External Docs

Verify external dependencies against current documentation before implementation.

When to Ground

| Signal | Action | |--------|--------| | About to write import for external lib | Ground first | | Using API/SDK methods | Verify current syntax | | Framework-specific patterns | Check version compatibility | | Auth/security code | Always verify current best practices | | User says "ground" or "verify" | Run full grounding check |

Default: When uncertain, ground.

Decision Tree

Where does truth live?

CODEBASE ────► Warp-Grep
              "How does X work in our code?"

WEB ─────────► Exa
              "What's the current API for X?"

HISTORY ─────► cm context → cass search
              "How did we do this before?"

TASKS ───────► bv --robot-*
              "What should I work on?"

Exa Query Patterns

Template:

{library} {feature} {version} 2024 2025

Good queries:

FastAPI Pydantic v2 model_validator 2024 2025
Next.js 14 app router server components
React useOptimistic hook 2024

Tools:

web_search_exa(query) — Documentation search
get_code_context_exa(query) — Code examples from GitHub
crawling(url) — Specific doc page

Verification

After grounding, check:

| Criterion | Pass If | |-----------|---------| | Source | Official docs or reputable repo | | Freshness | Updated within 12 months | | Version | Matches your dependency | | Completeness | Full import + usage pattern | | Status | Not deprecated |

Record in Bead

Add grounding status table:

## Grounding Status
| Pattern | Query | Source | Status |
|---------|-------|--------|--------|
| `@model_validator` | "Pydantic v2 2024" | docs.pydantic.dev | ✅ Verified |
| `useOptimistic` | "React 19 2024" | react.dev | ✅ Verified |

Status: ✅ Verified | ⚠️ Changed | ❌ Deprecated | ❓ Unverified

Failure Handling

| Issue | Response | |-------|----------| | No results | Broaden query, try alternate terms | | Conflicting info | Official docs > GitHub > tutorials | | Only outdated info | Mark ❓, proceed with caution, add TODO | | Can't verify | Flag for human review |

external-docs