io.github.filearchitect/blankfiles-mcp

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by filearchitect · Blade

Blank Files MCP

MCP server for listing and retrieving minimal valid blank files from blankfiles.com.

List and retrieve minimal valid blank file templates.

README.md11 KBView on GitHub

Blank Files Website

Laravel application that powers blankfiles.com. Browse and download minimal valid blank files by type and category. File data and assets are served from the filearchitect/blank-files repository via a configurable CDN.

Requirements

PHP 8.2+
Composer
Node.js 18+ (for Vite frontend build)

Installation

bash

git clone https://github.com/filearchitect/blankfiles-website.git
cd blankfiles-website
composer install
cp .env.example .env
php artisan key:generate

Set CDN_URL in .env (see Configuration). Then build the frontend and run the app:

bash

npm install && npm run build
php artisan serve

Or use Laravel Herd with a .test domain.

Configuration

Variable	Description
`CDN_URL`	Required. Base URL used to construct downloadable file URLs as `{CDN_URL}/files/{filename}`. Default: `https://raw.githubusercontent.com/filearchitect/blank-files/main` (set in config/app.php).
`CATALOG_URL`	Optional. Direct URL for the catalog JSON (`files/files.json`). Default is `https://raw.githubusercontent.com/filearchitect/blank-files/main/files/files.json` for freshness.
`CACHE_ENABLED`	Optional. When `true`, the file list from the CDN is cached. TTL is controlled by `CATALOG_TTL_MINUTES` (default `10`). See config/cache.php and app/Services/FileService.php.
`CATALOG_TTL_MINUTES`	Optional. Cache TTL in minutes for the remote catalog when `CACHE_ENABLED=true`. Lower values reflect new formats sooner; higher values reduce CDN fetches.
`API_KEYS`	Optional. Comma-separated API keys for higher-rate API clients (used by `X-API-Key` or `Authorization: Bearer ...`).
`API_PUBLIC_RATE_LIMIT`	Optional. Public API requests/minute limit (default `30`).
`API_KEY_RATE_LIMIT`	Optional. API-key requests/minute limit (default `300`).
`API_USAGE_LOG_CHANNEL`	Optional. Logging channel for API usage analytics (default `api_usage`).
`OPENPANEL_CLIENT_ID`	Optional. Enables OpenPanel web analytics script when set.
`OPENPANEL_CLIENT_SECRET`	Optional. Reserved for server-side OpenPanel events (not exposed to browser script).

Project structure

Path	Purpose
`app/Http/Controllers/FileController.php`	Web: homepage, file detail page, download proxy.
`app/Http/Controllers/Api/FileController.php`	API: list all files, list files by type.
`app/Services/FileService.php`	Fetches catalog JSON (`CATALOG_URL`) and formats file URLs from `CDN_URL`.
`routes/web.php`	Web routes (home, files show, download).
`routes/api.php`	API v1 routes.
`resources/views/files/`	Blade views for file listing and file detail.

Deployment

On push to main, GitHub Actions:

Builds the frontend (Vite) with npm ci and npm run build.
SCPs public/build/ to the Forge server.
Triggers a Laravel Forge deployment.
Runs php artisan optimize:clear on the server.

Required repository secrets:

FORGE_SSH_HOST — SSH host for the server.
FORGE_SSH_USER — SSH user (e.g. forge).
SSH_PRIVATE_KEY — Private key for SCP/SSH.
FORGE_SERVER_ID — Forge server ID.
FORGE_SITE_ID — Forge site ID.
FORGE_API_KEY — Forge deploy token.

See .github/workflows/deploy.yml.

For developers and bots

Base URL

Production: https://blankfiles.com. HTML and JSON are available; use Accept: application/json where applicable.

Web routes

Method	Path	Description
`GET`	`/`	Homepage: file list by category. Responds with JSON when `Accept: application/json`. Throttle: 30/min.
`GET`	`/upload-testing`	Binary-focused landing page for upload testing intent, linking to high-demand file formats and categories.
`GET`	`/files/{category}/{type}`	SEO-friendly file detail page (e.g. `/files/document-spreadsheet/xlsx`). Constraints: `category`, `type` = `[A-Za-z0-9\-]+`.
`GET`	`/files/download/{category}/{type}`	Download proxy: streams the file with `Content-Disposition: attachment` (filename `blank.{type}` or `blank.{type}.zip`). Throttle: 60/min.

