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feat: add cargo (crates.io) as a package registry type (#1207)
> **Update — 2026-06-01 (commit 1f3be53)** > > - **All @P4ST4S review feedback addressed** — positive-path hermetic mock + live anchor against `rust-faf-mcp v0.3.1`; 5xx routed as transient; doc comment qualified. See the [close-out comment](#1207 (comment)) for the per-item breakdown. > - **Runtime-model question RESOLVED** — `package-types.mdx` documents cargo and MCPB as both first-class Rust MCP distribution paths (cargo for source-distributed, MCPB for prebuilt-binary). The "Open question" section below was the original draft framing; the doc now ships the resolution. > - **Cargo-specific gotcha discovered and documented** — crates.io strips HTML comments during README rendering, unlike PyPI/NuGet. `package-types.mdx` now spells this out so cargo authors don't ship invisible mcp-name tokens (which is exactly what happened to `rust-faf-mcp v0.3.0`; fixed in v0.3.1). > - **Stale reference removed in this update** — the "Out of scope" line mentioning `docs/guides/publishing/publish-cargo.md` pointed at a path that doesn't exist. The canonical per-type doc is `docs/modelcontextprotocol-io/package-types.mdx`; the Cargo section has been added there directly. > - **Two real-world Rust MCP servers queued for day-one register**: `rust-faf-mcp v0.3.1` (live, end-to-end validated by the new live test) and `perfetto-mcp-rs` ([@0xZOne](https://github.com/0xZOne) in #1055). > - **Tests:** 19/19 cargo tests pass (16 existing + 2 hermetic + 1 live anchor). `make validate` clean. `golangci-lint` 0 issues. --- Adds support for `registryType: cargo` so Rust MCP servers published to crates.io can be registered through the documented validation flow rather than the MCPB binary-packaging workaround. Closes #1055. ## Motivation and Context #1055 noted that crates.io has ~1,800 MCP-related packages with no direct path into the registry — only the MCPB binary-packaging workaround. This PR adds first-class support for cargo as a package registry type: schema + API surface, validator, integration tests, and a documented example. The publishing guide (`docs/guides/publishing/publish-cargo.md`) follows on this branch once the runtime-model direction in **Additional context** is settled. ## How Has This Been Tested? - **`make validate`** — clean. Schema-vs-openapi sync verified; 17/17 examples in `generic-server-json.md` validate against the schema; `expectedServerJSONCount` bumped 16 → 17 to match the new Cargo example. - **`go test ./internal/validators/...`** — passes. 16 cargo validator sub-cases across 4 test functions, run against real crates.io (~2.5s wall): - Input validation rejection paths - Registry-baseURL rejection (4 variants: different host, trailing slash, http-not-https, subdomain typo) - Ownership validation against real crates (`serde`, `tokio`, `rand`) — all correctly rejected for missing `mcp-name` token - Server-name format variations (canonical `io.github.OWNER/REPO`, multi-hyphen, underscore, numeric suffix) - **Positive-path test** — gated on `rust-faf-mcp` v0.2.3+ being published with `mcp-name: io.github.Wolfe-Jam/rust-faf-mcp` in its README. Reserved as a TODO in `cargo_test.go`; uncomments to become the live anchor once that publish lands. - **Local `make test-unit`** — not run due to a Go toolchain version quirk on my workstation (project auto-downloads 1.26.0; my local `go` is 1.25.6, causing compile mismatch). CI will exercise the full PostgreSQL-backed suite. ## Breaking Changes None. This is an additive change — `cargo` joins the supported `registryType` enum alongside `npm`/`pypi`/`nuget`/`oci`/`mcpb`. Existing publishes continue to work unchanged. ## Types of changes - [x] New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality) - [x] Documentation update (new Cargo example in `generic-server-json.md`) ## Checklist - [x] I have read the [MCP Documentation](https://modelcontextprotocol.io) - [x] My code follows the repository's style guidelines - [x] New and existing tests pass locally - [x] I have added appropriate error handling - [x] I have added or updated documentation as needed ## Additional context ### Validator design — two-call retrieval on the documented API `internal/validators/registries/cargo.go` mirrors the PyPI validator's README-token approach (substring-match `mcp-name: <serverName>`), with a two-call retrieval pattern to stay on the documented public crates.io API: 1. `GET /api/v1/crates/{name}/{version}/readme` returns 200 OK with a JSON pointer (`{"url": "https://static.crates.io/readmes/.../...html"}`) — crates.io hands us the URL rather than emitting a 302. 2. Follow the pointer to the rendered HTML; substring-match for the token. The two-call pattern stays on the documented public surface. The CDN URL layout is observed-stable, but treating it as the entry point would mean depending on an undocumented path. With two calls, crates.io controls where the README lives — if they move it, the metadata endpoint hands us the new URL. Missing crates and missing versions surface as **403** from the CDN (S3's default for missing keys), not 404. The validator treats any non-200 as "not found" and surfaces the actual status code in the error message. ### Open question — runtime model Cargo's runtime model is genuinely different from npm/PyPI/NuGet. `cargo install` is one-time (binary lands on PATH at `~/.cargo/bin`), not per-invocation like `npx`, `uvx`, or `dnx` (the new one in .NET 10 SDK Preview 6+). The new Cargo example in `generic-server-json.md` annotates this honestly and omits `runtimeHint`. If a different framing is preferred — e.g. recommending **MCPB** (prebuilt binary distribution via GitHub Releases) as the primary path for Rust MCP servers instead of cargo — happy to adjust the documentation accordingly. The schema + validator code in this PR is **additive** and doesn't force a recommendation either way; a Rust author who chooses cargo can use it, and one who prefers MCPB still can. ### Out of scope (deferred) - **`docs/guides/publishing/publish-cargo.md`** — follows on this branch once the runtime-model direction above is settled. - **Publisher CLI `Cargo.toml` autodetect** in `cmd/publisher/commands/init.go` — separate concern, separate PR. - **Positive-path validator test** — gated on `rust-faf-mcp` v0.2.3+ publishing as noted in *How Has This Been Tested?*. --------- Co-authored-by: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com> Co-authored-by: Radoslav Dimitrov <radoslav@stacklok.com>
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docs/modelcontextprotocol-io/package-types.mdx

