> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.symmetry.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Docs MCP overview
> Connect Symmetry Docs to your AI assistant over MCP, so Claude, Cursor, or other MCP clients can search and cite it directly.
Symmetry Docs MCP lets an AI assistant read Symmetry Docs directly. Connect once and your AI assistant can search and cite Symmetry Docs right in the chat window, so you get answers without coming to the docs site to look for them.
The Docs MCP covers published Symmetry Docs pages, including release notes, and reads it live so answers reflect what is published right now. The AI assistant reads exactly the pages you can read on the docs site. For most readers that is every Symmetry product, whether or not you license it. It does not run calculations or call product APIs.
## Who is this for?
Who want answers about an endpoint or payload without leaving their editor.
Who are checking product behavior mid-build.
Who need a cited answer quickly.
## What it can do
The server exposes three tools. You don't call these directly. Your AI assistant picks the right one, but knowing they exist helps you phrase requests:
| Tool | What it does |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `search_symmetry_docs` | Searches the documentation and returns matching content with titles and links |
| `query_docs_filesystem_symmetry_docs` | Reads whole pages using shell-style commands against a read-only, in-memory filesystem of the docs |
| `submit_feedback` | Reports a problem with a page to the Symmetry docs team |
Search is the usual entry point. It returns matching content with the page title and a link, which is what makes an answer checkable: you can open the page it cites and confirm what it told you. The server returns that link with every result, but your AI assistant decides whether to show it, so add "cite the page" to your question when you want the source in the answer.
The filesystem tool is how an AI assistant answers precise questions. It reads a whole page rather than working from a search snippet. Search returns a path like `/spf/getting-started/api-quickstart`, and the AI assistant reads it by appending `.mdx`.
The feedback tool sends a report straight to the Symmetry docs team, with the page path attached. If your AI assistant finds a page that is wrong, out of date, confusing, or has a broken example, you can ask it to report that without leaving your chat. Use it only to provide feedback for problems with the documentation itself. Product support requests still go through [our support team](https://support.symmetry.com/hc/en-us/requests/new).
**Nothing executes on your machine.** Despite the shell-style syntax, the filesystem tool runs against an in-memory sandbox containing only documentation pages, not your computer, the server host, or any network.
The server is read-only throughout. It cannot run tax calculations, call product APIs, reach the open web, or change anything in your Symmetry account.
**Docs MCP is not a troubleshooting tool.** It can point you to what the documentation says to check, but it does not debug product-specific issues or investigate your account, transactions, or payroll tax calculations. For that kind of troubleshooting, use [Symmetry Tax Logic](/ste/ai-interfaces/tax-logic-chat) or the [STE MCP](/ste/ai-interfaces/mcp-overview), or [contact Support](https://support.symmetry.com/hc/en-us/requests/new).
## Docs MCP vs. Ask Docs
Both read the same published Symmetry Docs, so neither answers a question the documentation does not cover. What differs is where each one runs and how far the answer reaches.
**Ask Docs** is the assistant built into this site. Open it from the **Ask AI** button on the docs home page, or the **Ask Docs** button on any other page. It answers in the browser and links the pages behind the answer, so it is the quickest option when you are already reading the docs. There is nothing to install.
**Docs MCP** puts the same documentation inside your own AI assistant as a set of tools it can call. The documentation becomes one input among several, so a single request can combine a docs lookup with your codebase, a file you are drafting, or another tool your assistant has. It takes a one-time install and sign-in.
| | Ask Docs | Docs MCP |
| -------------------------- | ------------------------ | -------------------------------- |
| **Where it runs** | This docs site | Your AI assistant |
| **What it is** | A chat assistant | Tools your AI assistant calls |
| **What it reads** | Published Symmetry Docs | The same published Symmetry Docs |
| **Citations** | Cites sources by default | Ask for one: add "cite the page" |
| **Works with other tools** | No | Yes |
| **Setup** | None | Install and sign in |
Same documentation, different reach. Use Ask Docs for a quick answer while you are browsing, and Docs MCP when you want the documentation involved in work your assistant is already doing.
*Disclaimer: The MCP connector is provided and operated by a third party. It grants read-only access to Symmetry's documentation. AI can make mistakes, and Symmetry makes no representations about the accuracy of AI-generated interpretations of that documentation. Clients should refer directly to the official documentation as the authoritative source of product information.*