How do I install the ref mcp server?

This profile does not contain a verified copy-paste launch configuration. Follow the current project documentation to confirm the runtime, entry point, transport and authentication before registering it in your client.

What credentials does it need?

The recorded environment keys are `REF_API_KEY`. Keep credentials outside committed files and confirm the configuration required by your installed version.

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Ref MCP Server

Up-to-date documentation for your coding agent. Covers 1000s of public repos and sites. Built by ref.tools

Local serverstdio

What is the Ref MCP Server?

Ref mcp server lets Claude, Cursor and other MCP clients work with Ref directly. Up-to-date documentation for your coding agent. Covers 1000s of public repos and sites. Built by ref.tools.

What Ref does

A ModelContextProtocol server that gives your AI coding tool or agent access to documentation for APIs, services, libraries etc. It's your one-stop-shop to keep your agent up-to-date on documentation in a fast and token-efficient way.

More MCP options

Compare MCP servers by category, or browse hosted MCP servers if you prefer an endpoint over a local process.

Maintainer setup documentation.

Recorded tools

Check the linked publisher documentation and your connected client's tool list. Names and availability can vary with the server version and account permissions.

Tool	What it does
stdio
ref_search_documentation	A powerful search tool to check technical documentation. Great for finding facts or code snippets. Can be used to search for public documentation on the web or github as well from private resources like repos and pdfs.
ref_read_url	A tool that fetches content from a URL and converts it to markdown for easy reading with Ref. This is powerful when used in conjunction with the ref_search_documentation tool that returns urls of relevant content.

Configuration

Variable	Description	Required
REF_API_KEY	Credential the server authenticates with.	Yes

Example prompts to try

“Use Ref to stdio.”
“Use Ref to ref search documentation.”
“Use Ref to ref read url.”

Frequently asked questions

Up-to-date documentation for your coding agent. Covers 1000s of public repos and sites. Built by ref.tools Confirm the tools offered by your installed version in the connected client. Tool availability and permissions depend on the server and account configuration.

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