| name | hex-docs-search |
|---|---|
| description | Research Hex packages (Sobelow, Phoenix, Ecto, Credo, Ash, etc). Use when investigating packages, understanding integration patterns, or finding module/function docs and usage examples. Automatically fetches missing documentation and source code locally. |
| allowed-tools | Read, Grep, Glob, Bash, WebSearch, AskUserQuestion |
| model | haiku |
| context | fork |
| agent | Explore |
| user-invocable | True |
Hex Documentation Search
Search Elixir package documentation. Prioritize local sources, fetch if needed.
Search Locations (in order)
- Project deps:
deps/<package>/lib/(source with @moduledoc/@doc),deps/<package>/doc/(HTML if generated) - Fetched docs cache:
.hex-docs/docs/hexpm/<package>/<version>/ - Fetched source cache:
.hex-packages/<package>-<version>/ - HexDocs API: Programmatic search (see below)
- Web search: Last resort with
site:hexdocs.pm
Fetching Locally
Determine version from mix.lock, mix.exs, or prompt user if ambiguous.
# Fetch documentation (stores in .hex-docs/)
HEX_HOME=.hex-docs mix hex.docs fetch <package> <version>
# Fetch source code (if docs insufficient or unavailable)
mix hex.package fetch <package> <version> --unpack --output .hex-packages/<package>-<version>
Mention adding .hex-docs/ and .hex-packages/ to .gitignore once per session when fetching occurs.
HexDocs Search API
Powered by Typesense at search.hexdocs.pm.
# Search within a specific package
curl -s "https://search.hexdocs.pm/?q=<query>&filter_by=package:=[<package>-<version>]" \
| jq '.hits[].document | {title, doc, url}'
# Search across all packages
curl -s "https://search.hexdocs.pm/?q=<query>" \
| jq '.hits[].document | {package, title, doc}'
Response fields:
- package: Package name
- title: Module/function name
- doc: Documentation text
- url: Path to append to https://hexdocs.pm
Version Resolution
# From mix.lock
grep '"<package>"' mix.lock | grep -oE '[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+'
# Latest from hex.pm
curl -s "https://hex.pm/api/packages/<package>" | jq -r '.releases[0].version'
Key Behaviors
- Prefer local/cached results (version matches project)
- Show real usage examples from project codebase when relevant
- Include file:line references for source code
- Prompt user before fetching external packages
- Source code @moduledoc/@doc often has more detail than HTML docs