Gatherer is the canonical source for Magic: The Gathering card details. While useful, it lacks an interface for retrieving this data programmatically. The lack of an API makes creating Magic-related applications unnecessarily difficult.

Tutor is a simple JavaScript interface for Gatherer.

API

• tutor.card
• tutor.set
• tutor.formats
• tutor.sets
• tutor.types

tutor.card

tutor.card(id, callback(err, card))
tutor.card(name, callback(err, card))
tutor.card(details, callback(err, card))

The first and second forms are shorthand for tutor.card({id: id}, ...) and tutor.card({name: name}, ...) respectively. The callback is passed an object representing the specified card. Version-specific metadata such as flavor text and rarity are included for cards specified by id. Attributes not applicable to the card type (e.g. lands have no mana cost) or not present (e.g. certain creatures have no rules text) are omitted.

tutor.card 'Demonic Tutor', (err, card) ->
  console.log card.name
  # => "Demonic Tutor"
  console.log card.mana_cost
  # => "{1}{B}"
  console.log card.text
  # => "Search your library for a card and put that card into your hand. Then shuffle your library."

Split cards

Because the two sides of a split card share a Gatherer id, it's necessary to provide the name of the desired side:

tutor.card id: 27165, name: 'Fire', (err, card) ->
  console.log card.name
  # => "Fire"

tutor.card id: 27165, name: 'Ice', (err, card) ->
  console.log card.name
  # => "Ice"

Retrieving either side of a split card by name is straightforward:

tutor.card 'Fire', (err, card) ->
  console.log card.name
  # => "Fire"

tutor.card 'Ice', (err, card) ->
  console.log card.name
  # => "Ice"

Flip cards

Retrieving the top half of a flip card by id is straightforward:

tutor.card 247175, (err, card) ->
  console.log card.name
  # => "Nezumi Graverobber"

Either half of a flip card can be retrieved explicitly by setting which to "a" (for the upper half) or "b" (for the lower half):

tutor.card id: 247175, which: 'b', (err, card) ->
  console.log card.name
  # => "Nighteyes the Desecrator"

When retrieving a flip card by name rather than id, one may simply provide the name of the desired half:

tutor.card 'Nighteyes the Desecrator', (err, card) ->
  console.log card.name
  # => "Nighteyes the Desecrator"

Double-faced cards

Either face of a double-faced card can be retrieved by id:

tutor.card 262675, (err, card) ->
  console.log card.name
  # => "Afflicted Deserter"

tutor.card 262698, (err, card) ->
  console.log card.name
  # => "Werewolf Ransacker"

Or by name:

tutor.card 'Afflicted Deserter', (err, card) ->
  console.log card.name
  # => "Afflicted Deserter"

tutor.card 'Werewolf Ransacker', (err, card) ->
  console.log card.name
  # => "Werewolf Ransacker"

tutor.set

tutor.set(name, callback(err, set))

Scrape cards from the set specified by name. For example:

tutor.set 'Homelands', (err, cards) ->
  console.log cards.length
  # => 115
  console.log Object.keys(cards[0]).sort()
  # => [
  #   "converted_mana_cost",
  #   "expansion",
  #   "gatherer_url",
  #   "image_url",
  #   "mana_cost",
  #   "name",
  #   "power",
  #   "rarity",
  #   "subtypes",
  #   "supertypes",
  #   "text",
  #   "toughness",
  #   "types",
  #   "versions"
  # ]

tutor.formats

tutor.formats(callback(err, formatNames))

Provides the names of all the game's formats:

tutor.formats (err, formatNames) ->
  console.log formatNames
  # => [
  #   "Classic",
  #   "Commander",
  #   ...
  #   "Vintage",
  #   "Zendikar Block"
  # ]

tutor.sets

tutor.sets(callback(err, setNames))

Provides the names of all the game's sets:

tutor.sets (err, setNames) ->
  console.log setNames
  # => [
  #   "Alara Reborn",
  #   "Alliances",
  #   ...
  #   "Worldwake",
  #   "Zendikar"
  # ]

tutor.types

tutor.types(callback(err, types))

Provides the names of all the game's types:

tutor.types (err, types) ->
  console.log types
  # => [
  #   "Artifact",
  #   "Basic",
  #   ...
  #   "Vanguard",
  #   "World"
  # ]

CLI

npm install tutor --global will make the tutor command available globally.

$ tutor card 'Demonic Tutor'
Demonic Tutor {1}{B} Search your library for a card and put that card into your hand. Then shuffle your library.

$ tutor card 'Demonic Tutor' --format json | python -mjson.tool | head -n 10
{
    "community_rating": {
        "rating": 4.714,
        "votes": 229
    },
    "converted_mana_cost": 2,
    "languages": {},
    "legality": {
        "Commander": "Legal",
        "Legacy": "Banned",

$ tutor card 60 --format json | python -mjson.tool | head -n 10
{
    "artist": "Douglas Schuler",
    "community_rating": {
        "rating": 4.917,
        "votes": 109
    },
    "converted_mana_cost": 2,
    "expansion": "Limited Edition Alpha",
    "languages": {},
    "legality": {

$ tutor set Alliances | head -n 2
Aesthir Glider {3} 2/1 Flying Aesthir Glider can't block.
Agent of Stromgald {R} 1/1 {R}: Add {B} to your mana pool.

Example of using the CLI from other applications:

Link to Wiki

Running the tests

make fixtures
make test
make testcli