microsoft-docs

Microsoft Docs

Research skill for the Microsoft technology ecosystem. Covers learn.microsoft.com and documentation that lives outside it (VS Code, GitHub, Aspire, Agent Framework repos).

Default: Microsoft Learn MCP

Use these tools for everything on learn.microsoft.com — Azure, .NET, M365, Power Platform, Agent Framework, Semantic Kernel, Windows, and more. This is the primary tool for the vast majority of Microsoft documentation queries.

Use microsoft_docs_fetch after search when you need complete tutorials, all config options, or when search excerpts are truncated.

CLI Alternative

If the Learn MCP server is not available, use the mslearn CLI from your terminal or shell (for example, Bash, PowerShell, or cmd) instead:

# Run directly (no install needed)
npx @microsoft/learn-cli search "BlobClient UploadAsync Azure.Storage.Blobs"

Human setup only (not for agent execution): To install the CLI globally for interactive terminal use, run npm install -g @microsoft/learn-cli, then invoke mslearn directly.

Pass --json to search or code-search to get raw JSON output for further processing.

Exceptions: When to Use Other Tools

The following categories live outside learn.microsoft.com. Use the specified tool instead.

.NET Aspire — Use Aspire MCP Server (preferred) or Context7

Aspire docs live on aspire.dev, not Learn. The best tool depends on your Aspire CLI version:

CLI 13.2+ (recommended) — The Aspire MCP server includes built-in docs search tools:

These ship in Aspire CLI 13.2 (PR #14028).

One-time human setup (not for agent execution): To obtain CLI 13.2, run aspire update --self --channel daily in your terminal. The --channel daily flag installs a pre-release build. Once CLI 13.2 is promoted to the stable channel, prefer aspire update --self (without --channel daily). Stable-channel availability can be tracked at the Aspire release page.

CLI 13.1 — The MCP server provides integration lookup (list_integrations, get_integration_docs) but not docs search. Fall back to Context7:

VS Code — Use Context7

VS Code docs live on code.visualstudio.com, not Learn.

GitHub — Use Context7

GitHub docs live on docs.github.com and cli.github.com.

Agent Framework — Use Learn MCP + Context7

Agent Framework tutorials are on learn.microsoft.com (use microsoft_docs_search), but the GitHub repo has API-level detail that is often ahead of published docs — particularly DevUI REST API reference, CLI options, and .NET integration.

DevUI tip: Query the Learn website source for how-to guides, then the repo source for API-level specifics (endpoint schemas, proxy config, auth tokens).

Context7 Setup

For any Context7 query, resolve the library ID first (one-time per session):

1. Call mcp_context7_resolve-library-id with the technology name
2. Call mcp_context7_query-docs with the returned library ID and a specific query

Writing Effective Queries

Be specific — include version, intent, and language:

# ❌ Too broad
"Azure Functions"
"agent framework"

# ✅ Specific
"Azure Functions Python v2 programming model"
"Cosmos DB partition key design best practices"
"GitHub Actions workflow_dispatch inputs matrix strategy"
"Aspire AddUvicornApp Python FastAPI integration"
"DevUI serve agents tracing OpenTelemetry directory discovery"
"Agent Framework workflow conditional edges branching handoff"

Include context:

• Version when relevant (.NET 8, Aspire 13, VS Code 1.96)
• Task intent (quickstart, tutorial, overview, limits, API reference)
• Language for polyglot docs (Python, TypeScript, C#)