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get_readme_data

Extract README file content from GitHub repositories for npm packages to understand functionality and usage details.

Instructions

Get README file content from a package's GitHub repository

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema
NameRequiredDescriptionDefault
packageNameYes
versionNo

Implementation Reference

  • The core handler function for the 'get_readme_data' tool. It fetches package metadata from npm registry, validates with schema, extracts GitHub repository URL, fetches the README.md content, formats the response with text and structured output, and handles errors appropriately.
    async ({ packageName, version }) => {
      try {
        const rawData = await fetchPackageData(packageName, version);
        const parseResult = NpmRegistryResponseSchema.safeParse(rawData);
    
        if (!parseResult.success) {
          throw new Error(
            `Invalid package data structure: ${parseResult.error.message}`
          );
        }
    
        const data = parseResult.data;
        const { url: repositoryUrl } = data.repository;
    
        const readme = await fetchReadmeFromGitHub(repositoryUrl);
    
        const output = {
          package: data.name,
          version: data.version,
          description: data.description || "N/A",
          repository: repositoryUrl,
          readme,
        };
    
        return {
          content: [
            {
              type: "text",
              text: `Package: ${data.name}\nVersion: ${
                data.version
              }\nDescription: ${
                data.description || "N/A"
              }\nRepository: ${repositoryUrl}\n\nREADME:\n${readme}`,
            },
          ],
          structuredContent: output,
        };
      } catch (error) {
        return {
          content: [
            {
              type: "text",
              text: `Error fetching package ${packageName}: ${
                error instanceof Error ? error.message : "Unknown error"
              }`,
            },
          ],
          isError: true,
        };
      }
    }
  • src/index.ts:196-264 (registration)
    The registration of the 'get_readme_data' tool using server.registerTool, including inline input/output schemas and the handler function.
    server.registerTool(
      "get_readme_data",
      {
        title: "Get Package README",
        description: "Get README file content from a package's GitHub repository",
        inputSchema: {
          packageName: z.string(),
          version: z.string().optional(),
        },
        outputSchema: {
          package: z.string(),
          version: z.string(),
          description: z.string(),
          repository: z.string(),
          readme: z.string(),
        },
      },
      async ({ packageName, version }) => {
        try {
          const rawData = await fetchPackageData(packageName, version);
          const parseResult = NpmRegistryResponseSchema.safeParse(rawData);
    
          if (!parseResult.success) {
            throw new Error(
              `Invalid package data structure: ${parseResult.error.message}`
            );
          }
    
          const data = parseResult.data;
          const { url: repositoryUrl } = data.repository;
    
          const readme = await fetchReadmeFromGitHub(repositoryUrl);
    
          const output = {
            package: data.name,
            version: data.version,
            description: data.description || "N/A",
            repository: repositoryUrl,
            readme,
          };
    
          return {
            content: [
              {
                type: "text",
                text: `Package: ${data.name}\nVersion: ${
                  data.version
                }\nDescription: ${
                  data.description || "N/A"
                }\nRepository: ${repositoryUrl}\n\nREADME:\n${readme}`,
              },
            ],
            structuredContent: output,
          };
        } catch (error) {
          return {
            content: [
              {
                type: "text",
                text: `Error fetching package ${packageName}: ${
                  error instanceof Error ? error.message : "Unknown error"
                }`,
              },
            ],
            isError: true,
          };
        }
      }
    );
  • Zod schema used in the handler to validate the npm registry response data before extracting repository URL.
    const NpmRegistryResponseSchema = z.object({
      name: z.string(),
      version: z.string(),
      description: z.string().optional(),
      repository: z.object({
        type: z.string(),
        url: z.string(),
      }),
    });
  • Helper function called by the handler to fetch package metadata from npm registry for the specified package and version (or latest).
    async function fetchPackageData(
      packageName: string,
      version?: string
    ): Promise<any> {
      const versionPath = version || "latest";
      const encodedPackageName = encodeURIComponent(packageName);
      const response = await fetch(
        `https://registry.npmjs.org/${encodedPackageName}/${versionPath}`
      );
    
      if (!response.ok) {
        throw new Error(
          `Failed to fetch package ${packageName}: ${response.statusText}`
        );
      }
    
      return await response.json();
    }
  • Helper function called by the handler to fetch README.md content from the package's GitHub repository, trying main/master branches first then default.
    async function fetchReadmeFromGitHub(repositoryUrl: string): Promise<string> {
      const githubUrl = new URL(repositoryUrl.replace("git+", ""));
      const repositoryPath = githubUrl.pathname.substring(1).replace(".git", "");
    
      // Try branches in order: main, master, default
      const branches = ["main", "master"];
    
      for (const branch of branches) {
        const readmeUrl = `https://raw.githubusercontent.com/${repositoryPath}/refs/heads/${branch}/README.md`;
        const readmeResponse = await fetch(readmeUrl);
    
        if (readmeResponse.ok) {
          return await readmeResponse.text();
        }
      }
    
      // If both branches fail, try without branch specification (will return default branch)
      const defaultReadmeUrl = `https://raw.githubusercontent.com/${repositoryPath}/README.md`;
      const defaultResponse = await fetch(defaultReadmeUrl);
    
      if (defaultResponse.ok) {
        return await defaultResponse.text();
      }
    
      throw new Error("README not found in main, master, or default branch");
    }

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