Ref Tools MCP Server

by ref-tools Your server? Claim it

local only

Ref Tools MCP runs on your own machine — the client starts it, so there is no endpoint to ping. 1 347 installs a week from npm. Last commit 29 Sep 2026.

Token efficient search for coding agents over public and private documentation.

Installs per day peak 258 · avg 113 · -49% w/w

a month agotoday

1 347

Installs / week

npm · ref-tools-mcp

1 183

Stars

5 open issues

29 Sep 2026

Last commit

no releases in 90 days

MIT

License

TypeScript

Nothing serious here today

Today is the operative word: we check Ref Tools MCP every 15 minutes and re-read its code on every release. Watch it and you find out the day that stops being true.

Connect this server

This server runs on your own machine — install it with the package manager and the client starts it for you. Package name taken from the official registry entry.

Claude Code Claude Desktop Codex Cursor VS Code

run in your terminal

claude mcp add ref-tools-mcp -e 'REF_API_KEY=<REF_API_KEY>' -- npx -y ref-tools-mcp

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ref-tools-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "ref-tools-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "REF_API_KEY": "<REF_API_KEY>"
      }
    }
  }
}

~/.codex/config.toml

[mcp_servers.ref-tools-mcp]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "ref-tools-mcp"]
env = { REF_API_KEY = "<REF_API_KEY>" }

.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ref-tools-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "ref-tools-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "REF_API_KEY": "<REF_API_KEY>"
      }
    }
  }
}

.vscode/mcp.json

{
  "servers": {
    "ref-tools-mcp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "ref-tools-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "REF_API_KEY": "<REF_API_KEY>"
      }
    }
  }
}

Put your own value in place of <REF_API_KEY> (Your API key for Ref). The author’s registry entry marks it as required.

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Ref Tools MCP — questions

Answers built from our own checks of this server.

Why is there no uptime for Ref Tools MCP?

Ref Tools MCP runs on your own machine over stdio — there is no network address to reach, so uptime cannot be measured for it by anyone. What can be measured is adoption: the npm package ref-tools-mcp was installed 1 347 times last week.

How do I connect Ref Tools MCP?

Copy the ready config from this page. We generate it for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor and VS Code, each in the form that client actually reads. It runs locally, so the command pulls ref-tools-mcp straight from npm; nothing to host, nothing to sign up for.

How many people use Ref Tools MCP?

The npm package ref-tools-mcp was installed 1 347 times in the last week. Week over week that is -49%. We show installs rather than GitHub stars on purpose: a star is a bookmark, an install is someone actually running it.

Is Ref Tools MCP open source?

Yes — it is published under the MIT licence, written in TypeScript, 1 183 stars on GitHub and 5 open issues. The source link is on this page, so you can read exactly what it does with your data before you connect it.