API routes (prefix `api/v1`)

Method	Path	Response
`GET`	`/api/v1/files`	`{ "files": [ ... ], "meta": { "version", "generated_at", "count" } }`.
`GET`	`/api/v1/files/{type}`	Same schema, filtered by extension.
`GET`	`/api/v1/files/{category}/{type}`	Same schema with exactly one matching entry when found; `404` when missing.
`GET`	`/api/v1/status`	API health + aggregate catalog metrics (`file_count`, `type_count`, `category_count`) and upstream source info.

Machine-friendly notes

The canonical file catalog schema is defined in the blank-files repo: files/files.json (key files, array of { type, url, category, package? }).
Download URLs: use the API url field for direct CDN access, or GET /files/download/{category}/{type} for a same-origin download with a predictable filename.
Conditional requests are supported on API responses and sitemap (ETag, Last-Modified).
Rate limits: public IP-based limits and optional API-key limits (X-API-Key).
API usage analytics are logged to storage/logs/api-usage-*.log (configurable channel).
Compatibility policy: API policy.
Web landing analytics for growth pages are logged to storage/logs/web-traffic-*.log.

Client snippets

bash

curl -sS "https://blankfiles.com/api/v1/files/document-spreadsheet/xlsx" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -H "X-API-Key: $BLANKFILES_API_KEY"

const res = await fetch("https://blankfiles.com/api/v1/files", {
  headers: { "Accept": "application/json", "If-None-Match": etag }
});
if (res.status === 304) {
  // unchanged
}

python

import requests
r = requests.get("https://blankfiles.com/api/v1/status", timeout=20)
r.raise_for_status()
print(r.json())

Compatibility policy

URL versioning is stable under /api/v1/*.
Breaking changes require a new major API path version.
Deprecated endpoints are kept for at least 90 days before removal.
New fields may be added; clients should ignore unknown fields.

filearchitect/blank-files — Source of truth for the file list and blank file assets.

MCP server (for agent marketplaces/registries)

This repository now includes a minimal MCP server that exposes Blank Files as tool calls.

Script: scripts/mcp/blankfiles-mcp.mjs
Run: npm run mcp:server
Optional env: BLANKFILES_BASE_URL (default: https://blankfiles.com)

Available MCP tools:

list_blank_files — list files, optional filters (category, type, limit)
files_by_type — list entries by extension
file_by_category_type — deterministic single lookup by category + extension

Example local MCP client config entry:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "blankfiles": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/blankfiles-website/scripts/mcp/blankfiles-mcp.mjs"],
      "env": {
        "BLANKFILES_BASE_URL": "https://blankfiles.com"
      }
    }
  }
}

Registry submission helpers:

Template metadata: scripts/mcp/registry/server.json.template
Publish checklist: scripts/mcp/registry/PUBLISHING.md

Published package workspace:

packages/blankfiles-mcp (publish as @filearchitect/blankfiles-mcp)

OpenClaw skill (ClawHub discoverability)

This repository includes an OpenClaw-ready skill bundle:

Skill path: skills/blankfiles
Skill entry: skills/blankfiles/SKILL.md
Publish guide: skills/blankfiles/references/publish.md

Typical publish flow:

bash

npm i -g clawhub
clawhub login
clawhub publish ./skills/blankfiles \
  --slug blankfiles \
  --name "Blank Files Gateway" \
  --version 1.0.0 \
  --changelog "Initial release" \
  --tags latest

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Install

claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "blankfiles-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@filearchitect/blankfiles-mcp@1.0.1"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Blank Files Website

Requirements

Installation

Configuration

Project structure

Deployment

For developers and bots

Base URL

Web routes

API routes (prefix api/v1)

Machine-friendly notes

Client snippets

Compatibility policy

Related

MCP server (for agent marketplaces/registries)

OpenClaw skill (ClawHub discoverability)

License

Install

API routes (prefix `api/v1`)