Environment Setup

This page walks you through verifying your environment, installing DocuMCP, and connecting it to your AI client. After this page you will be ready to start the Getting Started tutorial.

Prerequisites

Required Versions

Tool	Minimum version	Check
Node.js	20.0.0	node --version
npm	latest stable	npm --version
Git	latest stable	git --version

Verify each one now:

node --version
# expected: v20.x.x or higher

npm --version
# expected: 10.x.x or higher

git --version
# expected: git version 2.x.x

If Node.js is below v20, use nvm or the Node.js official installer to upgrade.

---

Install DocuMCP

Option A — npm global install (recommended)

npm install -g documcp

Verify the install:

npx documcp --version

You should see 1.0.0 (or higher).

Option B — Build from source

Use this if you want to contribute to DocuMCP or work with the latest unreleased code.

git clone https://github.com/tosin2013/documcp.git
cd documcp
npm install
npm run build

When using Option B, set the command and args in your MCP client config to point directly to the built file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "documcp": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/documcp/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

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Configure Your AI Client

Pick the config for your client and add it to the correct file, then restart the application.

Claude Desktop

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json Linux: ~/.config/claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "documcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["documcp"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor

~/.cursor/mcp.json (or Settings > MCP in the UI)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "documcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["documcp"]
    }
  }
}

VS Code (GitHub Copilot)

settings.json (open via Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + P → Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON))

{
  "mcp.servers": {
    "documcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["documcp"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code (CLI)

If you are using Claude Code from the terminal, register DocuMCP with a single command.

npm install (global):

claude mcp add documcp -- npx documcp

git clone / local build (replace the path with wherever you cloned the repo):

claude mcp add documcp -- node /path/to/documcp/dist/index.js

Verify the registration:

claude mcp list

No restart needed — Claude Code picks up new MCP servers immediately.

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Verify the Connection

After restarting your AI client, send this prompt:

What tools does DocuMCP provide?

A healthy server responds with a list of available tools. If you get an error:

1. Confirm npx documcp --version prints 1.0.0 in your terminal
2. Confirm the config file is valid JSON (use jsonlint.com to check)
3. Fully quit and reopen your AI client (not just a window close)
4. Check the AI client logs for MCP server startup errors

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GitHub Token Setup (Optional)

Some DocuMCP features — such as creating GitHub Actions workflows — work without a token. If you want DocuMCP to interact with GitHub's API (checking repository settings, verifying Actions permissions, etc.), provide a token.

Create a token

1. Go to github.com/settings/tokens
2. Click Generate new token (classic)
3. Select scopes: repo, workflow, read:org
4. Copy the token

Pass it to DocuMCP

Add it as an environment variable in your MCP config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "documcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["documcp"],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_TOKEN": "ghp_yourTokenHere"
      }
    }
  }
}

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Next Steps

Your environment is ready. Continue with the Getting Started tutorial to run your first repository analysis and set up documentation.