| name | readme-demo-injector |
| description | Save a live third-party page (GitHub repo page, npmx/npm package page, docs site) as a local static copy and inject an element into it (badge, banner, widget) for demos without shipping to prod. Use when user wants to "demo X on the GitHub README", "inject the badge into a real page", "make this page work locally", "mock up how it looks on npmjs/github", or "download and serve this page with my change". Output is a directory servable with `npx serve`. |
README Demo Injector
Capture a real page, inject a local element (badge/banner/widget), serve statically. Lets Jack demo a feature on github.com/nrwl/nx or a package page without deploying.
Process
1. Capture the page
Pick capture method by host + rendering model:
- curl (only if host is in the sandbox network allowlist, e.g. github.com):
curl -sL <url> -o <dir>/index.html. CHECK the target element exists in static HTML before trusting this (see gotcha 1).
- Playwright hydrated-DOM capture (default for SPA/blocked hosts):
- Start a save-server (POST body -> file) on 127.0.0.1:
- Navigate with playwright MCP, wait for hydration.
- Capture, choosing transport by page CSP:
- Page CSP allows
connect-src 127.0.0.1 (npmx.dev does): browser_evaluate -> fetch('http://127.0.0.1:PORT/name', {method:'POST', body: '<!doctype html>\n' + document.documentElement.outerHTML})
- Page CSP blocks localhost (github.com does):
browser_run_code_unsafe -> get outerHTML via page.evaluate, then page.request.post(...) — Playwright's request context bypasses page CSP. (require/import('fs') are NOT available in that VM; POST is the only file transport.)
- NEVER return the full HTML as the tool result (hundreds of KB floods context). Always POST to the save-server.
2. Sanitize (python script written to a FILE — fish mangles != in heredocs/inline)
In order:
- Insert
<base href="https://<origin>/"> right after <head> so relative assets/links resolve to the real origin.
- Strip CSP meta tags:
re.sub(r'<meta[^>]*Content-Security-Policy[^>]*>', '', s) — saved-page CSP blocks cross-origin styles AND the injected element (upgrade-insecure-requests also rewrites http localhost img URLs to https).
- Strip ALL scripts:
re.sub(r'<script\b[^>]*>.*?</script>', '', s, flags=re.S) + modulepreload/preload links. React/Nuxt hydration re-renders and DROPS injected nodes (timing-dependent — may look fine once then vanish). CSS <link>s stay; page remains styled.
- STRIP SCRIPTS BEFORE INJECTING — otherwise the injection can land inside a script JSON payload and get stripped with it.
3. Inject
- Find anchor point in the static markup (e.g. README badge row: locate
alt="License" img, insert after its closing </a>).
- Assert the injected marker survives in the final file (
assert 'alt="..."' in s).
- For GitHub README rows match shields style:
?style=for-the-badge (28px uppercase); npm-ish pages use flat/flat-square (20px).
4. Serve + verify
npx serve <dir> (or python3 -m http.server).- Screenshot via playwright; check the injected
<img> has naturalWidth > 0 (0 = blocked/broken, e.g. CORP).
- If the injected resource comes from another local app: that app must send
Cross-Origin-Resource-Policy: cross-origin (helmet defaults to same-origin -> ERR_BLOCKED_BY_RESPONSE.NotSameOrigin).
Gotchas recap
- Static curl of github.com keeps the README only in script payloads; the rendered
<article> needs hydrated-DOM capture.
- Multiple inline SVGs on one preview page collide on duplicate ids (clipPath) — embed via
<img> tags instead.
- file:// is blocked for playwright MCP — always serve over http.
- Playwright MCP screenshots only write inside its allowed roots (cwd / .playwright-mcp) — clean up artifacts from the repo afterwards.
