google-developer-knowledge-api

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Access Google's developer documentation programmatically using the Developer Knowledge REST API. Use when you need to search, retrieve, or reference official Google documentation (Firebase, Android, Cloud, Gemini, etc.) via direct HTTP calls instead of MCP.

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google-developer-apirest-apidocumentation-accessoauth2-authenticationpython-client

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Google Developer Knowledge API

Direct REST API access to Google's public developer documentation without needing the MCP server.

Overview

The Developer Knowledge API provides machine-readable access to Google's developer docs. It offers:
  • SearchDocumentChunks: Find relevant page URIs and content snippets
  • GetDocument: Fetch full content of a single document
  • BatchGetDocuments: Fetch multiple documents at once

Authentication

IMPORTANT: Despite official documentation suggesting API keys work, the API actually requires OAuth2 authentication (access tokens or ADC).

Option 1: Application Default Credentials (Recommended)

  1. Install gcloud CLI if not already installed
  2. Run:
    bash
    gcloud auth application-default login
  3. Enable the API in your project:

Option 2: Service Account

  1. Create a service account in Google Cloud Console
  2. Download the JSON key file
  3. Set the environment variable:
    bash
    export GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS="/path/to/service-account.json"

Option 3: Access Token

Get a token manually:
bash
gcloud auth application-default print-access-token

API Reference

Base URL: 
https://developerknowledge.googleapis.com/v1alpha
All requests require an 
Authorization: Bearer <token>
header.

Search for Document Chunks

bash
GET /documents:searchDocumentChunks?query={query}
Parameters:
  • query
    (required): Search query string
  • pageSize
    (optional): Number of results per page
  • pageToken
    (optional): Token for pagination
Response includes:
  • documentChunks[]
    : Array of matching chunks 
    • parent
      : Document identifier (use for GetDocument)
    • content
      : Snippet of matching content
    • uri
      : Original documentation URL

Get Single Document

bash
GET /{document_name}
Parameters:
  • document_name
    : The 
    parent
    value from search results (e.g., 
    documents/developers.google.com/...
    )
Response: Full Markdown content of the document

Batch Get Documents

bash
POST /documents:batchGet
Body (JSON):
json
{
  "names": [
    "documents/developers.google.com/path/to/doc1",
    "documents/developers.google.com/path/to/doc2"
  ]
}
Retrieves up to 100 documents in a single call.

Python Client

See 
scripts/developer_knowledge_client.py
for a ready-to-use Python client with automatic OAuth2 handling.

Installation Requirements

bash
pip install google-auth google-auth-httplib2
Or use the gcloud CLI fallback (no extra dependencies).

Quick Usage

python
from developer_knowledge_client import DeveloperKnowledgeClient

# Uses Application Default Credentials automatically
client = DeveloperKnowledgeClient()

# Search for documentation
results = client.search("Cloud Storage buckets")
for chunk in results.get("documentChunks", []):
    print(f"URL: {chunk.get('uri')}")
    print(f"Content: {chunk.get('content')[:200]}...")

# Get full document
doc = client.get_document(chunk["parent"])
print(doc.get("content"))

Explicit Authentication

python
# Using service account
client = DeveloperKnowledgeClient(service_account_file="/path/to/sa.json")

# Using explicit access token
client = DeveloperKnowledgeClient(access_token="ya29.xxxx")

Convenience Method

python
# Search and fetch full documents in one call
docs = client.search_and_get("Firebase authentication", max_results=3)
for doc in docs:
    print(doc["content"])

cURL Examples

Get Access Token

bash
export TOKEN=$(gcloud auth application-default print-access-token)

Search

bash
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  "https://developerknowledge.googleapis.com/v1alpha/documents:searchDocumentChunks?query=BigQuery"

Get Document

bash
curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  "https://developerknowledge.googleapis.com/v1alpha/documents/developers.google.com/path/to/doc"

Covered Documentation

The API indexes these Google developer sites:
  • developer.android.com (Android)
  • firebase.google.com (Firebase)
  • docs.cloud.google.com (Google Cloud)
  • ai.google.dev (Gemini API / Google AI)
  • developers.google.com (Ads, Maps, YouTube, etc.)
  • developer.chrome.com (Chrome)
  • developers.home.google.com (Google Home)
  • www.tensorflow.org (TensorFlow)
  • web.dev (Web)
  • fuchsia.dev (Fuchsia)

Limitations

  • Authentication: Requires OAuth2 (API keys do NOT work despite documentation)
  • Markdown Quality: Generated from HTML, may have formatting issues
  • Content Scope: Only public documentation pages, no GitHub/OSS/blogs/YouTube
  • Data Freshness: Re-indexed within 24 hours of publication

When to Use This Instead of MCP

Use direct API calls when:
  • MCP authentication is failing or not configured
  • You need more control over request/response handling
  • You're integrating into a pipeline that doesn't support MCP
  • You want to use the API in a standalone script
  • You need to handle OAuth2 tokens explicitly

Official Documentation