Microsoft Docs

Microsoft Docs

Research skill for the Microsoft technology ecosystem. Covers learn.microsoft.com and documentation that lives outside it (VS Code, GitHub, Aspire, Agent Framework repos).

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Default: Microsoft Learn MCP

Use these tools for everything on learn.microsoft.com — Azure, .NET, M365, Power Platform, Agent Framework, Semantic Kernel, Windows, and more. This is the primary tool for the vast majority of Microsoft documentation queries.

Tool	Purpose
microsoft_docs_search	Search learn.microsoft.com — concepts, guides, tutorials, configuration
microsoft_code_sample_search	Find working code snippets from Learn docs. Pass language (python, csharp, etc.) for best results
microsoft_docs_fetch	Get full page content from a specific URL (when search excerpts aren't enough)

Use microsoft_docs_fetch after search when you need complete tutorials, all config options, or when search excerpts are truncated.

CLI Alternative

If the Learn MCP server is not available, use the mslearn CLI from your terminal or shell (for example, Bash, PowerShell, or cmd) instead:

# Run directly (no install needed)
npx @microsoft/learn-cli search "BlobClient UploadAsync Azure.Storage.Blobs"

# Or install globally, then run
npm install -g @microsoft/learn-cli
mslearn search "BlobClient UploadAsync Azure.Storage.Blobs"

MCP Tool	CLI Command
microsoft_docs_search(query: "...")	mslearn search "..."
microsoft_code_sample_search(query: "...", language: "...")	mslearn code-search "..." --language ...
microsoft_docs_fetch(url: "...")	mslearn fetch "..."

Pass --json to search or code-search to get raw JSON output for further processing.

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Exceptions: When to Use Other Tools

The following categories live outside learn.microsoft.com. Use the specified tool instead.

.NET Aspire — Use Aspire MCP Server (preferred) or Context7

Aspire docs live on aspire.dev, not Learn. The best tool depends on your Aspire CLI version:

CLI 13.2+ (recommended) — The Aspire MCP server includes built-in docs search tools:

MCP Tool	Description
list_docs	Lists all available documentation from aspire.dev
search_docs	Weighted lexical search across aspire.dev content
get_doc	Retrieves a specific document by slug

These ship in Aspire CLI 13.2 (PR #14028). To update: aspire update --self --channel daily. Ref: https://davidpine.dev/posts/aspire-docs-mcp-tools/

CLI 13.1 — The MCP server provides integration lookup (list_integrations, get_integration_docs) but not docs search. Fall back to Context7:

Library ID	Use for
/microsoft/aspire.dev	Primary — guides, integrations, CLI reference, deployment
/dotnet/aspire	Runtime source — API internals, implementation details
/communitytoolkit/aspire	Community integrations — Go, Java, Node.js, Ollama

VS Code — Use Context7

VS Code docs live on code.visualstudio.com, not Learn.

Library ID	Use for
/websites/code_visualstudio	User docs — settings, features, debugging, remote dev
/websites/code_visualstudio_api	Extension API — webviews, TreeViews, commands, contribution points

GitHub — Use Context7

GitHub docs live on docs.github.com and cli.github.com.

Library ID	Use for
/websites/github_en	Actions, API, repos, security, admin, Copilot
/websites/cli_github	GitHub CLI (gh) commands and flags

Agent Framework — Use Learn MCP + Context7

Agent Framework tutorials are on learn.microsoft.com (use microsoft_docs_search), but the GitHub repo has API-level detail that is often ahead of published docs — particularly DevUI REST API reference, CLI options, and .NET integration.

Library ID	Use for
/websites/learn_microsoft_en-us_agent-framework	Tutorials — DevUI guides, tracing, workflow orchestration
/microsoft/agent-framework	API detail — DevUI REST endpoints, CLI flags, auth, .NET AddDevUI/MapDevUI

DevUI tip: Query the Learn website source for how-to guides, then the repo source for API-level specifics (endpoint schemas, proxy config, auth tokens).

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Context7 Setup

For any Context7 query, resolve the library ID first (one-time per session):

1. Call mcp_context7_resolve-library-id with the technology name
2. Call mcp_context7_query-docs with the returned library ID and a specific query

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Writing Effective Queries

Be specific — include version, intent, and language:

# ❌ Too broad
"Azure Functions"
"agent framework"

# ✅ Specific
"Azure Functions Python v2 programming model"
"Cosmos DB partition key design best practices"
"GitHub Actions workflow_dispatch inputs matrix strategy"
"Aspire AddUvicornApp Python FastAPI integration"
"DevUI serve agents tracing OpenTelemetry directory discovery"
"Agent Framework workflow conditional edges branching handoff"

Include context:

• Version when relevant (.NET 8, Aspire 13, VS Code 1.96)
• Task intent (quickstart, tutorial, overview, limits, API reference)
• Language for polyglot docs (Python, TypeScript, C#)