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doctrove — Versioned library documentation retrieval (agent toolset)

doctrove is a versioned documentation retrieval plugin for coding agents: it maintains a "library documentation catalog index", letting agents fetch accurate, versioned, traceable API documentation snippets on demand while writing code — instead of guessing API usage from training memory — and thereby avoiding "APIs that don't exist in the docs", "outdated signatures", and "fabricated parameters".

• Zero runtime dependencies: uses only Node.js built-ins (fetch, node:test), runs without installing any package;
• Standard MCP stdio server: any MCP-capable client (dsh, Claude Code, Codex, opencode, etc.) can connect;
• Built for dsh: ships a dsh bundle (cordis.patch.yml + a self-built bridge plugin), one-step integration via dsh plugin add, tools automatically appear in the model's tool list (mcp__doctrove__*);
• Versioned: every entry carries multiple documentation volumes, supporting "latest stable / exact version / prefix version (4 → 4.21.x)" selection;
• Scored, ranked results: entry retrieval and documentation snippets both carry 0–1 relevance scores and hit signals, so the model can verify "why it ranked first";
• Offline-capable: ships with a built-in local demo index (data/index.json), runs without networking or remote sources;
• Self-hostable remote index: the index is an open JSON format that can be hosted on any static hosting (a zero-dependency hosting script is included);
• Smart caching: TTL + LRU in-memory cache, remote index and query results expire automatically per configuration, --no-cache disables it in one shot;
• Graceful degradation: when the remote index is unreachable, falls back to the local index automatically, results are tagged with source so the agent can tell data provenance.

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Quick start

Method A: connect directly from any MCP client

# Requires Node.js >= 18.17; no arguments means offline mode (built-in index)
node src/entry.js

Example config line using the official dsh bridge (also applies to Claude Code / Codex MCP config):

# dsh: insert into $DSH_HOME/profiles/<profile>/cordis.patch.yml
- insert:
    - id: mcp-doctrove
      name: '@deepseek-ai/dsh-mcp-client'
      config:
        serverName: doctrove
        transport: stdio
        command: node
        args: ['/absolute/path/src/entry.js']

Once connected, the model sees 3 tools: catalog_lookup, catalog_releases, doc_extract (generic MCP clients see the bare names; in the dsh scenario they carry the mcp__doctrove__ prefix, see below).

Method B: install as a dsh plugin bundle (recommended)

This plugin is declared as a dsh bundle (the dsh.bundle field in package.json). Run the following in the plugin checkout directory:

dsh plugin --profile web add .

• On first use it automatically initializes the web profile and adds this package to dsh.profile.bundles;
• The doctrove/bridge plugin defined in cordis.patch.yml spawns this MCP server inside the dsh process, and after the handshake registers all tools into ctx.tools, no manual config changes needed;
• Offline-capable: the built-in index is loaded by default; to use a remote index, configure args: ['--index-url', ...] on the bridge line (see below);
• Uninstall: dsh plugin --profile web remove doctrove.

Installing in DSH

dsh plugin --profile demo add github:JohnXu22786/docs-retriever

• demo is a dsh profile: it is created automatically on first use, and the package is added to dsh.profile.bundles;
• The cordis.patch.yml inside the package defines the doctrove/bridge plugin, which starts this MCP server within the dsh process and registers all tools into ctx.tools after the handshake — no manual configuration needed;
• Offline-capable out of the box: the built-in index is loaded by default; configure args: ['--index-url', ...] on the bridge line to use a remote index (see below);
• Removal:

dsh plugin --profile demo remove doctrove

After installing, restart dsh, then in a session you can simply say:

"Write an Express 5 endpoint with :id route params and a JSON response — look up the exact route-param syntax first"

The corresponding tool call chain: mcp__doctrove__catalog_lookup (confirm express) → mcp__doctrove__doc_extract (id=express, focus=route parameters).

