Docs Researcher

docs-researcher

A Claude Code plugin that provides a documentation research agent. The agent searches official documentation, filters relevant information for the current task, and saves it to .claude/skills/project-knowledge-base/ as a reusable project-local knowledge base skill.

Purpose

This plugin enables Claude to build its own knowledge base for each project. Instead of repeatedly searching for the same documentation, Claude:

1. Initializes the project knowledge base skill (if not exists)
2. Checks .claude/skills/project-knowledge-base/references/ for existing documentation
3. If not found, uses the docs-researcher agent to gather information
4. Saves filtered, task-relevant documentation for future sessions
5. Updates the skill index for easy discovery

Installation

Copy the docs-researcher folder to your Claude Code plugins directory, or reference it in your dotfiles setup.

How It Works

Automatic Initialization

When docs-researcher runs in a new project, it automatically:

1. Creates .claude/skills/project-knowledge-base/ structure
2. Initializes SKILL.md with references index
3. Creates references/ directory for documentation
4. Optionally adds knowledge base section to project's CLAUDE.md
5. Migrates any existing .claude/knowledge/ files (legacy format)

Knowledge Base Skill

The skill created in each project provides:

{project}/
└── .claude/
    └── skills/
        └── project-knowledge-base/
            ├── SKILL.md           # Index with all references
            └── references/
                ├── react-hooks.md
                ├── tanstack-router/    # Tree for large topics (>500 lines)
                │   ├── _index.md
                │   └── route-guards.md
                └── ...

Project Setup

To enable the knowledge-building workflow in a project, add this to your project's CLAUDE.md:

## Knowledge Base

Ten projekt używa `.claude/skills/project-knowledge-base/`.
Przed kodowaniem zapoznaj się ze skillem.

The agent will add this section automatically if it doesn't exist.

Components

Agent: docs-researcher

Autonomous agent that:

• Initializes project knowledge base skill (Step 0)
• Validates research requests (technology, topic, context required)
• Checks existing references before researching
• Uses WebSearch/WebFetch for documentation
• Filters results for relevance
• Saves to standardized knowledge format
• Updates SKILL.md index
• Applies progressive disclosure for large documents (>500 lines)

Model: Haiku (fast, cost-effective for research tasks)

Skill: research-methodology

Provides the agent with:

• WebSearch query patterns for different technology domains
• Source prioritization (official docs first)
• Filtering criteria
• Document template and formatting rules
• Progressive disclosure guidelines

Script: init.js

Node.js script that creates the knowledge base skill structure:

• Creates .claude/skills/project-knowledge-base/
• Initializes SKILL.md with base template
• Creates references/ directory

Knowledge File Format

Files are saved as .claude/skills/project-knowledge-base/references/{technology}-{topic}.md:

---
topic: "React useEffect Cleanup for Subscriptions"
technology: "react"
version: "18.x"
sources:
  - https://react.dev/reference/react/useEffect
created: 2025-01-15
context: "Memory leak in subscription component"
---

Progressive Disclosure

When a reference exceeds 500 lines, it's automatically split into a tree:

references/tanstack-router.md  (>500 lines)
↓ split to
references/tanstack-router/
├── _index.md        # Overview + TOC
├── route-guards.md
├── data-loading.md
└── navigation.md

Migration

Projects with the legacy .claude/knowledge/ format are automatically migrated:

1. Agent detects existing .claude/knowledge/*.md files
2. Copies each file to .claude/skills/project-knowledge-base/references/
3. Adds entries to SKILL.md index
4. Does NOT delete originals - user verifies and removes manually

Directory Structure

docs-researcher/
├── .claude-plugin/
│   └── plugin.json
├── agents/
│   └── docs-researcher.md
├── scripts/
│   └── init.js
├── skills/
│   └── research-methodology/
│       ├── SKILL.md
│       └── references/
│           ├── query-patterns.md
│           └── document-template.md
└── README.md

License

MIT