace.ClassName.Event">   <!-- event     -->
  </members>
</doc>

Each <member> may contain: <summary>, <param name="...">, <typeparam name="...">, <returns>, <remarks>, <exception cref="...">.

Member name prefixes: T: type, M: method, P: property, F: field, E: event.

Querying

Grep — fast text search (works everywhere)

# Find a method entry and show its doc block
grep -A 10 'name="M:.*UpdateAsync' MyLib.xml

# List all type entries
grep 'name="T:' MyLib.xml

PowerShell — Select-Xml with XPath (structured, cross-platform via pwsh)

# All type summaries
Select-Xml -Path MyLib.xml -XPath "//member[starts-with(@name,'T:')]" |
    ForEach-Object { $_.Node.OuterXml }

# Docs for members matching a name pattern
Select-Xml -Path MyLib.xml -XPath "//member[contains(@name,'UpdateAsync')]" |
    ForEach-Object { $_.Node.OuterXml }

# Dot-notation access via [xml] cast
$doc = [xml](Get-Content MyLib.xml)
$doc.doc.members.member | Where-Object { $_.name -like 'M:*Update*' } | Format-List

Use Grep for quick lookups; use Select-Xml when you need XPath filters or structured output.

Core workflow

1. Locate the .xml next to the .dll in the NuGet cache
2. Check which structured query tool is available: xmllint --version 2>/dev/null
3. Grep for the type/member name to confirm it exists
4. Use the best available tool to extract the relevant doc block
5. Read <summary>, <param>, <returns>, and <remarks> as needed

Tool selection

Always probe availability before committing to a tool — xmllint may be present even on Windows (e.g. via Git, Chocolatey, or Scoop):

xmllint --version 2>/dev/null && echo "xmllint available" || echo "xmllint not found"
pwsh -c "Get-Command Select-Xml" 2>/dev/null && echo "pwsh available"

Preference order for structured XPath queries:

1. xmllint — most ergonomic when available (any platform)
2. pwsh Select-Xml — cross-platform fallback
3. Grep — always available; use for quick text lookups

# xmllint — pretty-print and XPath
xmllint --format MyLib.xml
xmllint --xpath "//member[contains(@name,'UpdateAsync')]" MyLib.xml

Platform notes

Tool	Windows	Unix/macOS
Grep	Available via Git Bash / WSL	Native
xmllint	Not built-in; check first — may be installed	Native (libxml2-utils)
pwsh (PowerShell)	Native	Install powershell package
Python xml.etree	py launcher (py -c "...")	python3 (usually pre-installed)

The NuGet cache path (~/.nuget/packages/) works in both bash-on-Windows and Unix shells.