search_app

Implementation Reference

• server.js:66-142 (handler)

  The core handler function for the 'search_app' tool. It takes search parameters, queries the appropriate store API (Google Play via gplay or App Store via app-store-scraper), standardizes the app results across platforms, and returns formatted JSON with search results or error information.

  async ({ term, platform, num, country }) => {
    try {
      let results;
      
      if (platform === "android") {
        // Search on Google Play Store
        results = await memoizedGplay.search({
          term,
          num,
          country,
          fullDetail: false
        });
        
        // Standardize the results
        results = results.map(app => ({
          id: app.appId,
          appId: app.appId,
          title: app.title,
          developer: app.developer,
          developerId: app.developerId,
          icon: app.icon,
          score: app.score,
          scoreText: app.scoreText,
          price: app.price,
          free: app.free,
          platform: "android",
          url: app.url
        }));
      } else {
        // Search on Apple App Store
        results = await memoizedAppStore.search({
          term,
          num,
          country
        });
        
        // Standardize the results
        results = results.map(app => ({
          id: app.id.toString(),
          appId: app.appId,
          title: app.title,
          developer: app.developer,
          developerId: app.developerId,
          icon: app.icon,
          score: app.score,
          price: app.price,
          free: app.free === true,
          platform: "ios",
          url: app.url
        }));
      }
      
      return {
        content: [{ 
          type: "text", 
          text: JSON.stringify({
            query: term,
            platform,
            results,
            count: results.length
          }, null, 2)
        }]
      };
    } catch (error) {
      return {
        content: [{ 
          type: "text", 
          text: JSON.stringify({
            error: error.message,
            query: term,
            platform
          }, null, 2)
        }],
        isError: true
      };
    }
  }

• server.js:60-65 (schema)

  Zod input schema defining parameters for the search_app tool: term (required string), platform (ios/android), num (optional number 1-250 default 10), country (optional 2-letter code default 'us'). Validates and types tool arguments.

  {
    term: z.string().describe("The search term to look up (e.g., 'panda', 'spotify', 'photo editor'). This is required."),
    platform: z.enum(["ios", "android"]).describe("The platform to search on ('ios' for Apple App Store, 'android' for Google Play Store)."),
    num: z.number().min(1).max(250).optional().default(10).describe("Number of results to return (1-250, default 10). For Android max is 250, for iOS typically defaults to 50."),
    country: z.string().length(2).optional().default("us").describe("Two-letter country code for the App Store/Play Store region (e.g., 'us', 'de', 'gb'). Affects ranking and availability. Default 'us'.")
  },

• server.js:58-143 (registration)

  The registration of the 'search_app' tool on the McpServer instance using server.tool(name, inputSchema, handlerCallback). This adds the tool to the MCP server's capabilities.

  server.tool(
    "search_app",
    {
      term: z.string().describe("The search term to look up (e.g., 'panda', 'spotify', 'photo editor'). This is required."),
      platform: z.enum(["ios", "android"]).describe("The platform to search on ('ios' for Apple App Store, 'android' for Google Play Store)."),
      num: z.number().min(1).max(250).optional().default(10).describe("Number of results to return (1-250, default 10). For Android max is 250, for iOS typically defaults to 50."),
      country: z.string().length(2).optional().default("us").describe("Two-letter country code for the App Store/Play Store region (e.g., 'us', 'de', 'gb'). Affects ranking and availability. Default 'us'.")
    },
    async ({ term, platform, num, country }) => {
      try {
        let results;
        
        if (platform === "android") {
          // Search on Google Play Store
          results = await memoizedGplay.search({
            term,
            num,
            country,
            fullDetail: false
          });
          
          // Standardize the results
          results = results.map(app => ({
            id: app.appId,
            appId: app.appId,
            title: app.title,
            developer: app.developer,
            developerId: app.developerId,
            icon: app.icon,
            score: app.score,
            scoreText: app.scoreText,
            price: app.price,
            free: app.free,
            platform: "android",
            url: app.url
          }));
        } else {
          // Search on Apple App Store
          results = await memoizedAppStore.search({
            term,
            num,
            country
          });
          
          // Standardize the results
          results = results.map(app => ({
            id: app.id.toString(),
            appId: app.appId,
            title: app.title,
            developer: app.developer,
            developerId: app.developerId,
            icon: app.icon,
            score: app.score,
            price: app.price,
            free: app.free === true,
            platform: "ios",
            url: app.url
          }));
        }
        
        return {
          content: [{ 
            type: "text", 
            text: JSON.stringify({
              query: term,
              platform,
              results,
              count: results.length
            }, null, 2)
          }]
        };
      } catch (error) {
        return {
          content: [{ 
            type: "text", 
            text: JSON.stringify({
              error: error.message,
              query: term,
              platform
            }, null, 2)
          }],
          isError: true
        };
      }
    }
  );