Note: dsh enables no MCP servers by default (every server command is trusted code executed outside the sandbox), and this plugin's bundle line is the "enable" action itself; only install plugins you trust.

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dsh integration notes (how the pluginized harness loads it)

dsh uses the Cordis plugin framework, and the composition unit is a bundle: an npm package + a patch layer. The loading chain is:

package.json（dsh.bundle.patch → ./cordis.patch.yml）
  └─ one line in cordis.patch.yml: name: 'doctrove/bridge'
       └─ src/bridge/plugin.js（Cordis plugin, inject: ['tools']）
            ├─ spawns src/entry.js with Node itself（MCP server subprocess, stdio）
            ├─ completes the initialize / tools/list handshake
            └─ registers each tool as mcp__doctrove__<toolname> into ctx.tools

• Tool interface: the model-visible tool names are mcp__<serverName>__<raw tool name>, serverName defaults to doctrove;
• Events/skills: this plugin registers no events or skills; it exposes capabilities only through the ctx.tools tool interface (read-only tools, no side effects);
• Lifecycle: the handshake and registration happen during the plugin's apply; on unload the subprocess is killed and all tools are deregistered automatically (registered via ctx.effect cleanup, no leftovers after hot reload/unload);
• Two bridge options: the self-built bridge doctrove/bridge bundled with this package (zero-dependency, works out of the box) and the official @deepseek-ai/dsh-mcp-client config line (see examples/overlay-for-dsh.yml.example); tool naming and behavior are identical — pick either one, don't enable both;
• Environment variables: dsh filters credential-like variables from MCP subprocess environments; the self-built bridge's subprocess inherits the host environment, so DOCTROVE_INDEX_URL and similar pass through, and can also be set explicitly with env: on the bridge line.

Common dsh issues

Symptom	Fix
Tools missing from the list	Check that the cordis.patch.yml line took effect (dsh --profile <name> --dump-config to inspect layers), confirm no startup log errors
Want a remote index	Configure args: ['--index-url', 'https://your-index-url'] on the bridge line (directory root), or env: { DOCTROVE_INDEX_URL: '...' }
Want looser caching	Configure args: ['--cache-ttl', '3600'] on the bridge line; use --no-cache for testing/debugging
pnpm >=10 rejects git-installed prepare scripts	This plugin is pure JS with no build script, so it is not affected; install from checkout or tarball

---

Tool list (3 tools, all read-only)

Tool	Purpose	Main parameters
catalog_lookup	Search the doc catalog by name/description, return candidates with scores and hit signals	query (required), limit
catalog_releases	List available and recommended versions of an entry	id (required)
doc_extract	Extract doc snippets for an entry/version/focus (relevance-ranked)	id (required), version, focus, maxSections

catalog_lookup

Search the doc catalog. When unsure of a library's canonical id, call this first, then use the returned id with doc_extract.

// request
{ "query": "express", "limit": 5 }
// response (structuredContent summary)
{
  "results": [{
    "id": "express", "name": "Express", "summary": "Minimal web framework for Node.js",
    "score": 1.0, "matches": ["exact name match"],
    "versions": ["5.1.0", "4.21.2"], "latest": "5.1.0", "source": "local:.../data/index.json"
  }],
  "total": 1, "sources": ["local:.../data/index.json"]
}

catalog_releases

View an entry's version list and recommended version, useful for checking whether a target version is available (doc_extract supports the same version syntax).

{ "id": "express" }
// → { "id": "express", "name": "Express", "latest": "5.1.0",
//     "versions": ["5.1.0", "4.21.2"], "source": "local:..." }

doc_extract

Extract documentation. focus describes one concept at a time (e.g. "route parameters"); split cross-concept questions into multiple calls to avoid diluted results; version defaults to the latest stable release.