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@@ -125,6 +125,57 @@ This MCP server manages Azure DevOps work items and pipelines.
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<!-- mcp-name: io.github.username/azure-devops-mcp -->
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```
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## Cargo (Rust) Packages
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For Cargo packages, the MCP Registry currently supports the official crates.io registry (`https://crates.io`) only.
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Cargo packages use `"registryType": "cargo"` in `server.json`. For example:
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```json server.json highlight={9}
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{
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"$schema": "https://static.modelcontextprotocol.io/schemas/2025-12-11/server.schema.json",
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"name": "io.github.username/widget-mcp",
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"title": "Widget",
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"description": "Rust-native MCP server",
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"version": "0.3.0",
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"packages": [
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{
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"registryType": "cargo",
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"identifier": "widget-mcp",
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"version": "0.3.0",
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"transport": {
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"type": "stdio"
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}
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}
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]
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}
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```
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### Runtime Model
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Cargo's runtime model differs from npm/PyPI/NuGet. `cargo install <crate>` places the compiled binary on PATH at `~/.cargo/bin`, after which MCP clients invoke it directly by name. There is no per-invocation runner equivalent to `npx` (npm), `uvx` (PyPI), or `dnx` (NuGet, .NET 10 SDK Preview 6+) — install is one-time, execution is by binary name. The Cargo example above intentionally omits `runtimeHint` for this reason.
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Rust MCP authors have two first-class distribution paths:
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- **Cargo (`registryType: cargo`)** — source-distributed via crates.io. End users need the Rust toolchain (`rustup`) to run `cargo install`. Idiomatic for the Rust ecosystem and consistent with how Rust CLIs are typically published.
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- **MCPB (`registryType: mcpb`)** — prebuilt binary distributed via GitHub or GitLab Releases. End users need no toolchain. Right choice if the priority is "no Rust toolchain required."
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Both paths are supported; the choice is the author's. Cargo native support exists so Rust authors who prefer source distribution are not forced into the MCPB binary-packaging workaround.
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### Ownership Verification
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The MCP Registry verifies ownership of Cargo packages by checking for the existence of an `mcp-name: $SERVER_NAME` string in the package README (which is rendered to HTML and served by crates.io's static CDN). The `$SERVER_NAME` portion **MUST** match the server name from `server.json`. For example:
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```markdown README.md highlight={5}
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# Widget MCP Server
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A Rust-native MCP server for widget operations.
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- MCP Registry name: `mcp-name: io.github.username/widget-mcp`
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```
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**Cargo-specific gotcha:** Unlike PyPI and NuGet (which preserve HTML comments in their README rendering), **crates.io strips HTML comments during markdown→HTML conversion**. The `<!-- mcp-name: ... -->` hidden-comment form that works for PyPI/NuGet **does not work for cargo** — the token will not appear in the rendered HTML the validator inspects. Cargo authors must include the `mcp-name:` token as visible markdown text. A simple bullet in the Links section is the recommended pattern.
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## Docker/OCI Images
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For Docker/OCI images, the MCP Registry currently supports:

