deepwiki

Search and retrieve comprehensive documentation from DeepWiki for popular GitHub repositories.

Overview

DeepWiki (https://deepwiki.com/) provides AI-generated, navigable documentation for 300+ popular GitHub repositories. This skill enables you to:

1. Search for repositories in DeepWiki via API
2. Fetch documentation using mcporter MCP tools
3. Retrieve architecture guides, API references, and usage patterns

Quick Start

Search for a Repository

# Search for a specific repository
SEARCH_TERM="fastapi"
RESULTS=$(bash -c "curl -s 'https://api.devin.ai/ada/list_public_indexes?search_repo=$SEARCH_TERM'")
echo "$RESULTS" | jq '.indices[0]'

Retrieve Documentation

# List available DeepWiki MCP tools
npx mcporter list https://mcp.deepwiki.com/mcp

# Fetch documentation for a repository
npx mcporter call https://mcp.deepwiki.com/mcp <tool-name> --args '{"org":"tiangolo","repo":"fastapi"}'

How It Works

1. Repository Search

Search the DeepWiki index for repositories using the public API:

# API endpoint
https://api.devin.ai/ada/list_public_indexes?search_repo=SEARCH_TERM

# Returns JSON with indexed repositories

API Response format:

{
  "indices": [
    {
      "id": "v1.9.9.5/PUBLIC/{org}/{repo}/{hash}",
      "repo_name": "{org}/{repo}",
      "last_modified": "2025-07-24T12:38:46.745692+00:00",
      "description": "...",
      "stargazers_count": 70369,
      "language": "JavaScript",
      "topics": ["tag1", "tag2"]
    }
  ],
  "needs_reindex": [],
  "pending_repos": []
}

Selection strategy:

• Sort by: highest stars → most recent update → exact name match
• Use best match for documentation retrieval

Handling no results: If repo not found in DeepWiki, inform user: "Repository not indexed in DeepWiki. Available similar repos: [list alternatives if any]"

2. Discover MCP Tools

Use mcporter to list available tools from the DeepWiki MCP server:

# List all available DeepWiki MCP tools
npx mcporter list https://mcp.deepwiki.com/mcp

This shows available tools for fetching different types of documentation (API references, guides, examples, etc.).

3. Fetch Documentation

Use mcporter to call DeepWiki MCP tools with repository information:

# Call MCP tool to fetch documentation
npx mcporter call https://mcp.deepwiki.com/mcp <tool-name> --args '{"org":"<org>","repo":"<repo>"}'

Common Use Cases

Look Up API Documentation

# Search for a library
curl -s 'https://api.devin.ai/ada/list_public_indexes?search_repo=axios' | jq '.indices[0]'

# Fetch documentation with mcporter
npx mcporter call https://mcp.deepwiki.com/mcp get_documentation --args '{"org":"axios","repo":"axios"}'

Find Architecture Patterns

# Search for a framework
curl -s 'https://api.devin.ai/ada/list_public_indexes?search_repo=django' | jq '.indices[0]'

# Retrieve architectural guides
npx mcporter call https://mcp.deepwiki.com/mcp get_architecture --args '{"org":"django","repo":"django"}'

Explore Usage Examples

# Search for a tool
curl -s 'https://api.devin.ai/ada/list_public_indexes?search_repo=kubernetes' | jq '.indices[0]'

# Get common patterns and examples
npx mcporter call https://mcp.deepwiki.com/mcp get_examples --args '{"org":"kubernetes","repo":"kubernetes"}'

Query Optimization

Exact match searches: Include the exact repository name for better results

search_repo=fastapi  # Good: exact match
search_repo=fast    # Less optimal: partial match

Multi-word searches: Use underscores or dashes (as they appear on GitHub)

search_repo=machine-learning-models
search_repo=computer_vision

Sorting results: Results are automatically sorted by relevance; use jq to filter:

# Get top 5 results by stars
echo "$RESULTS" | jq '.indices | sort_by(-(.stargazers_count // 0)) | .[0:5]'

# Get most recently updated
echo "$RESULTS" | jq '.indices | sort_by(-(.last_modified // "")) | .[0]'

Limitations & Notes

• Coverage: Only 300 most popular repositories indexed
• Quality: DeepWiki docs are AI-generated; quality varies by repo
• Selection: Multi-repo matches use automatic selection (stars → recency → name)
• Errors: Non-indexed repos inform user; no fallback to other sources

Troubleshooting

Q: Repository not found in DeepWiki A: Only 300 most popular repos are indexed. Check if repo is in top 300 by stars on GitHub.

Q: Documentation seems incomplete A: DeepWiki docs are AI-generated. Check the original GitHub repo for complete documentation.

Q: mcporter command fails A: Ensure mcporter is installed: npm install -g mcporter. Check that the MCP server URL is correct.

Q: What's the difference between DeepWiki and other documentation sources? A: DeepWiki specializes in comprehensive architecture and design documentation for popular repos. Use Context7 for quick code snippets and implementation details.

Quick Reference

Search a Repository

bash -c "curl -s 'https://api.devin.ai/ada/list_public_indexes?search_repo=fastapi'" | jq '.indices[0]'

List DeepWiki MCP Tools

npx mcporter list https://mcp.deepwiki.com/mcp

Call DeepWiki MCP Tool

npx mcporter call https://mcp.deepwiki.com/mcp <tool-name> --args '{"org":"<org>","repo":"<repo>"}'

Extract Repository Info

# Extract org and repo name from search results
RESULT=$(bash -c "curl -s 'https://api.devin.ai/ada/list_public_indexes?search_repo=fastapi'")
REPO_NAME=$(echo "$RESULT" | jq -r '.indices[0].repo_name')
ORG=$(echo "$REPO_NAME" | cut -d'/' -f1)
REPO=$(echo "$REPO_NAME" | cut -d'/' -f2)
echo "org=$ORG, repo=$REPO"