docs-mcp-server

A reusable Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that exposes one or more documentation folders — plain .md, .mdx, and .txt files — to any MCP-compatible AI agent (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, etc).

It's kept as its own package rather than bundled into a specific project so that any number of repos/services can point at their own docs folder(s) and share the exact same server binary, instead of every project reimplementing "list/read/search my markdown docs" from scratch. Real projects also rarely keep all their docs in one place — e.g. each microservice has its own docs/ folder — so this server accepts multiple folders and gives each one a short label you reference in resource URIs and see in search results.

⚙️ Installation

🥇 Option 1 — Recommended (npx / direct way)

This is the easiest way. npx automatically fetches the repo, installs dependencies, builds it, and runs the server — no local clone required.

Add this to your MCP settings:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "docs": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "github:DewminK/docs-mcp-server",
        "--docs-path",
        "/absolute/path/to/your/docs"
      ]
    }
  }
}

🚀 What happens with the npx method

• Automatically retrieves the MCP server package from the repository
• Installs the required dependencies in a separate managed environment
• Compiles the TypeScript source code into executable JavaScript
• Starts the MCP server and enables communication with MCP hosts through the stdio transport

Swap --docs-path for as many comma-separated folders as you need (see Configuring documentation folders below).

🥈 Option 2 — Clone & build locally

Useful if you want to edit the server itself, or prefer pinning an exact local build.

git clone https://github.com/DewminK/docs-mcp-server.git
cd docs-mcp-server
npm install
npm run build

This compiles src/*.ts to dist/*.js (ESM, targeting ES2022). Then point your MCP host at the built file with absolute paths:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "docs": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/absolute/path/to/docs-mcp-server/dist/server.js",
        "--docs-path",
        "/absolute/path/to/service-a/docs,/absolute/path/to/service-b/docs"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Adding it to an MCP host

This section shows how to register the server with each MCP host. Most of these commands/configs (anything using npx -y github:DewminK/docs-mcp-server) are self-contained and fetch + build + run the server on their own — you don't need to have done Installation Option 1 or 2 first. Only use a node dist/server.js path (Option 2's build output) if you already cloned the repo locally.

Claude Desktop — edit the config file and restart the app:

• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Claude Code (terminal or VS Code extension) — use the CLI instead of hand-editing JSON, from an integrated or regular terminal. docs in the commands below is just the server name being registered — pick any name you like, it's not a fixed keyword. The default local scope only applies to the exact project folder you ran the command from; use --scope project or --scope user instead if you want it shared or available everywhere (see below).

Scope: project — shared with your team via an .mcp.json file created at the repo root (commit this file so teammates get the same server):

claude mcp add docs --scope project -- npx -y github:DewminK/docs-mcp-server --docs-path /absolute/path/to/your/docs

Scope: user — available across all your projects on this machine, stored in ~/.claude.json:

claude mcp add docs --scope user -- npx -y github:DewminK/docs-mcp-server --docs-path /absolute/path/to/your/docs

Verify with claude mcp list, then reload the VS Code window (Command Palette → "Developer: Reload Window") if you're using the extension — it only picks up newly registered servers on startup/reload, not mid-session.

VS Code (Copilot Chat's MCP support, not the Claude Code extension) — add the server to .vscode/mcp.json in your workspace, or to your user settings.json under the mcp.servers key for a global install:

{
  "servers": {
    "docs": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "github:DewminK/docs-mcp-server",
        "--docs-path",
        "/absolute/path/to/your/docs"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Then open the Command Palette and run MCP: List Servers to start it, or use the Start code lens that appears above the server entry in mcp.json.

Cursor — same JSON block as Claude Desktop, placed in .cursor/mcp.json (project-level) or via Cursor's MCP settings UI (global).

Configuring documentation folders

The server resolves which folders to serve in this order:

1. --docs-path CLI flag (comma-separated for multiple folders)
2. DOCS_PATH environment variable (comma-separated for multiple folders)
3. Default: ./docs

Each folder is given a label based on its own directory name. If two folders share the same directory name, later ones get a numeric suffix (docs, docs-2, ...).

Examples:

# Single folder
node dist/server.js --docs-path ./docs

# Multiple folders, one per microservice
node dist/server.js --docs-path "../service-a/docs,../service-b/docs"

# Same thing via environment variable
DOCS_PATH="../service-a/docs,../service-b/docs" node dist/server.js

Passing DOCS_PATH via the MCP config's env field works just as well as --docs-path, e.g.:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "docs": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "github:DewminK/docs-mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "DOCS_PATH": "/absolute/path/to/service-a/docs,/absolute/path/to/service-b/docs"
      }
    }
  }
}

If a configured path doesn't exist or isn't a directory, the server prints a clear error to stderr and exits instead of starting.

What it exposes

Type	Name	Description
Resource	docs://list	Lists every doc file across all configured folders, one {label}/{relativePath} per line.
Resource template	docs://{label}/{relativePath}	Reads a single doc file's contents, given its folder label and path relative to that folder.
Tool	search_docs	Case-insensitive keyword search across all folders. Input: { query: string }.

Project layout

docs-mcp-server/
  src/lib.ts       # pure logic: resolve paths, list/read/search files (no MCP imports)
  src/server.ts    # thin MCP wiring around lib.ts, connected over stdio