docs/reference/api/openapi.yaml

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properties:
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registryType:
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type: string
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description: Registry type indicating how to download packages (e.g., 'npm', 'pypi', 'oci', 'nuget', 'mcpb')
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description: Registry type indicating how to download packages (e.g., 'npm', 'pypi', 'cargo', 'oci', 'nuget', 'mcpb')
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examples:
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- "npm"
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- "pypi"
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- "cargo"
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- "oci"
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- "nuget"
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- "mcpb"
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examples:
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- "https://registry.npmjs.org"
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- "https://pypi.org"
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- "https://crates.io"
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- "https://docker.io"
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- "https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json"
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- "https://github.com"

docs/reference/server-json/draft/server.schema.json

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"examples": [
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"https://registry.npmjs.org",
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"https://pypi.org",
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"https://crates.io",
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"https://docker.io",
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"https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json",
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"https://github.com",
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"type": "string"
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},
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"registryType": {
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"description": "Registry type indicating how to download packages (e.g., 'npm', 'pypi', 'oci', 'nuget', 'mcpb')",
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"description": "Registry type indicating how to download packages (e.g., 'npm', 'pypi', 'cargo', 'oci', 'nuget', 'mcpb')",
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"examples": [
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"npm",
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"pypi",
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"cargo",
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"oci",
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"nuget",
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"mcpb"

docs/reference/server-json/generic-server-json.md

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}
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```
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### Cargo (Rust) Package Example
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`cargo install <crate>` places the binary on PATH (via `~/.cargo/bin`); MCP clients invoke it directly by name. There is no single-shot equivalent of `npx` (npm), `uvx` (PyPI), or `dnx` (NuGet, .NET 10 SDK) for cargo — install once, run by name.
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```json
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{
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"$schema": "https://static.modelcontextprotocol.io/schemas/2025-12-11/server.schema.json",
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"name": "io.github.example/widget-mcp",
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"description": "Rust-native MCP server",
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"title": "Widget",
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"repository": {
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"url": "https://github.com/example/widget-mcp",
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"source": "github"
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},
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"version": "0.3.0",
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"packages": [
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{
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"registryType": "cargo",
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"registryBaseUrl": "https://crates.io",
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"identifier": "widget-mcp",
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"version": "0.3.0",
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"transport": {
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"type": "stdio"
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}
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}
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]
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}
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```
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### NuGet (.NET) Package Example
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The `dnx` tool ships with the .NET 10 SDK, starting with Preview 6.

