CLI

The ctx7 CLI is the command-line interface for Context7. It does two things:

• Fetch library documentation — resolve any library by name and query its up-to-date docs directly in your terminal, without opening a browser
• Configure your AI coding agent — set up the Context7 MCP server (or a CLI-based docs skill) for Claude Code, Cursor, OpenCode, and more with a single command

The CLI is useful both as a standalone tool (fetching docs while you code) and as a setup utility (wiring up Context7 for your AI coding agent).

Installation#

Requires Node.js 18 or later.

npx ctx7 --helpnpx ctx7 library react

npm install -g ctx7# Verify installationctx7 --version

Query Library Documentation#

Fetching docs is a two-step process: first resolve the library name to get its Context7 ID, then use that ID to query documentation.

Step 1 — ctx7 library#

Searches the Context7 index by name and returns matching libraries. Pass a query describing what you're trying to do — this ranks results by relevance and helps when a library name is ambiguous or shared across multiple packages.

ctx7 library react "How to clean up useEffect with async operations"ctx7 library nextjs "How to set up app router with middleware"ctx7 library prisma "How to define one-to-many relations with cascade delete"

Each result includes:

When multiple results come back, the best match is usually the one with the closest name, highest snippet count, and strongest reputation. If you need docs for a specific version, pick the matching version ID from the list.

# Fetch docs for a specific versionctx7 docs /vercel/next.js/v14.3.0-canary.87 "How to set up app router"# Output as JSON for scriptingctx7 library react "How to use hooks for state management" --json | jq '.[0].id'

Step 2 — ctx7 docs#

Takes a library ID and a natural-language question, and returns relevant code snippets and explanations from the indexed documentation.

ctx7 docs /facebook/react "How to clean up useEffect with async operations"ctx7 docs /vercel/next.js "How to add middleware that redirects unauthenticated users"ctx7 docs /prisma/prisma "How to define one-to-many relations with cascade delete"

Queries work best when they're specific. Describe what you're trying to accomplish rather than using single keywords — "How to set up authentication with JWT in Express.js" returns much better results than "auth".

The output contains two types of content: code snippets (titled, with language-tagged blocks) and info snippets (prose explanations with breadcrumb context). Both are formatted for readability in the terminal.

# Output as structured JSONctx7 docs /facebook/react "How to use hooks for state management" --json# Pipe to other tools — output is clean when not in a TTY (no spinners or colors)ctx7 docs /facebook/react "How to use hooks for state management" | head -50ctx7 docs /vercel/next.js "How to add middleware for route protection" | grep -A 10 "middleware"

Setup#

Configure Context7 for your AI coding agent. On first run, prompts you to choose between two modes:

• MCP server — registers the Context7 MCP server in your agent's config so it can call resolve-library-id and query-docs tools natively
• CLI + Skills — installs a docs skill that guides your agent to fetch up-to-date library docs using ctx7 CLI commands (no MCP required)

ctx7 setup#

# Interactive — prompts for mode, then agent/install targetctx7 setup# Skip the mode promptctx7 setup --mcp            # MCP server modectx7 setup --cli            # CLI + Skills mode# Target a specific agent (MCP mode)ctx7 setup --claudectx7 setup --cursorctx7 setup --opencode# Target a specific install location (CLI + Skills mode)ctx7 setup --cli --claude       # Claude Code (~/.claude/skills)ctx7 setup --cli --cursor       # Cursor (~/.cursor/skills)ctx7 setup --cli --codex        # Codex (~/.agents/skills)ctx7 setup --cli --opencode     # OpenCode (~/.agents/skills)ctx7 setup --cli --antigravity  # Antigravity (~/.agent/skills)# Configure for current project only (default is global)ctx7 setup --project# Skip confirmation promptsctx7 setup --yes# Non-interactive Claude Code setup (stdio transport, no prompts)ctx7 setup --claude --stdio --yes --api-key YOUR_API_KEY

Setup options:

Agent flags and -y/--yes combine freely with --mcp or --stdio, so ctx7 setup --claude --stdio -y runs non-interactively. --stdio cannot be combined with --oauth or with --base-url; --base-url also does not support --cli (see On-premise setup).

Authentication options:

# Use an existing API key (works for both MCP and CLI + Skills mode)ctx7 setup --api-key YOUR_API_KEY# Use OAuth endpoint — MCP mode only (IDE handles the auth flow)ctx7 setup --oauth

Without --api-key or --oauth, setup runs the OAuth device flow: it shows a verification link and short code that you open on any device to sign in, so it works the same locally or on a remote, headless, or SSH host. The device flow returns an API key that setup uses for authentication. --oauth is MCP-only — use it when an IDE handles the auth flow on your behalf.

On-premise setup#

Pass the root URL of your on-premise deployment with --base-url. Do not include /mcp or /api:

# MCP authentication disabled on the deploymentctx7 setup --mcp --base-url https://context7.internal.example --codex# MCP authentication enabled: the CLI requests the personal key with hidden inputctx7 setup --mcp \  --base-url https://context7.internal.example \  --codex# Non-interactive automationCONTEXT7_API_KEY=ctx7op-... ctx7 setup --mcp --yes \  --base-url https://context7.internal.example \  --codex

The CLI checks /api/auth/mcp before writing configuration. It either configures anonymous access or writes Authorization: Bearer <personal-key>. When authentication is enabled and no key was provided, interactive setup requests the key with masked input. Use --api-key or CONTEXT7_API_KEY for non-interactive automation. On-premise setup uses Streamable HTTP and bundled rule/skill content, so the target does not need to serve Context7 Cloud skill endpoints.

When --base-url targets a custom deployment, setup skips the npm update check and telemetry and does not fetch rules or skills from GitHub or Context7 Cloud. After the CLI package is installed, the only network request made by setup is to the configured deployment. In a restricted environment, mirror ctx7 and its dependencies in an internal npm registry and run the installed ctx7 binary instead of npx ctx7@latest.

--base-url currently supports MCP setup only. It cannot be combined with --oauth, --stdio, or --cli for a custom deployment.

What gets written — MCP mode:

What gets written — CLI + Skills mode:

ctx7 remove#

Remove the setup written by ctx7 setup. By default this removes both MCP setup and CLI setup for the selected agent.

# Interactivectx7 remove# Target specific agentsctx7 remove --cursorctx7 remove --claude --project# Remove both setup modes explicitlyctx7 remove --cursor --all# Remove only one setup modectx7 remove --cursor --clictx7 remove --claude --mcp

If you installed the CLI itself with npm install -g ctx7, remove that separately with npm uninstall -g ctx7. If you run Context7 with npx ctx7, there is no permanent CLI install to remove.

Authentication#

Most commands work without authentication. Log in to unlock higher rate limits on documentation commands.

Commands#

# Log in (opens browser for OAuth)ctx7 login# Log in without opening the browser (prints URL instead)ctx7 login --no-browser# Check current login statusctx7 whoami# Log outctx7 logout

API Key#

Set an API key via environment variable to skip interactive login entirely — useful for CI or scripting:

export CONTEXT7_API_KEY=your_key

When is authentication required?#

Telemetry#

The CLI collects anonymous usage data to help improve the product. To disable:

# For a single commandCTX7_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1 ctx7 docs /facebook/react "useEffect examples"# Permanently — add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrcexport CTX7_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1

Next Steps#