enable_docset_fts
Enable full-text search for a specific docset.
Args: identifier: The docset identifier (from list_installed_docsets)
Returns: True if FTS was successfully enabled, False otherwise
LABSCO SUMMARY
API documentation the model can search offline, pinned to the versions you actually installed.
Because the corpus is your own docsets rather than a web index, the answer matches the version in front of you instead of whatever ranks well today, and nothing about the query leaves the machine. Two limits are worth knowing up front: full-text search is per-docset and off until you enable it, and both the docset list and the search results are truncated when they would exceed 25,000 tokens.
What it is
A server over the Dash docsets installed on your Mac, searching them and returning pages through Dash's own local API.
What you get
- The installed docsets listed with the identifiers the other tools address them by
- Search across a chosen set of docsets, with or without code snippets, capped by a result limit you set
- Full-text search switched on for a docset when matching on titles is not finding what you need
- A result opened as plain text with markdown-style links, loaded from the URL the search returned
Requirements
macOS with Dash 8 installed and the docsets you intend to search already downloaded — the server reads what is there, and the listing comes back empty when nothing is. Python 3.12 or newer and uv to run it. Page loads only accept a URL pointing at the local Dash API on 127.0.0.1. MIT.
Setup effort
One command — uvx --from git+https://github.com/Kapeli/dash-mcp-server.git dash-mcp-server
USE CASES
01
Checking a signature at the version you have installed
Find the identifier of the docset you want, search inside it rather than across everything, and open the result as text through the local Dash API.
02
Finding something the title index misses
Turn on full-text search for that docset, then run the query again — matching now reaches the body of the pages rather than their titles alone.
03
Answering an API question with the laptop offline
The corpus is local, so a search on a plane returns the same result as one at the desk.
4 tools
Counted once with only startup setup. Other versions, modes or optional credentials may expose a different list.
list_installed_docsets
List all installed documentation sets in Dash. An empty list is returned if the user has no docsets installed. Results are automatically truncated if they would exceed 25,000 tokens.
load_documentation_page
Load a documentation page from a load_url returned by search_documentation.
Args: load_url: The load_url value from a search result (must point to the local Dash API at 127.0.0.1)
Returns: The documentation page content as plain text with markdown-style links
search_documentation
Search for documentation across docset identifiers and snippets.
Args: query: The search query string docset_identifiers: Comma-separated list of docset identifiers to search in (from list_installed_docsets) search_snippets: Whether to include snippets in search results max_results: Maximum number of results to return (1-1000)
Results are automatically truncated if they would exceed 25,000 tokens.
BEFORE YOU INSTALL
What to know first
Tools you get
4 tools when we connected. search_documentation matches titles only until you run enable_docset_fts for a docset.
Requires
- macOS (required for Dash app)
- Dash 8 is required
- Python 3.12 or higher
- uv
Where it runs
Both documented clients run the server on your machine.
CONTEXT COST
Light Standing cost
Rated by the size of the 4 tool definitions that ride along on every turn, not by how many there are
INSTALLATION
Connect your client
Server setup
Setup
TERMINAL
brew install uvuvx
TERMINAL
uvx --from git+https://github.com/Kapeli/dash-mcp-server.git dash-mcp-serverMCP Clients
Claude Desktop
CLAUDE DESKTOP · JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"dash-api": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"--from",
"git+https://github.com/Kapeli/dash-mcp-server.git",
"dash-mcp-server"
]
}
}
}Claude Code
CLAUDE CODE · TERMINAL
claude mcp add dash-api -- uvx --from "git+https://github.com/Kapeli/dash-mcp-server.git" "dash-mcp-server"