internal/validators/package.go

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return registries.ValidateOCI(ctx, pkg, serverName)
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case model.RegistryTypeMCPB:
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return registries.ValidateMCPB(ctx, pkg, serverName)
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case model.RegistryTypeCargo:
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return registries.ValidateCargo(ctx, pkg, serverName)
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default:
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return fmt.Errorf("unsupported registry type: %s", pkg.RegistryType)
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}
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package registries
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import (
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"context"
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"encoding/json"
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"errors"
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"fmt"
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"io"
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"net/http"
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"net/url"
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"strings"
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"time"
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"github.com/modelcontextprotocol/registry/pkg/model"
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)
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var (
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ErrMissingIdentifierForCargo = errors.New("package identifier is required for Cargo packages")
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ErrMissingVersionForCargo = errors.New("package version is required for Cargo packages")
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)
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// CargoReadmeMetaResponse is the structure returned by the crates.io readme metadata endpoint.
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//
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// With `Accept: application/json`, crates.io's /api/v1/crates/{name}/{version}/readme
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// endpoint returns 200 OK with a JSON body containing a `url` field that points to the
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// rendered README on the static CDN. (Without the Accept header, or via HEAD, the same
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// endpoint emits a 302 redirect to the CDN URL — the validator uses the JSON path so
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// that crates.io controls where the README lives.) Validators must follow the pointer
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// to retrieve the actual README content.
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type CargoReadmeMetaResponse struct {
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URL string `json:"url"`
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}
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// ValidateCargo validates that a Cargo (crates.io) package contains the correct MCP server name.
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//
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// Verification mechanism: the `mcp-name: <server-name>` token is searched for in the package's
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// rendered README. This mirrors the PyPI validator's README-token approach (see ValidatePyPI),
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// requiring no Cargo.toml parsing on the registry side. Crate authors add a single line
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// `mcp-name: io.github.OWNER/REPO` to their README before publishing.
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//
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// Two-call retrieval pattern:
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// 1. GET https://crates.io/api/v1/crates/{name}/{version}/readme
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// → 200 OK with JSON: {"url": "https://static.crates.io/readmes/.../...html"}
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// 2. GET <url from step 1>
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// → 200 OK with rendered README HTML, or 403 if the crate/version is missing
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//
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// The two-call pattern stays on the documented crates.io API surface rather than relying
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// on the CDN URL layout being stable.
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func ValidateCargo(ctx context.Context, pkg model.Package, serverName string) error {
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// Set default registry base URL if empty
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if pkg.RegistryBaseURL == "" {
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pkg.RegistryBaseURL = model.RegistryURLCrates
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}
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if pkg.Identifier == "" {
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return ErrMissingIdentifierForCargo
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}
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if pkg.Version == "" {
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return ErrMissingVersionForCargo
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}
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// Validate that MCPB-specific fields are not present
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if pkg.FileSHA256 != "" {
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return fmt.Errorf("cargo packages must not have 'fileSha256' field - this is only for MCPB packages")
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}
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// Validate that the registry base URL matches crates.io exactly
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if pkg.RegistryBaseURL != model.RegistryURLCrates {
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return fmt.Errorf("registry type and base URL do not match: '%s' is not valid for registry type '%s'. Expected: %s",
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pkg.RegistryBaseURL, model.RegistryTypeCargo, model.RegistryURLCrates)
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}
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return validateCargoREADME(ctx, pkg, serverName)
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}
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// validateCargoREADME performs the two-call README fetch and the mcp-name token
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// check. It is split out from ValidateCargo so that httptest-based tests can
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// drive the HTTP pipeline against a mock server (exposed via export_test.go),
