mcpbook

Universal Documentation MCP Server

A high-performance MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that transforms any documentation website into an AI-accessible knowledge base. Originally built for GitBook but works with Vercel docs, Next.js sites, Docusaurus, and many other documentation platforms. Features instant startup, intelligent caching, and automatic domain detection.

✨ Key Features

• ⚡ Instant Startup - SQLite storage with sub-second server initialization
• 🔍 Advanced Search - FTS5 full-text search with fuzzy matching and ranking
• 🧠 Smart Auto-Detection - Automatically detects domain, keywords, and branding
• 📝 Markdown Perfect - Preserves formatting with syntax-highlighted code blocks
• 🔄 Background Updates - Non-blocking change detection and cache refresh
• 🌐 Universal Support - Works with GitBook, Vercel docs, Next.js sites, and many other documentation platforms
• 📡 Dual Interface - Both MCP tools and REST API endpoints
• 🚀 Production Ready - Rate limiting, error handling, and robust caching

🚀 Quick Start

💡 Recommended: Use the interactive creator for the best experience!

🎨 Web UI Management Dashboard

# Clone this repo (once)
git clone https://github.com/tcsenpai/mcpbook/
cd mcpbook

# Build the UI
npm run ui:build

# Start the web interface
npm run ui

The Web UI provides:

• 🚀 Visual Server Creation - Step-by-step wizard with live URL validation
• 📊 Server Management - Start/stop/delete servers with real-time status
• 📋 Claude Desktop Integration - One-click copy config or add via CLI
• 🖥️ Live Terminal - Real-time feedback and command execution
• ⚠️ Safety Features - Confirmation dialogs and cancel functionality

⭐ One-Command Setup

# Clone this repo (once)
git clone https://github.com/tcsenpai/mcpbook/
cd mcpbook

# Create MCP server for any documentation site instantly
npm exec create-gitbook-mcp

That's it! 🎉 The interactive wizard will:

• ✨ Guide you through setup with smart defaults
• 🔍 Auto-detect domain/keywords from your documentation site
• 📦 Install in organized directories (~/.config/mcpbooks/servers/[name])
• 🌍 Optionally install globally (accessible as your-server-name command)
• 🤖 Auto-configure Claude Desktop (optional)
• 🚀 Pre-cache everything for instant server startup

🛠️ Manual Setup (Advanced Users)

1. Install and Configure

   npm install
   echo "GITBOOK_URL=https://docs.yoursite.com" > .env
   

2. Build with Auto-Detection

   npm run build  # Automatically detects and configures your domain
   

3. Start Server

   npm start  # Instant startup with SQLite cache
   

4. Test with MCP Inspector

   npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node dist/index.js
   

📦 Installation Options

Option 1: Local Development

git clone <repository>
cd mcpbook
npm install
npm run build
npm start

Option 2: Global Installation

npm install -g .
# Then use the binary name from package.json
your-mcp-server-name

Option 3: Claude Desktop Integration

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gitbook": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "GITBOOK_URL": "https://docs.yoursite.com"
      }
    }
  }
}

Config file locations:

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

Option 4: StreamableHTTP Transport

npm run start:http  # StreamableHTTP on port 3001
node dist/index.js --streamable-http --port=3002  # Custom port

Option 5: REST API Server

npm run start:api  # HTTP server on port 3000
PORT=8080 npm run start:api  # Custom port

🌐 Platform Compatibility

While originally designed for GitBook, this MCP server has proven compatibility with many documentation platforms:

✅ Guaranteed to Work

• GitBook (original target platform)
• Custom GitBook instances

🎯 Successfully Tested

• Vercel-hosted docs (docs.vercel.com, aptos.dev)
• Next.js documentation sites
• Static site generators with consistent navigation
• Most HTML-based documentation platforms

🔧 How It Works

The scraper intelligently:

• Discovers navigation through link crawling
• Extracts content from any HTML structure
• Adapts to different layouts automatically
• Handles various authentication and routing patterns

💡 Pro Tip: If a site has consistent navigation and accessible content, our scraper will likely work! The auto-detection feature adapts to different site structures automatically.

⚙️ Configuration

Auto-Detection (Recommended)

GITBOOK_URL=https://docs.yoursite.com
AUTO_DETECT_DOMAIN=true
AUTO_DETECT_KEYWORDS=true

The server will automatically:

• Generate domain-specific tool names (stripe_docs_search, api_docs_get_page)
• Extract relevant keywords from content
• Create contextual descriptions for better AI integration

Manual Configuration

# Target GitBook (required)
GITBOOK_URL=https://docs.yoursite.com

# Custom branding (optional)
SERVER_NAME=my-api-docs
SERVER_DESCRIPTION=API documentation and guides
DOMAIN_KEYWORDS=api,rest,graphql,endpoints
TOOL_PREFIX=api_

# Performance tuning
CACHE_TTL_HOURS=1
MAX_CONCURRENT_REQUESTS=5
SCRAPING_DELAY_MS=100

Configuration Examples

API Documentation:

GITBOOK_URL=https://api-docs.yourservice.com
TOOL_PREFIX=api_
DOMAIN_KEYWORDS=api,rest,endpoints,authentication

→ Results in: api_search_content, api_get_page, etc.