{ "id": "express", "version": "5", "focus": "wildcard" }
// → {
//     "id": "express", "name": "Express", "version": "5.1.0",
//     "releaseKind": "prefix", "releaseNote": "prefix match 5.x → latest 5.x release",
//     "sections": [{ "heading": "Wildcard routes", "score": 0.5, "matches": ["heading hit: 1 word"], ... }],
//     "source": "local:..."
//   }

Errors are always structured isError results, with error.code taking one of: validation / not-found / version / network / timeout / internal, and message carrying actionable hints (e.g. candidate versions when the requested one is unavailable). Parameter-validation failures are likewise folded into isError (rather than the protocol-level -32602), so the model sees a structured error code in one call and can self-correct.

---

Scoring and ranking algorithm

Entry retrieval (catalog_lookup)

Score = signal-tier score + popularity fine-tuning, both capped at 1.0:

Signal	Base score	Notes
Exact name match (case-insensitive)	1.0	name or id exactly equals the query
Exact alias match	0.95	e.g. query expressjs hits an alias
Name prefix match	0.90	e.g. query expr
Alias prefix match	0.85
Name token overlap	0.60–0.83	proportional to hit tokens; ceiling deliberately below the alias-prefix tier to keep tier order invariant
Summary token overlap	0.30–0.50	when the name is completely unrelated

• Popularity fine-tuning = (1 − raw) × min(0.1, log₁₀(popularity)/100), applied only within the headroom of the current signal tier, so "exact > alias > prefix > token overlap" can never be inverted by popularity;
• Tokenization: English by word, Chinese per character (space-less languages);
• Ties are broken by popularity, descending (stable sort).

Doc snippet ranking (doc_extract focus)

• Snippet score = (2 × heading hit words + body hit words) / (2 × query words);
• Heading hits count double the body; zero-hit snippets are filtered out; truncated past maxSections;
• Without focus, snippets return in the index's original order.

Version selection (catalog_releases / doc_extract version)

latest / default → latest stable release (or latest prerelease when no stable exists); exact version → unique match (a v/V prefix is tolerated; build metadata such as +build.2 does not participate in comparison); prefix (5 / 5.1 / 5.1.x / 5.1.*) → latest release matching the prefix; prerelease identifiers compare per semver rules (rc.10 > rc.9); no match → version error with a candidate list attached.

---

Caching strategy

• One TTL + LRU in-memory cache per process (default 256 entries, 600 s lifetime), caching: remote index fetches and query results; the local index itself is parsed once per process (static data);
• TTL is configurable: --cache-ttl <sec> (0–86400, 0 = disabled), --no-cache is a shortcut for disabled;
• Failure cooldown (negative caching): after a remote index fetch fails, a 30-second cooldown kicks in during which the plugin falls back to local and does not repeat the network request (avoiding a timeout wait on every query while the source is down); after the cooldown it retries automatically and heals itself once the source recovers. The cooldown timing is independent of the cache TTL (a --cache-ttl shorter than the cooldown does not cut it short); it does not apply under --no-cache / --cache-ttl 0 (every failure then really retries);
• LRU evicts by access order; cache stats (hits/misses/evictions) are printed to stderr at exit with --debug;
• Local-index cold start is free (synchronous read); after the first remote fetch, all queries hit the cache.

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Offline mode and remote index

Offline mode (default)

Without --index-url the plugin is fully offline: it uses the built-in data/index.json (3 demo entries: Express 5.1/4.21 dual versions, Zod 3.24/3.23, Day.js 1.11, including a version-difference demo). The built-in index can be replaced with your own (--local-index <path>), see the format below.

Remote index

The index is an open JSON format hostable on any static HTTP service (GitHub Pages, object storage, intranet file servers all work):

index URL（--index-url / DOCTROVE_INDEX_URL，the URL of the directory containing index.json）
   └─ <url>/index.json   ← fetched by the plugin along this path

Minimal local hosting (zero dependencies, supports ETag conditional requests; by default listens on the local loopback only — change host yourself to expose on LAN):

node scripts/serve-index.mjs [dir] [port]   # default ./data, port 8730
node src/entry.js --index-url http://localhost:8730

Relationship between remote and local: remote first, local as fallback. When the remote fetch fails (offline/timeout/non-2xx/invalid format), the plugin degrades to the local index and keeps serving; every entry and result carries a source tag so the model can judge data freshness.

