research
Fetches latest documentation for programming libraries, frameworks, and tools. Use when studying current APIs, best practices, release notes, or feature updates. Triggers for requests like "What's new in React?", "Latest LangChain docs", "Current Docker best practices".
When & Why to Use This Skill
This Claude skill provides a streamlined way to fetch and summarize the most up-to-date documentation for programming libraries, frameworks, and software tools. By integrating real-time web search with specialized documentation plugins, it ensures developers and researchers have immediate access to current API references, latest release notes, and industry best practices, significantly reducing the time spent on manual technical research.
Use Cases
- Version Upgrades: Quickly identify breaking changes, new features, and migration paths when upgrading to the latest versions of frameworks like React, Next.js, or LangChain.
- API Reference Lookup: Retrieve the most recent syntax, parameter details, and code examples for specific library functions to ensure code accuracy and compatibility.
- Best Practices Research: Discover current industry-standard configurations and security best practices for infrastructure tools like Docker, Kubernetes, or Terraform.
- Deprecation Tracking: Proactively check for deprecated methods or packages within a project to plan for future-proof refactoring and maintenance.
| name | research |
|---|---|
| description | Fetches latest documentation for programming libraries, frameworks, and tools. Use when studying current APIs, best practices, release notes, or feature updates. Triggers for requests like "What's new in React?", "Latest LangChain docs", "Current Docker best practices". |
| allowed-tools | WebSearch, WebFetch, Read, Bash(mcp-cli:*) |
Research Latest Documentation
Purpose
Fetch and summarize current documentation to support learning with up-to-date information.
When This Skill Activates
- "What's new in [library]?"
- "Latest docs for [framework]"
- "Current best practices for [tool]"
- "Check deprecations in [package]"
/research [topic]
Research Process
Step 1: Identify Sources
Use Context7 MCP (preferred) for official library docs:
mcp-cli call plugin_context7_context7/resolve-library-id '{"libraryName": "[library]"}'
mcp-cli call plugin_context7_context7/query-docs '{"context7LibraryId": "[id]", "topic": "[topic]"}'
Use WebSearch for:
- Release notes and changelogs
- Blog posts and tutorials
- Comparison articles
Step 2: Fetch Content
- Official documentation pages
- GitHub READMEs and release pages
- Authoritative blog posts
Step 3: Format Output
Always include in response:
### 🔍 Research Sources
**Last Updated:** [YYYY-MM-DD]
**Documentation Version:** [version if applicable]
**Sources:**
- [Source Title](URL) - Brief description
**Note:** Information accurate as of [date]. Check official docs for latest.
Tool Priority
| Priority | Tool | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Context7 MCP | Official library docs, code examples |
| 2nd | WebSearch | Trends, comparisons, release notes |
| 3rd | WebFetch | Specific doc pages, GitHub READMEs |
Example Usage
User: "What's new in React 19?"
Process:
- Query Context7 for React documentation
- WebSearch for "React 19 release notes 2025"
- Summarize key features with version info
- Include source links
Popular Documentation Sources
| Library | Primary Source |
|---|---|
| React | react.dev |
| TypeScript | typescriptlang.org |
| Python | python.org/docs |
| LangChain | python.langchain.com |
| FastAPI | fastapi.tiangolo.com |
| Docker | docs.docker.com |
| Node.js | nodejs.org/docs |