Product Documentation:

GITBOOK_URL=https://help.yourproduct.com  
TOOL_PREFIX=help_
DOMAIN_KEYWORDS=tutorial,guide,troubleshooting

→ Results in: help_search_content, help_get_page, etc.

🛠️ Available Tools

The server exposes 7 MCP tools with automatic prefixing:

Core Tools

Tool	Description	Parameters
{prefix}_search_content	Advanced search with ranking	query: Search terms
{prefix}_get_page	Get specific page content	path: Page path (e.g., "/api/auth")
{prefix}_list_sections	Get table of contents	None
{prefix}_get_section_pages	Get all pages in section	section: Section name
{prefix}_refresh_content	Force cache refresh	None
{prefix}_get_code_blocks	Extract code with syntax highlighting	path: Page path
{prefix}_get_markdown	Get formatted markdown	path: Page path

MCP Prompts

• explain_section - Generate comprehensive tutorials
• summarize_page - Create concise summaries
• compare_sections - Compare documentation sections
• api_reference - Format as API documentation
• quick_start_guide - Generate quick start guides

🌐 HTTP Interfaces

The server supports both MCP StreamableHTTP and traditional REST API:

StreamableHTTP MCP Protocol:

# Health check
curl http://localhost:3001/health

# MCP requests (requires MCP client)
curl -X POST http://localhost:3001/mcp \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 1, "method": "tools/list"}'

REST API (separate server):

# Search content
curl "http://localhost:3000/api/search?q=authentication"

# Get specific page
curl "http://localhost:3000/api/page/api/authentication"

# Get page as markdown
curl "http://localhost:3000/api/page/api/authentication/markdown"

# Get code blocks
curl "http://localhost:3000/api/page/api/authentication/code"

# List sections
curl "http://localhost:3000/api/sections"

# Get section pages
curl "http://localhost:3000/api/sections/API/pages"

# Server status
curl "http://localhost:3000/api/status"

# Refresh cache
curl -X POST "http://localhost:3000/api/refresh"

🎯 Usage Examples

Auto-Detection Results

• docs.stripe.com → stripe_search_content, stripe_get_page
• docs.react.dev → react_search_content, react_get_page
• api.yourcompany.com → api_search_content, api_get_page
• Generic sites → docs_search_content, docs_get_page

MCP Tool Usage

# Search for authentication docs
{"tool": "api_search_content", "arguments": {"query": "oauth authentication"}}

# Get specific page
{"tool": "api_get_page", "arguments": {"path": "/auth/oauth"}}

# Get code examples
{"tool": "api_get_code_blocks", "arguments": {"path": "/sdk/quickstart"}}

# Refresh content
{"tool": "api_refresh_content", "arguments": {}}

🏗️ Architecture

• SQLite Storage - Fast startup with FTS5 full-text search
• Background Updates - Non-blocking change detection
• Auto-Detection - Domain and keyword extraction
• Parallel Scraping - Configurable concurrency
• Smart Caching - Only updates changed content

Key Components

• GitBookScraper - Web scraping and content extraction
• SQLiteStore - High-performance storage with FTS5 search
• DomainDetector - Automatic domain and keyword detection
• GitBookMCPServer - MCP server with tool handlers
• GitBookRestAPI - HTTP endpoints for web integration

🔧 Development

# Development mode with auto-reload
npm run dev

# Build with auto-detection
npm run build

# Run manual auto-detection
npm run auto-detect

# Clean build (no auto-detection)
npm run build:clean

# Test with MCP Inspector
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node dist/index.js

🌍 Universal GitBook Support

Works with any public GitBook, including:

• API Documentation - Stripe, Twilio, etc.
• Framework Docs - React, Vue, Angular
• Product Guides - Help centers and tutorials
• Developer Resources - SDKs and references
• Company Wikis - Internal documentation

⚡ Performance

• Instant Startup: Sub-second initialization with SQLite cache
• Background Updates: Non-blocking change detection
• Smart Indexing: FTS5 full-text search with ranking
• Efficient Storage: SQLite replaces slow JSON parsing
• Memory Optimized: On-demand loading instead of full memory cache

🚧 Limitations

• Public GitBooks Only - Requires publicly accessible sites
• Static Content - Scrapes published HTML, not API-based
• Manual Refresh - No real-time updates (use refresh tool)
• Text-Focused - Extracts text content, not interactive elements

📄 License

MIT

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Need help? Check the MCP documentation or open an issue.