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Stata Help

macOS and Linux Only!

This module is currently only supported on macOS and Linux systems. Windows support is not available at this time.

Overview

StataHelp is a utility module that retrieves help documentation for Stata commands directly from your local Stata installation. It provides quick access to Stata's built-in help system with intelligent caching for improved performance.

Key Features

Local Help Access

StataHelp queries the Stata help system installed on your machine:

  • No Internet Required: All help documentation comes from your local Stata installation
  • Fast Access: Retrieves help information instantly through Stata CLI
  • Complete Documentation: Access the same comprehensive help available in Stata

Intelligent Caching System

StataHelp includes a multi-level caching mechanism to improve performance:

  • Project-Level Cache: Saves help results to your project's temporary directory for quick access
  • Global Cache: Stores help files in ~/.stata_mcp/help/ for reuse across projects
  • Environment Control: Use STATA_MCP_CACHE_HELP and STATA_MCP_SAVE_HELP to control caching behavior

Command Validation

Before executing a Stata command, you can use StataHelp to verify if the command exists:

  • Checks if help documentation is available for a given command
  • Helps prevent errors from typos or missing packages
  • Useful for validating user input in automated workflows

Use Cases

  • Command Verification: Check if a Stata command exists before execution
  • Documentation Lookup: Retrieve help text for Stata commands programmatically
  • Interactive Assistance: Provide in-context help in AI-powered Stata workflows
  • Error Prevention: Validate commands before running them in scripts

How It Works

  1. Cache Check: First checks project-level cache, then global cache (if enabled)
  2. Stata Query: If not cached, sends help {command} request to Stata CLI
  3. Documentation Retrieval: Stata searches its local documentation for the specified command
  4. Cache Storage: Saves the result to cache (if enabled)
  5. Result Return: Returns the help text for display or processing

Configuration

Control caching behavior with environment variables:

# Enable global caching (default: false)
export STATA_MCP_CACHE_HELP=true

# Enable project-level saving (default: true)
export STATA_MCP_SAVE_HELP=true

Limitations

  • Platform Support: Currently only works on macOS and Linux
  • Local Documentation Only: Cannot access help for packages that are not installed locally
  • No Internet Search: Does not perform online searches for missing commands

File Locations

  • Global Cache Directory: ~/.stata_mcp/help/
  • Project Cache Directory: {project_tmp_dir}/ (usually in stata-mcp-tmp/)