Simple API call within the context of DocFx preprocessor

Question

I would like to know if it is possible to make a simple API call (e.g. GitHub API v3) within the context of a DocFx custom template preprocessor. I have been trying all sorts of different approaches, but nothing has fully worked so far.

My goal is to make a call to an API to retrieve some data, and then update the model accordingly to be used in the *.liquid or *.tmpl renderers.

I have tried using the http/https node modules. I have also tried using node-fetch. It results in a docfx build error something like:

Error:Error transforming model ".../index.raw.json" generated from ".../index.md" using "conceptual.html.primary.js". Error running Transform function inside template preprocessor

According to DocFx documentation, preprocessors follow the ES 5.1 standard. My code conforms to this.

Does anyone know if this is possible?

By the way, I am able to do simple model manipulation just fine, so I understand the basic concepts here with the DocFx preprocessors.

Thanks!

Answer 1

For the benefit of others, I discovered DocFX uses jint which cannot require a Node library directly. Therefore, it appears the plugin route is a better way to go for this use case.