looking-up-docs git:20260602.dc017c0B

Immutable. This exact content is served forever at /api/v1/blob/5686821631998d70.

---
description:
  Find current, version-correct library/API/framework docs through one lookup
  workflow. Use when the user says "look up docs", "how to use",
  "API for", "syntax for", "examples of", "show me the docs", mentions
  "ctx7"/"Context7", passes a `/org/project` library ID, or wants the
  latest/current/actual behavior of a library, framework, CLI, or API. NOT for
  comparisons, best-practice surveys, or recent ecosystem news — use
  researching-web.
name: looking-up-docs
---

# Documentation Lookup

Get grounded, version-correct docs for a library, framework, CLI, or API.
Never answer syntax or API questions from memory when lookup tools are available.

## Scope

Use this skill for:

- API signatures, options, config keys, syntax, and examples.
- Version-specific behavior of a known library, framework, language, CLI, or
  standard library.
- Context7 docs lookup, including explicit `ctx7`, `Context7`, or `/org/project`
  library-ID requests.
- Confirming current behavior before writing code against an external API.

Do not use this skill for:

- Comparisons, recommendations, market research, or best-practice surveys; route
  to `researching-web`.
- Repo-specific questions; search local files first.
- External queries containing secrets, credentials, personal data, private
  payloads, or proprietary code.

## Reference Files

Read only what the question needs:

- `references/context7-cli.md` — Context7 lookup commands, selection rules,
  limits, and fallbacks.
- `references/official-sources.md` — primary docs and registries by ecosystem.
- `references/web-tools.md` — platform web tools, query templates, and source
  quality rules.

## Lookup Chain

Run tiers in order. Stop at the first tier that yields a grounded answer. State
which tier produced the answer and whether fallback was used.

### Tier 0 — Identify Package and Version

Find the exact package, module, CLI, language version, or framework version from
local evidence.

If no local version is available, state `version unknown` and prefer latest
stable official docs. Do not invent a version.

### Tier 1 — Context7

Use `references/context7-cli.md` for Context7 library resolution and docs fetch.
Best fit: versioned library and framework docs.

Escalate when Context7 is unavailable, rate-limited, returns no useful match
after one rephrase and one alternate library name, or returns docs for the wrong
version.

### Tier 2 — Official Docs and Registries

Use `references/official-sources.md` for language standard libraries, package
registries, and canonical project docs. Prefer primary docs or registry-linked
docs for the exact version.

Use web tools only for source discovery. Ground final syntax in URL-cited primary
sources.

### Tier 3 — GitHub Releases, Tags, and Source

Use GitHub only when primary docs or registry links are missing, incomplete, or
version-mismatched. Follow `references/official-sources.md` fallback rules.

Do not treat random issues, PR comments, blogs, or generated summaries as
authoritative API docs. Use them only as clues to primary sources.

### Tier 4 — Broad Research or Gap Report

Use broad Perplexity/web research only when focused docs lookup fails or the
question becomes a comparison/trade-off. If no grounded source exists, report the
gap, the version needed vs found, and the safest next step.

## Limits and Failure Handling

- Never send secrets, credentials, private payloads, personal data, or
  proprietary code to any external tier.
- Always use a real, specific query; never use a one-word placeholder.
- Do not loop a tier indefinitely: one rephrase and one alternate name per tier,
  then escalate.
- If docs are version-mismatched, state the mismatch and escalate to exact-version
  registry docs, release notes, or matching GitHub tag/source.
- If all tiers fail, report the gap and do not fabricate syntax.
- If external lookup would expose private data, refuse the external query and
  answer from local context only, noting the limitation.

## Response Contract

Return a concise answer, not a workflow transcript, unless the user asks for the
lookup process.

Include:

1. Library/framework/API and version, or `version unknown`.
2. Tier that produced the answer, and fallback used if any.
3. Syntax or example guidance grounded in the source.
4. Source URL, Context7 library ID, or GitHub tag/source path for each claim.
5. Boundary note when the request is actually comparison or broad research.

If the user asks to describe the workflow, describe the tiers and escalation
rules instead of answering from memory.