Claude Documentation Search Skill
Claude's official documentation is indexed locally. The clone at ~/.claude-code-docs/
holds only metadata:
paths_manifest.json— every page's filename, id, title, category, and source URLsearch_index.json— per-page titles, headings, and stemmed term counts
The actual .md pages are cached at ~/.claude-code-docs/cache/ (override:
$CLAUDE_DOCS_CACHE_DIR). A background sync keeps the cache current; any page not
yet cached is fetched on demand — see Reading a doc below.
When to Use This Skill
Activate when the user asks about:
- Claude Code features: hooks, skills, MCP, plugins, settings, slash commands, sub-agents
- Claude API: messages, tool use, streaming, batch processing
- Agent SDK: Python/TypeScript SDK, sessions, custom tools, subagents
- Prompt engineering: best practices, system prompts, chain of thought
- Any topic covered by platform.claude.com or code.claude.com
Search Strategy
The search scripts read the manifest + index, so they see every page whether or not it is cached yet. Prefer them over globbing the cache.
1. Content search (default — questions and topics)
bashbash ~/.claude-code-docs/plugin/skills/claude-docs/scripts/content-search.sh "<keyword1>" "<keyword2>"
Output is filename<TAB>title<TAB>score, best first. Keyword extraction: strip filler,
keep domain terms — "how do I configure streaming" → streaming configure; "difference
between hooks and MCP" → hooks mcp. Take the top 3-5 filenames and read them (next section).
2. Fuzzy search (approximate name)
User says "that caching doc", "something about checkpoint":
bashbash ~/.claude-code-docs/plugin/skills/claude-docs/scripts/fuzzy-search.sh "<query>"
Output is ranked filenames. Read the top match.
3. Direct manifest lookup (exact category/topic)
To list pages in a category or matching a filename fragment, query the manifest:
bashjq -r '.pages[] | select(.filename | test("<fragment>")) | .filename' ~/.claude-code-docs/paths_manifest.json jq -r '.pages[] | select(.category=="claude_code") | .filename' ~/.claude-code-docs/paths_manifest.json
Reading a doc (cache-miss rule)
A search returns a filename (e.g. claude-code__hooks.md). The file is at
~/.claude-code-docs/cache/<filename>.
- Read
~/.claude-code-docs/cache/<filename>. - If it is not there (not fetched yet), fetch it first, then read:
then Readbash~/.claude-code-docs/plugin/scripts/fetch-docs.sh get "<filename>"~/.claude-code-docs/cache/<filename>. - If the fetch fails (offline), the script prints the canonical source URL on stderr — fall back to WebFetch on that URL.
To save context, prefer previewing large pages before reading them. Pull a page's structure from the index (title + headings) first — often the headings alone answer the question and you skip loading a multi-KB body:
bashjq -r '.pages[] | select(.filename=="<filename>") | .title, (.headings[]|" "+.text)' ~/.claude-code-docs/search_index.json
Synthesis Rules
Same Product Context → SYNTHESIZE
When all matching docs share one product (all Claude Code, all Agent SDK, ...): read them all silently, extract relevant sections, present one unified answer, cite sources.
Different Product Contexts → ASK
When matches span products (CLI + API + Agent SDK), ask which the user means. Labels
(see manifest-reference.md) map from category:
| category | Say to user |
|---|---|
claude_code | Claude Code CLI |
agent_sdk | Claude Agent SDK |
api_reference | Claude API |
core_documentation | Claude Documentation |
agents_and_tools | Agents & Tools |
about_claude | About Claude |
get_started | Getting Started |
test_and_evaluate | Testing & Evaluation |
release_notes | Release Notes |
resources | Resources |
prompt_library | Prompt Library |
After selection → read all docs in that context and synthesize.
SDK Language Disambiguation
When the user names a language, narrow API/SDK results (e.g. agent-sdk__python,
agent-sdk__typescript, api__go, api__java). If none named but the query is about SDK
methods, present Python first and note TypeScript equivalents exist.
URL Generation
Always cite source links. Get the exact URL from the manifest — never reconstruct it from the filename (filenames are lossy; the manifest stores the verbatim URL):
bashjq -r '.pages[] | select(.filename=="<filename>") | .url' ~/.claude-code-docs/paths_manifest.json
Example: claude-code__hooks.md → https://code.claude.com/docs/en/hooks.
Common Synonyms
When a search returns too few results, retry with a known synonym:
| User says | Search for |
|---|---|
| "function calling" | "tool use", "tool-use" |
| "system instructions" | "system prompt" |
| "JSON mode" | "structured outputs" |
| "thinking" | "extended thinking", "adaptive thinking" |
| "caching" | "prompt caching", "prompt-caching" |
| "files API" | "files", "pdf support" |
| "sub-agents" | "subagents", "sub-agents" |
| "environment variables" | "settings", "configuration" |
| "CI/CD" | "github actions", "gitlab" |
No Results
If all strategies return nothing: try synonyms; try broader/narrower keywords; suggest
/docs -t to check freshness; note the topic may not be in the index.
Post-Response Course Prompt
After presenting documentation, always append this block at the bottom:
Want to go deeper? I can create an interactive course on this topic — visual explanations, animated diagrams, and hands-on quizzes in a single HTML file you can open in your browser. Just say "create a course on [topic]" or run
/docs --course [topic].
Replace [topic] with the actual topic the user asked about.
Reference Files
manifest-reference.md— Category-to-label mapping (single source of truth)examples/direct-lookup.md— Example: topic → search → synthesizeexamples/semantic-search.md— Example: question → content-search.sh → synthesizeexamples/cross-context.md— Example: ambiguous → ask context → synthesize
