Github's markdown API and Javascript

Question

I'm trying to send some text to Github's markdown API and get back a raw HTML representation of it.

Currently I have this code:

    $.ajax({
        type: "POST",
        dataType: "jsonp",
        processData: false,
        url: "http://api.github.com/markdown/raw",
        data: {
            "text": $('#some_textarea').val()
        },
        success: function(data){
            console.log("success!");
            console.log(data);
        }, 
        error: function(jqXHR, textStatus, error){
            console.log(jqXHR, textStatus, error);
        }
    });

but I get "error" (textStatus in error callback). What am I doing wrong?

The value of textStatus is "error", nothing more and nothing less. Also, the value of error is empty string. — Alexander Nestorov
– Alexander Nestorov, Commented Mar 20, 2013 at 9:49
You cannot make a JSONP POST request. JSONP is always GET, since it just appends a <script> tag to the document. jQuery is probably doing the JSONP request as asked, which is not understood by the API. — Felix Kling
– Felix Kling, Commented Mar 20, 2013 at 9:49
@FelixKling I get the exact same result if I change it to "json" — Alexander Nestorov
– Alexander Nestorov, Commented Mar 20, 2013 at 9:50
Well, the API does not return JSON, it returns simple text. If you set dataType: "json", then jQuery will try to parse the response as JSON, which will fail. And if the API does not support CORS (but I seem to remember it does), you cannot make an Ajax request to it from the browser anyway. — Felix Kling
– Felix Kling, Commented Mar 20, 2013 at 9:52

Rup · Accepted Answer · 2013-03-20 10:15:39Z

3

You need to post to HTTPS not HTTP, and if you're using the raw API then

the posted content type needs to be text/plain
the API returns html content, not JSON or JSONP

e.g. jsfiddle

$.ajax({
    type: "POST",
    dataType: "html",
    processData: false,
    url: "https://api.github.com/markdown/raw",
    data: "Hello world github/linguist#1 **cool**, and #1!",
    contentType: "text/plain",
    success: function(data){
        console.log("success!");
        console.log(data);
    }, 
    error: function(jqXHR, textStatus, error){
        console.log(jqXHR, textStatus, error);
    }
});

answered Mar 20, 2013 at 10:15

Rup

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Rup Over a year ago

Great! Beware the API has a rate limit of 60 requests per hour. If you need more you need to register as an app and authenticate.

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