Index format specification

{
  "format": "doctrove-index@1",          // required, versioned format identifier
  "updatedAt": "2026-08-16T00:00:00.000Z",
  "entries": [{
    "id": "express",                      // required, canonical id (globally unique)
    "name": "Express",                    // required, display name
    "summary": "Minimal web framework for Node.js",
    "aliases": ["expressjs"],             // search aliases (array of strings)
    "homepage": "https://expressjs.com",
    "popularity": 1200,                   // popularity weight (scoring fine-tuning)
    "versions": ["5.1.0", "4.21.2"],      // required, available versions
    "volumes": {                          // required, version → documentation volume
      "5.1.0": {
        "summary": "highlights of this version (optional)",
        "sections": [{                    // required, doc snippets (elements must be non-array objects)
          "heading": "Route handlers",    // snippet title (2x ranking weight)
          "path": "https://expressjs.com/en/5x/api.html#app.METHOD",  // provenance link (optional)
          "body": "snippet body (may include code examples)"
        }]
      }
    }
  }]
}

Validation rules: format must be doctrove-index@1; entries must be an array; id/name non-empty and id unique; aliases must be an array of strings; every version in versions must have a matching volumes volume, and a volume's sections must be a valid array of objects. Invalid indexes are rejected (remote sources report network and degrade to local; local sources report config and exit).

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Configuration reference

Precedence: command line > environment variables > config file > defaults.

Setting	CLI	Environment variable	Config file key	Default
Remote index URL	--index-url <url>	DOCTROVE_INDEX_URL	indexUrl	none (offline)
Local index path	--local-index <path>	DOCTROVE_LOCAL_INDEX	localIndex	built-in data/index.json
Cache lifetime (s)	--cache-ttl <sec> / --no-cache	DOCTROVE_CACHE_TTL	cacheTtl	600
Remote timeout (ms)	--timeout-ms <ms>	DOCTROVE_TIMEOUT_MS	timeoutMs	15000
Debug logging	--debug	DOCTROVE_DEBUG	debug	false
Config file	--config <path>	DOCTROVE_CONFIG	—	none

The config file is JSON (example: examples/doctrove.config.example.json). All configuration is read-only: the plugin performs no writes and persists no local state. Empty-string environment variables count as unset (defaults apply); cacheTtl: 0 is a valid value (cache disabled).

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Testing

node --test        # 105 cases: scoring/versions/cache/config/JSON-RPC/engine/e2e/index hosting

Coverage: scoring-ranking boundaries (tier order can never be inverted by popularity), version selection (latest/exact/prefix/prerelease/ build metadata), multi-source merge and degradation self-healing, failure cooldown, cache TTL/LRU, config precedence plus invalid values and empty strings, MCP protocol (uninitialized gate, version negotiation, error folding, conflicting messages), subprocess-level end-to-end (handshake + 3 tools + error paths + graceful exit), index hosting (ETag/304/traversal protection/symlink escape/malformed encodings).

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Directory structure

src/
  entry.js            CLI entry: config → assembly → stdio MCP session
  core/               config (layered config), errors (unified error model), version
  vault/ttl.js        TTL + LRU in-memory cache
  catalog/            scoring (scoring/ranking), releases (version selection), store (catalog hub)
  supply/provider.js  data sources: LocalSource / RemoteSource + index validation
  protocol/           jsonrpc / engine (MCP session engine) / transport (stdio line protocol)
  tools/              registry (registry + parameter validation), definitions (3 tools)
  bridge/             plugin.js (dsh Cordis plugin), client.js (MCP stdio client)
data/index.json       built-in offline index (demo data, replaceable)
scripts/serve-index.mjs  zero-dependency index hosting script
test/                 105 test cases

License

MIT (see LICENSE).