Skip to content

fix: rewrite the README, repair the dead docs link and stale job types - #87

Merged
a-essawy merged 2 commits into
mainfrom
docs/readme-refresh
Jul 26, 2026
Merged

fix: rewrite the README, repair the dead docs link and stale job types#87
a-essawy merged 2 commits into
mainfrom
docs/readme-refresh

Conversation

@a-essawy

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Two defects and a rewrite. 202 lines to 158.

The dead link

The header "MCP docs" link pointed at rendobar.com/docs/mcp/, which has answered 405 since the docs site consolidated those pages into /docs/mcp-server. It is one of four nav links and the first thing a reader clicks from npm.

server.json and package.json carried the same stale path and were fixed in #83. The repo homepageUrl was already correct. The README was the last holdout.

The stale job types

The table listed three of six. Missing compose, compress.target, ffprobe.

This is the same list that used to live in src as FEATURED_JOB_TYPES, deleted in #85 once discovery went public. The README was the last place it survived. It now lists all six with the media kinds each accepts, and states that list_job_types reads the registry live and should be preferred over the table.

Why a rewrite rather than a patch

I looked at how the most-used MCP servers structure theirs:

Repo Lines
supabase-community/supabase-mcp 135
upstash/context7 163
modelcontextprotocol/servers 170
github/github-mcp-server 1695
microsoft/playwright-mcp 1592

The short ones read like a product page. The long ones read like reference manuals, which is a reasonable choice for a server with dozens of toolsets and the wrong one for a server with seven tools.

Context7's opener is the pattern worth copying: a before/after, not an install block. It shows the outcome before asking anyone to configure anything. Ours uses the case where the value is most obvious, hitting a size budget without installing FFmpeg or guessing at CRF.

Seven per-client config blocks ate ninety lines and pushed the tools table below the fold. Four of the seven take a byte-identical config, so they are grouped into two <details> blocks.

Retrieval

The opening paragraph is now a standalone summary that names the subject and defines the terms without depending on earlier context, so it holds up quoted on its own. Headings segment by task rather than by feature.

Repo metadata needed nothing: the description is accurate, homepageUrl already points at /docs/mcp-server, and there are twelve relevant topics.

Why fix: and not docs:

The README is the npm landing page. A docs: commit does not cut a release, so the broken link would sit on npm until something else shipped.

Verification

  • All 16 URLs resolve. The only non-200s are the OAuth-protected /mcp endpoint and fabricated example URLs inside code samples
  • Zero banned words from rendobar-docs-writing rules
  • Zero em dashes
  • The compress.target example is checked against the live schema endpoint, and switched from maxBytes to maxSize: "50mb", which the schema accepts and which matches the surrounding prose
  • "Eleven presets" verified against the live captions.animate schema: exactly 11
  • Tests 78/78, lint and typecheck clean, registry guard passes

a-essawy added 2 commits July 26, 2026 13:16
The header "MCP docs" link pointed at rendobar.com/docs/mcp/, which has
answered 405 since the docs site consolidated those pages into
/docs/mcp-server. It is one of four nav links and it is the first thing
a reader clicks from npm.

The job types table listed three types when the registry has six. It was
missing compose, compress.target and ffprobe. This is the same stale
list that used to live in src as FEATURED_JOB_TYPES, deleted in the
previous release once discovery went public - the README was the last
place it survived. Now lists all six with the media kinds each accepts,
and says outright that it is a snapshot and list_job_types is the live
source.

Also notes that the server reads the registry unauthenticated now, so
the advertised type list is live rather than baked into the build, and
records the MCP Registry name com.rendobar/mcp, which is where most
directories ingest from.

Committed as fix rather than docs on purpose: the README is the npm
landing page, so a broken link there only reaches users when a release
republishes it.

Verified: all 18 URLs in the file resolve, except fabricated example
URLs inside code samples and the OAuth-protected /mcp endpoint. Preset
count checked against the live schema endpoint (11).
Cuts it from 202 lines to 158 while adding the three job types it was
missing, and fixes the header "MCP docs" link, which pointed at
rendobar.com/docs/mcp/ and has answered 405 since the docs site
consolidated those pages into /docs/mcp-server.

The job types table listed three of six. It was missing compose,
compress.target and ffprobe, the same stale set that used to live in src
as FEATURED_JOB_TYPES, deleted last release once discovery went public.
The README was the last place it survived. It now lists all six with the
media kinds each accepts, and says list_job_types is the live source.

Structure follows what the most-used MCP servers do. Supabase, Context7
and modelcontextprotocol/servers all sit between 135 and 170 lines;
github-mcp-server and playwright-mcp run past 1500 and read as reference
manuals. Context7 opens with a before/after rather than an install
block, which is the one pattern worth copying: it shows the outcome
before asking anyone to configure anything.

Seven per-client config blocks ate ninety lines and pushed the tools
table below the fold. They are grouped into two <details> blocks now,
since four of the seven take a byte-identical config.

For retrieval, the opening paragraph is a standalone summary that names
the subject and defines the terms without leaning on earlier context, so
it survives being quoted on its own.

Verified: all 16 URLs resolve, no banned words from the brand rules, and
the compress.target example is checked against the live schema endpoint.
Switched it from maxBytes to maxSize: "50mb", which the schema also
accepts and which matches the prose.
@a-essawy
a-essawy merged commit 780f74a into main Jul 26, 2026
8 checks passed
@a-essawy
a-essawy deleted the docs/readme-refresh branch July 26, 2026 10:22
Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Labels

None yet

Projects

None yet

Development

Successfully merging this pull request may close these issues.

1 participant