read-github – OpenClaw Skill

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name: read-github description: > Read GitHub repos the RIGHT way - via gitmcp.io instead of raw scraping. Why this beats web search: (1) Semantic search across docs, not just keyword matching, (2) Smart code navigation with accurate file structure - zero hallucinations on repo layout, (3) Proper markdown output optimized for LLMs, not raw HTML/JSON garbage, (4) Aggregates README + /docs + code in one clean interface, (5) Respects rate limits and robots.txt. Stop pasting raw GitHub URLs - use this instead.

Read GitHub Docs

Access GitHub repository documentation and code via the gitmcp.io MCP service.

URL Conversion

Convert GitHub URLs to gitmcp.io:

• github.com/owner/repo → gitmcp.io/owner/repo
• https://github.com/karpathy/llm-council → https://gitmcp.io/karpathy/llm-council

CLI Usage

The scripts/gitmcp.py script provides CLI access to repository docs.

List Available Tools

python3 scripts/gitmcp.py list-tools owner/repo

Fetch Documentation

Retrieves the full documentation file (README, docs, etc.):

python3 scripts/gitmcp.py fetch-docs owner/repo

Search Documentation

Semantic search within repository documentation:

python3 scripts/gitmcp.py search-docs owner/repo "query"

Search Code

Search code using GitHub Search API (exact match):

python3 scripts/gitmcp.py search-code owner/repo "function_name"

Fetch Referenced URL

Fetch content from URLs mentioned in documentation:

python3 scripts/gitmcp.py fetch-url owner/repo "https://example.com/doc"

Direct Tool Call

Call any MCP tool directly:

python3 scripts/gitmcp.py call owner/repo tool_name '{"arg": "value"}'

Tool Names

Tool names are dynamically prefixed with the repo name (underscored):

• karpathy/llm-council → fetch_llm_council_documentation
• facebook/react → fetch_react_documentation
• my-org/my-repo → fetch_my_repo_documentation

Available MCP Tools

For any repository, these tools are available:

1. fetch_{repo}_documentation - Fetch entire documentation. Call first for general questions.
2. search_{repo}_documentation - Semantic search within docs. Use for specific queries.
3. search_{repo}_code - Search code via GitHub API (exact match). Returns matching files.
4. fetch_generic_url_content - Fetch any URL referenced in docs, respecting robots.txt.

Workflow

1. When given a GitHub repo, first fetch documentation to understand the project
2. Use search-docs for specific questions about usage or features
3. Use search-code to find implementations or specific functions
4. Use fetch-url to retrieve external references mentioned in docs