similar
Find apps similar to a specified iOS or Android application by providing its iTunes trackId or Bundle ID, with country-specific results available.
Instructions
Get apps similar to the specified app
Input Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| id | No | iTunes trackId of the app | |
| appId | No | Bundle ID of the app | |
| country | No | Two-letter country code (default: us) | us |
Implementation Reference
- src/server.js:348-388 (handler)The main handler function for the 'similar' tool. Fetches the app page HTML using buildSimilarUrl and parses similar apps using parseSimilarFromHTML.async function handleSimilar(args) { try { const { id, appId, country = 'us' } = args; if (!id && !appId) { throw new Error('Either id or appId must be provided'); } // Try to get similar apps from the web page const url = buildSimilarUrl({ id, appId, country }); const html = await fetchText(url); const similarApps = parseSimilarFromHTML(html); // If HTML parsing didn't work, return empty array // In a production environment, you might want to implement more robust parsing return { content: [ { type: 'text', text: JSON.stringify({ similarApps, count: similarApps.length, note: similarApps.length === 0 ? 'Similar apps parsing from HTML is limited. Consider using search with related terms.' : null, }, null, 2), }, ], }; } catch (error) { return { content: [ { type: 'text', text: JSON.stringify({ error: error.message }, null, 2), }, ], isError: true, }; } }
- src/server.js:1107-1127 (schema)Input schema definition for the 'similar' tool in the ListTools response.name: 'similar', description: 'Get apps similar to the specified app', inputSchema: { type: 'object', properties: { id: { type: 'number', description: 'iTunes trackId of the app', }, appId: { type: 'string', description: 'Bundle ID of the app', }, country: { type: 'string', description: 'Two-letter country code (default: us)', default: 'us', }, }, }, },
- src/server.js:1457-1458 (registration)Registration of the 'similar' handler in the CallToolRequestSchema switch statement.case 'similar': return await handleSimilar(args);
- Helper function to parse similar apps from App Store HTML page.export function parseSimilarFromHTML(html) { const similarApps = []; // App Store embeds similar apps in JSON-LD or in script tags // This is a simplified parser - in production you'd want more robust parsing try { // Try to find JSON-LD structured data const jsonLdMatches = html.matchAll(/<script[^>]*type=["']application\/ld\+json["'][^>]*>(.*?)<\/script>/gis); for (const match of jsonLdMatches) { try { const jsonLd = JSON.parse(match[1]); if (jsonLd['@graph']) { const apps = jsonLd['@graph'].filter(item => item['@type'] === 'SoftwareApplication'); apps.forEach(app => { if (app.url) { similarApps.push({ id: extractIdFromUrl(app.url) || null, appId: null, title: app.name || null, url: app.url || null, }); } }); } } catch (e) { // Skip invalid JSON } } // Try to extract app IDs from App Store links const appLinkMatches = html.matchAll(/apps\.apple\.com\/[^\/]+\/app\/id(\d+)/gi); const seenIds = new Set(); for (const match of appLinkMatches) { const appId = match[1]; if (!seenIds.has(appId)) { seenIds.add(appId); similarApps.push({ id: parseInt(appId, 10), appId: null, title: null, url: `https://apps.apple.com/app/id${appId}`, }); } } } catch (error) { // If parsing fails, return empty array // Error is silently handled } return similarApps; }
- src/endpoints/appStore.js:107-117 (helper)Helper function to build the URL for the App Store app page where similar apps are listed.export function buildSimilarUrl(params) { const { id, appId, country = 'us' } = params; if (!id && !appId) { throw new Error('Either id or appId must be provided'); } // Similar apps are found via the web page const appIdParam = id || appId; return `${APP_STORE_BASE}/${country}/app/id${appIdParam}`; }