Ref provides documentation search across public technical docs, GitHub and private sources such as repos and PDFs, returning concise results to save context. It is a hosted streamable HTTP server authenticated by API key or OAuth, with an optional local npx version.
Connect
- 1Connect it in ChatGPT
Turn on Developer mode in ChatGPT (Settings → Security and login), open Plugins, select + and paste https://api.ref.tools/mcp as the MCP server URL. Add it to a chat from the composer's tools menu.
- 2Or add it to Codex or the API
codex mcp add ref --url https://api.ref.tools/mcp --bearer-token-env-var REF_API_KEY
Configs are generated from the publisher's documented endpoint. Check their docs for plan requirements and scopes. New to this? Read the step-by-step tutorial.
Tools 2
ref_search_documentationref_read_urlThings to ask
- “Look up the Stripe API for creating a subscription with a trial”
- “Find the Next.js docs on server actions”
- “Read this documentation URL and summarize the config options”