DeepWiki MCP

Query DeepWiki MCP to get AI-grounded answers about any public GitHub repository. Use when answering questions about a repo's source code, architecture, configuration, or internals. Triggers on "how does X work in <repo>", "deepwiki", "look up in codebase", "ask deepwiki", "check the source code".

Audits

Pass

Install

openclaw skills install deepwiki-mcp

DeepWiki MCP

Query any public GitHub repository using DeepWiki's AI-powered documentation and Q&A service. No API key, no auth, free.

MCP endpoint: https://mcp.deepwiki.com/mcp

Scope & Boundaries

This skill handles:

  • Asking natural-language questions about any public GitHub repo
  • Listing documentation topics indexed by DeepWiki
  • Fetching full wiki contents for a repo
  • Running queries via the included helper script

This skill does NOT handle:

  • Private repository access (requires paid Devin account)
  • Modifying repositories or submitting PRs
  • Real-time code analysis (DeepWiki may lag a few days behind latest commits)
  • Local code search or grep (use standard file tools for that)

Inputs

InputRequiredDescription
QuestionYesNatural-language question about a repo
RepositoryNoowner/repo format. Defaults to openclaw/openclaw
ActionNoask (default), topics, or docs

Outputs

  • AI-grounded text answer with source references from the repo
  • Or a structured list of documentation topics
  • Or full wiki contents (large output)

Workflow

Step 1 — Run the helper script

The script is located in this skill's directory at scripts/deepwiki.sh.

# Ask a question (defaults to openclaw/openclaw)
<skill_dir>/scripts/deepwiki.sh ask "How does session compaction work?"

# Ask about a specific repo
<skill_dir>/scripts/deepwiki.sh ask facebook/react "How does concurrent mode work?"

# List documentation topics
<skill_dir>/scripts/deepwiki.sh topics openclaw/openclaw

# Get full wiki contents (large output — prefer ask for targeted queries)
<skill_dir>/scripts/deepwiki.sh docs openclaw/openclaw

Replace <skill_dir> with the directory containing this SKILL.md.

Step 2 — Interpret and relay the answer

DeepWiki returns AI-generated answers grounded in the repo's actual source code. The response typically includes:

  • Direct answer to the question
  • References to specific files and code paths
  • Context about related functionality

Relay the answer to the user, adding your own context if you have additional knowledge.

Step 3 — Follow up if needed

If the answer is incomplete or raises new questions:

  • Ask a more specific follow-up question
  • Use topics to find relevant documentation sections
  • Use docs for broader context (but note: output can be very large)

Direct curl (fallback)

If the helper script is unavailable:

curl -s -X POST https://mcp.deepwiki.com/mcp \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \
  -d '{
    "jsonrpc": "2.0",
    "id": 1,
    "method": "tools/call",
    "params": {
      "name": "ask_question",
      "arguments": {
        "repoName": "owner/repo",
        "question": "YOUR QUESTION"
      }
    }
  }' | grep '^data:' | grep '"id":1' | sed 's/^data: //' | \
  python3 -c "import json,sys; d=json.load(sys.stdin); print(d['result']['content'][0]['text'])"

MCP Tools Reference

ToolPurposeArguments
ask_questionAsk any question, get AI-grounded answerrepoName, question
read_wiki_structureList documentation topics for a reporepoName
read_wiki_contentsGet full wiki docs for a reporepoName

Error Handling

ProblemDetectionAction
Timeout (>60s)curl hangs or no responseRetry once; DeepWiki may be under load
Empty responseNo data: lines in SSE streamCheck if repo exists and is public
Repo not indexedError message about unknown repoTry again — DeepWiki indexes on first request
Rate limitedHTTP 429 or error responseWait 30s and retry
Script not foundFile not at expected pathUse direct curl fallback

Success Criteria

  • DeepWiki returns a substantive answer (not an error or empty response)
  • Answer references actual code/files from the repository
  • User's question is addressed with grounded information

Configuration

No persistent configuration required. The skill uses:

  • exec tool to run the helper script (bash + curl + python3)
  • No API keys or authentication needed
  • Works for any public GitHub repository

System dependencies:

DependencyPurpose
bashScript execution
curlHTTP requests to MCP endpoint
python3JSON parsing of SSE responses

Notes

  • Responses take 10-30s (AI generates answers server-side)
  • ask_question is the most useful tool — use it first
  • DeepWiki crawls repos periodically; may lag behind very recent commits
  • Works for any public GitHub repo, not just OpenClaw
  • For private repos, a paid Devin account is required