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// bypassing the exact-baseURL guard that ValidateCargo enforces for callers.
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func validateCargoREADME(ctx context.Context, pkg model.Package, serverName string) error {
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client := &http.Client{Timeout: 10 * time.Second}
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// crates.io's crawler policy expects a non-generic User-Agent identifying the source.
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userAgent := "MCP-Registry-Validator/1.0 (https://registry.modelcontextprotocol.io)"
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// Step 1: fetch the README pointer from the documented API endpoint.
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metaURL := fmt.Sprintf("%s/api/v1/crates/%s/%s/readme",
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pkg.RegistryBaseURL,
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url.PathEscape(pkg.Identifier),
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url.PathEscape(pkg.Version))
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metaReq, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodGet, metaURL, nil)
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if err != nil {
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return fmt.Errorf("failed to create crates.io metadata request: %w", err)
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}
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metaReq.Header.Set("User-Agent", userAgent)
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metaReq.Header.Set("Accept", "application/json")
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metaResp, err := client.Do(metaReq)
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if err != nil {
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return fmt.Errorf("failed to fetch package metadata from crates.io: %w", err)
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}
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defer metaResp.Body.Close()
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if metaResp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
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// 5xx from the metadata endpoint is upstream availability, not a missing crate.
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if metaResp.StatusCode >= 500 && metaResp.StatusCode < 600 {
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return fmt.Errorf("crates.io upstream error fetching metadata for cargo package '%s' (status: %d) — likely transient, retry later", pkg.Identifier, metaResp.StatusCode)
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}
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return fmt.Errorf("cargo package '%s' metadata fetch failed (status: %d)", pkg.Identifier, metaResp.StatusCode)
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}
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var meta CargoReadmeMetaResponse
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if err := json.NewDecoder(metaResp.Body).Decode(&meta); err != nil {
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return fmt.Errorf("failed to parse crates.io readme metadata: %w", err)
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}
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if meta.URL == "" {
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return fmt.Errorf("cargo package '%s' metadata response missing 'url' field", pkg.Identifier)
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}
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// Step 2: fetch the rendered README from the URL the API gave us.
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readmeReq, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodGet, meta.URL, nil)
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if err != nil {
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return fmt.Errorf("failed to create crates.io readme request: %w", err)
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}
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readmeReq.Header.Set("User-Agent", userAgent)
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readmeReq.Header.Set("Accept", "text/html")
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readmeResp, err := client.Do(readmeReq)
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if err != nil {
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return fmt.Errorf("failed to fetch rendered README from crates.io: %w", err)
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}
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defer readmeResp.Body.Close()
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// Missing crates and missing versions surface as 403 from static.crates.io
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// (S3's default for missing keys), not 404. 5xx from the CDN is upstream
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// availability — surface it as transient so callers can distinguish retryable
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// failures from genuinely missing crates.
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if readmeResp.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
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if readmeResp.StatusCode >= 500 && readmeResp.StatusCode < 600 {
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return fmt.Errorf("crates.io upstream error fetching README for cargo package '%s' version '%s' (status: %d) — likely transient, retry later", pkg.Identifier, pkg.Version, readmeResp.StatusCode)
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}
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return fmt.Errorf("cargo package '%s' version '%s' not found on crates.io (status: %d)", pkg.Identifier, pkg.Version, readmeResp.StatusCode)
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}
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body, err := io.ReadAll(readmeResp.Body)
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if err != nil {
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return fmt.Errorf("failed to read rendered README: %w", err)
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}
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// Search for the mcp-name: <server-name> token. The token contains no characters
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// that get HTML-escaped during README rendering (no <, >, &, ", '), so a direct
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// substring match against the rendered HTML is reliable.
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mcpNamePattern := "mcp-name: " + serverName
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if strings.Contains(string(body), mcpNamePattern) {
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return nil
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}
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return fmt.Errorf("cargo package '%s' ownership validation failed. The server name '%s' must appear as 'mcp-name: %s' in the package README", pkg.Identifier, serverName, serverName)
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}

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