diff --git a/stdlib/doc.lsp b/stdlib/doc.lsp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6ee6b1a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/stdlib/doc.lsp
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+(include "/usr/local/var/mlisp/terminal.lsp")
+
+
+(defun doc::strip-backticks (s)
+	(if (and (> (string-len s) 2) 
+			(= (string-substr s 0 1) "`")
+			(= (string-substr s -1 1) "`"))
+		(string-substr s 1 (- (string-len s) 2))
+		s))
+
+(defun doc::read-doc-file ()
+(do	(define parse-line (lambda (ln) 
+		(if (string-regex? ln "^|.*|")
+			(do  (define tokens (tail (string-split (string-trim ln) "\|")))	; first element is "" 
+				(if (= (len tokens) 4)
+					(insert tokens 0 (string-replace-re (first (string-split (first tokens) "\s+|\)")) "`|\(" ""))
+					nil)
+			)
+			nil)
+		))
+
+	(define lines (string-split (read-file "doc/Doc.md") "\n") )
+	(define lines (map (lambda (ln) (parse-line ln)) lines))
+	(define lines (filter (lambda (e) (!= e nil)) lines))
+	(set! doc::doc_entries lines)
+))
+
+(defun doc::print (entry)
+(do	(print (term-green (doc::strip-backticks (second entry))) "-" (third entry))
+	(print (last entry) "\n")
+	(if (> (string-len (fourth entry)) 2)
+		(do	(define examp (doc::strip-backticks (fourth entry)))
+			(define pos (string-find examp "=>" 0))
+			(if (> pos 0)
+				(print (term-magenta
+					  (+ (string-substr examp 0 (- pos 1)) 
+					      "\n => " 
+					     (string-substr examp (+ pos 3) (string-len examp)))
+				)))
+		)
+	)
+))
+
+(defun doc::man (what)
+(do	(define man (filter (lambda (x) (= (first x) what)) doc::doc_entries))
+	(if man
+		(doc::print (first man))
+		(print (term-red (+ "No entry for " what)))
+	)
+))
+
+(defun doc::lookup (what)
+(do	(define what_list (string-split (string-downcase what) "\s+"))
+	(define scores '())	; ((score entry)..)
+			
+	(for entry doc::doc_entries
+		; ("throw-exception" "`(throw-exception exp_desc)`" "Throws an exception with exp_desc describing what happened " "" "Exceptions"
+		(define entry_score 0)
+		(for kw what_list
+			; name matches
+			(if (= (string-downcase (first entry)) kw)
+				(set! entry_score (+ entry_score 100)))
+			; name contains kw  
+			(if (string-find (string-downcase (first entry)) kw 0)
+				(set! entry_score (+ entry_score 10)))
+			; desc contains kw  
+			(if (string-find (string-downcase (third entry)) kw 0)
+				(set! entry_score (+ entry_score 1)))
+		)
+		(if (> entry_score 0)
+			(set! scores (push scores (list entry_score entry))))
+	)
+	
+	(define sorted (quick-sort-by scores (lambda (a b) (< (first a) (first b)))))
+	(for e (take sorted 10)
+		(define entry (second e))
+		(define call (doc::strip-backticks (second entry)))
+		(define desc (doc::strip-backticks (third entry)))
+		(print (term-red (first entry)) "-" (term-green (doc::strip-backticks (second entry))) "-" (third entry))
+	)
+	(if (> (len sorted) 10) (print "..."))
+))
+
+(defun doc::appropos (which)
+	(doc::lookup which))
+
+(defun doc::section (which)
+	(print (term-red "implement me!")))
+
+(define doc::doc_entries '())	; must be here
+
+; read doc into memory
+(doc::read-doc-file "/usr/local/var/mlisp/Doc.md")
+
+;;example
+; (doc::man "first")
+; (doc::lookup "string pad")
+; (doc::lookup "list flat")
diff --git a/utils/local_install.sh b/utils/local_install.sh
index eab6061..a79d3af 100755
--- a/utils/local_install.sh
+++ b/utils/local_install.sh
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ echo ""
 echo "copying lsp files"
 mkdir -p /usr/local/var/mlisp/
 cp stdlib/*.lsp /usr/local/var/mlisp/
+echo "copying doc files"
+cp Doc/*.md /usr/local/var/mlisp/
 echo "copying ml file"
 cp ./build/ml /usr/local/bin/ml