microsoft-docs

Microsoft Docs

Tools

Tool	Use For
microsoft_docs_search	Find documentation—concepts, guides, tutorials, configuration
microsoft_docs_fetch	Get full page content (when search excerpts aren't enough)

When to Use

• Understanding concepts — "How does Cosmos DB partitioning work?"
• Learning a service — "Azure Functions overview", "Container Apps architecture"
• Finding tutorials — "quickstart", "getting started", "step-by-step"
• Configuration options — "App Service configuration settings"
• Limits & quotas — "Azure OpenAI rate limits", "Service Bus quotas"
• Best practices — "Azure security best practices"

Query Effectiveness

Good queries are specific:

# ❌ Too broad
"Azure Functions"

# ✅ Specific
"Azure Functions Python v2 programming model"
"Cosmos DB partition key design best practices"
"Container Apps scaling rules KEDA"

Include context:

• Version when relevant (.NET 8, EF Core 8)
• Task intent (quickstart, tutorial, overview, limits)
• Platform for multi-platform docs (Linux, Windows)

When to Fetch Full Page

Fetch after search when:

• Tutorials — need complete step-by-step instructions
• Configuration guides — need all options listed
• Deep dives — user wants comprehensive coverage
• Search excerpt is cut off — full context needed

Why Use This

• Accuracy — live docs, not training data that may be outdated
• Completeness — tutorials have all steps, not fragments
• Authority — official Microsoft documentation

CLI Alternative

If the Learn MCP server is not available, use the mslearn CLI from the command line instead:

# Run directly (no install needed)
npx @microsoft/learn-cli search "azure functions timeout"

# Or install globally, then run
npm install -g @microsoft/learn-cli
mslearn search "azure functions timeout"

MCP Tool	CLI Command
microsoft_docs_search(query: "...")	mslearn search "..."
microsoft_docs_fetch(url: "...")	mslearn fetch "..."

The fetch command also supports --section <heading> to extract a single section and --max-chars <number> to truncate output.